BOOK REVIEW: Winter – by Marissa Meyer

Title: Winter
(The Lunar Chronicles #4)
Author: Marissa Meyer
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Retelling
First published: November 10th 2015
Finished reading: November 20th 2015
Pages: 827

“She was prettier than a bouquet of roses and crazier than a headless chicken. Fitting in was not an option.”

The Lunar Chronicles is probably one of my favorite series I’ve read this year and in a way I’m sad it’s over. It’s one of the first times I’ve read a book as soon as it was published (not including ARCs), and even six days after finishing Winter I am still trying to get my thoughts together. I really loved this last novel by Marissa Meyer despite its length. My heart did almost stop at some points in the story; damn you plot twists! I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but it’s hard to see your favorite characters suffering if you love a series as much as I do. I kept thinking: please give them a happy ending, they have totally earned it! It took me some time finishing Winter, but that’s mostly because I didn’t want it to be over… And what I can say is that this book was everything I was hoping for. Thank you Marissa Meyer for an excellent series! I do hope there will be a Thorne novella at some point in the future…

WARNING: do not read this summary if you haven’t read the first three books in the series yet! It will most likely contain spoilers, even though I’ve made sure to keep it short.

Queen Levana has always been jealous of little princess Winter. Winter has been admired by the Lunar people ever since she was little and despite the scars on her face it is said that she is even more beautiful than the queen. The princess doesn’t want to use her gift to manipulate others and is slowly turning mad… But she is not as weak as Levana believes her to be and Winter has been undermining her stepmother for years. And now the Lunars are on the border of a revolution, will Cinder, the princess and their friends be able to stand up to Levana and find their happily ever afters?

I know this review probably doesn’t make a lot of sense if you haven’t read The Lunar Chronicles yet, but I find it really hard to write a review without fangirling over the place. Marissa Meyer has created with this series a new way of retelling fairy tales and mixes these elements perfectly with the rest of the story. After four books the main characters feel like old friends and it’s really hard to see them suffer… Marissa Meyer knows how to draw you into the story and keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end. If you are looking for a good YA fantasy series, this one is more than recommended! The fact that there won’t be any new books pending to be published (if you don’t count novellas) is a huge bonus as well.

WWW Wednesdays #66 – November 25th

WWW WEDNESDAYS is hosted by Sam at Taking On A World Of Words and is all about answering the three questions below.

• WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?

I’ve started Liars, Inc. by Paula Stokes yesterday evening and it’s still too early to tell if I’m going to enjoy this story… I’ve heard mixed things about it, so fingers crossed it’s not too bad. I’m also reading Melophobia by James Morris, a very interesting ARC and story so far.

• WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?

Three books finished this week and that’s mostly thanks to the last two being super quick reads, because it took me ages to finish Winter.
* The first is Winter by Marissa Meyer. Although I’m sad the series has ended, I really enjoyed reading this fourth book My heart almost stopped at some points in the story though; damn you plot twists!
* I decided to read my TBR jar pick Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple afterwards, which turned out to be a quick although not outstanding read. More about my complaints in my upcoming review…
* The last book I finished yesterday evening: Between Shades Of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. A very hardbreaking story, although I wasn’t fully convinced by the prose itself (it sounded too childish, and not in a The Boy In The Striped Pajamas good way.)

• WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL READ NEXT?

To be honest, I’m not sure what I’m going to read next… But at least these four covers color match! 😉 I might read The Death Code by Lindsay Cummings so I can cross off another series or start a new one with The Young Elites by Marie Lu. But to be honest, I’m not sure if I’m in the mood to read fantasy right now. I also want to try and read Paperweight by Meg Haston soon even though it sounds like a sad story… And I have a new TBR jar pick: Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. I have been wanting to read another Gaiman novel for ages so this is the perfect excuse to do just so!

WWW Wednesdays #65 – November 18th

WWW WEDNESDAYS is hosted by Sam at Taking On A World Of Words and is all about answering the three questions below.

• WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?

I’ve decided to put Outlander by Diana Gabaldon on hold for now because I don’t seem to have enough time… So I’m currently reading only one book (it’s a miracle!): Winter by Marissa Meyer. I have been looking forward to this read ever since I finished Cress, and so far it’s just as good as I was hoping for.

• WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?

Three finished titles this week; not bad at all!
* The first is George by Alex Gino, a Goodreads Choice Awards finalist and definitely worth reading even though the prose can come over a bit childish at points. It has a very strong message…
* I picked up Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli afterwards and I have to say I absolutely loved this read. I wish I had gotten a copy sooner, because this book is simply brilliant!
* The last book I finished is The One Plus One by Jojo Moyes. I think romance fans will probably love this read, but I’m not a fan of the genre and thought part of the plot was quite predictable as well.

• WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL READ NEXT?

I will start Melophobia (ARC) by James Morris as soon as I’ve finished Winter. I also want to try and read The Death Code by Lindsay Cummings so I can finish another series, and I have been looking forward to Between Shades Of Gray by Ruth Sepetys as well. (I might actually read the second one first because it’s been I while since I’ve read a book during WWII.) And my next TBR jar pick is still Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple.

Teaser Tuesdays #68 – November 17th: Winter

TEASER TUESDAYS is a weekly book meme originally featured at A Daily Rhythm. To participate, just open the book you are currently reading to a random page, and choose two ‘teaser’ sentences from somewhere on that page. (no spoilers!)

It feels like everyone is reading Winter by Marissa Meyer right now! I started it this weekend and unfortunately I haven’t been having that much free time to read, because so far I’m loving this read. I can wait to find out how the story continues! Also, I kind of want to finish this one ASAP to avoid any possible spoilers. 😉

My teaser (3%):

“Winter was panting, both frazzled and giddy with her success, as the dais came into view. She spotted him and the yeaming inside her weakened her knees. She had to slow to catch her breath.”

 

What are you reading right now?