What’s it all about?:
Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mark her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.
Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend–the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.
Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters? Fans will not want to miss this thrilling conclusion to Marissa Meyer’s national bestselling Lunar Chronicles series.
What did I think?:
It’s finally time for my review of the last book in The Lunar Chronicles, Winter. If you haven’t read the previous books in the series and love young adult fiction with adorable, sassy and unforgettable characters and a magical, fairy-tale edge please go right now and read Cinder, the first novel in the series. If you finish it feeling a bit underwhelmed, do me a favour and just give Scarlet, the second novel a shot. This is exactly how I felt and as soon as I read Scarlet and then Cress, I became a sucker for this world and all the characters within it. How do I feel now that I’ve read the last book in the series? A bit deflated I have to admit, but oddly satisfied at the same time. Everything was wrapped up beautifully in my opinion and the entire novel itself (all 800+ pages of it!) was a wild, thrilling ride that I never wanted to end.
Each book in The Lunar Chronicles has chosen to focus on a different female protagonist, loosely based on a fairy-tale character i.e. Cinder/Cinderella, Scarlet/Little Red Riding Hood, Cress/Rapunzel and in this latest instalment, we focus on Princess Winter/Snow White whose evil stepmother in the plot is a familiar villain in the series, Queen Levana whom we got to know very well indeed in the novella just prior to this book, Fairest. Princess Winter is another fascinating protagonist – sweet, kind, instantly loveable but slightly crazy from Lunar sickness. This is because she refuses to use her Lunar power in the same way that her stepmother does and suffers intense and troubling hallucinations as a result. The novel follows all the protagonists from the previous novels in the series as they land on the planet Luna and attempt to overthrow Queen Levana, with the help of a terrifying revolution and, of course Princess Winter.
I don’t think I need to say much more than that, that’s pretty much the plot in a nutshell, avoiding all potential spoilers! You would think being such a long novel (particularly for a young adult book) it would be slightly tedious and take far too long to read. Not the case at all. I flew through this story in a matter of days, partially due to the sheer number of exciting action sequences and last minute plot twists that made Winter such a roller-coaster and a genuine pleasure to read. It’s not literary fiction – so don’t expect flowery prose and intelligent, intricate language but I read it for the thrilling plot and the wonderful characters which, by the end, I couldn’t get enough of. As a piece of fantastical young adult fiction, it fulfils the brief and so much more besides and I would recommend it to anyone who feels like they need a little magic or escape from the monotony of regular life.
Would I recommend it?:
But of course!
Star rating (out of 5):
