Book Review: Cress - Marissa Meyer

Title: Cress
Author: Marissa Meyer
Pub Date: February 4th, 2014
Publisher: Fiewel and Friends
Page Count: 560

Rapunzel’s tower is a satellite. She can’t let down her hair—or her guard.

In this third book in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army.

Their best hope lies with Cress, who has been trapped on a satellite since childhood with only her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker—unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

When a daring rescue goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing stop her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only ones who can.

Buy Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | Chapters Indigo

My Thoughts

I'm sitting in a pool of my own feels. I can't even. - Nova @ Out of Time

I'd love to just say: buy this book. Just do it. You will not regret it. DO IT. And leave with a little stare at the person reading this review. But alas, I have to give my points about what I liked loved and what I didn't like loved more. Do you see how difficult this is for me?

As a reader, I don't believe in originality. I feel like a lot of books coming out are used concepts written in a better or worse way. But they aren't original. Marissa lives in a different dimension; I mean she has to with all the "outside of the box" thinking she does. The Lunar Chronicles is the best thing ever since like 2013 when I first read and became a huge fan! I was initially drawn because of how new it is and how well written. It's not every day you get a combination that equals perfection. Aw gosh, I don't even think I can control my gushing feels.

You guys. You guys.

There are no words to how much I LOVED this story. I was a little worried at how many characters there were going to be and yeah, there are a lot. You could fill up an entire lexicon just from The Lunar Chronicles. But somehow, Marissa manages her characters like it's just Cinder. They all have care and heavy thought placed in them and the characterization is distinct while still being relevant.

This story centers around Cress, who is Rapunzel and a hacker extraordinaire. What I really loved about this book was how the first was establishing the story, second building off on it and now, we're getting some action. There's a thought out plan that's going down in Cress that keeps everyone captivated. And I love how everyone gets the same amount of screen time as Cress, even though the book is called "Cress." Another way of saying this would be that I loved how the other characters didn't fade while Cress got the lights and cameras.

What I was a little iffy but grew to love was how the story was told. Because there were a bunch of different things happening around the world, every chapter or even less, the perspective would switch to a different issue. It got a little confusing because it was written in 3rd POV, so I'd have to be extra careful on reading - I'm a skimmer.
And as a side note, I loathe 3rd POV, but I found myself ENTHRALLED with this one. Usually the 3rd POV makes me feel detached and kind of distant from the characters and story, but for this one, I'm being crippled by my feels. I guess it works both ways.

And finally: the ships have sailed. I was giddy over every romance in this book. I know the basic "save the world" plot really doesn't dictate for a romance, but who cares, it fit perfectly! Everyone has a match in fairytale-land so Meyer brought it into her books by pairing everyone off. I don't know what was so perfect about the romance, but because there were multiple ships, I'm going back to the point of "Marissa Meyer knows how to make every individual thing unique, special and distinct!"

SPOILER: I really LOVED how much I got to see Winter in this, if only a sneak peek. The idea that she's completely different from the other characters and from the original Snow White is bringing happy feels. See italicized above because now I'm just repeating things. I love how Winter is a lot like the Mad Hatter and she knows exactly what she's talking about, even if the characters and the reader don't! GOSH.    I LOVE THIS SO MUCH.

All in all? It's perfect. No need for a big lengthy summary. Refer to the entire review and if this book sounds like you, give her your money. You won't regret it!

Infinity.

Author Info

Marissa's Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter | Website |

One of my first spoken words was “story” (right along with “bath” and “cookie”), my favorite toy as an infant was a soft, squishable book, and I’ve wanted to be a writer since I first realized such a job existed.

When I was fourteen my best friend introduced me to anime and fanfiction—over the years I would complete over forty Sailor Moon fanfics under the penname Alicia Blade. Those so inclined can still find my first stories at fanfiction.net. Writing fanfic turned out to be awesome fun and brought me in contact with an amazing group of fanfiction readers and writers. As Alicia Blade, I also had a novelette, “The Phantom of Linkshire Manor,” published in the gothic romance anthology Bound in Skin (CatsCurious Press, 2007).

When I was sixteen I worked at The Old Spaghetti Factory in Tacoma, Washington, affectionately termed “The Spag.” (Random factoid: This is also the restaurant where my parents met some 25 years before.) I attended Pacific Lutheran University where I sorted mail that came to the dorm, carted tables and chairs around campus, and took writing classes, eventually earning a Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing and Children’s Literature. Knowing I wanted a career in books, I would also go on to receive a Master’s degree in Publishing from Pace University (which you can learn more about here). After graduation, I worked as an editor in Seattle for a while before becoming a freelance typesetter and proofreader.

Then, day of days, someone thought it would be a good idea to give me a book deal, so I became a full-time writer. CINDER is my first novel, though I have an adorable collection of unfinished ones lying around too.

I now live with my husband and our three cats (Calexandria Josephine, Stormus Enormous, and Blackland Rockwell III), who go in and out, in and out, about eight hundred times a day. My favorite non-bookish things include Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, re-watching episodes of Firefly, and playing all manners of dress-up.