Marissa Meyer

Download the first two chapters of Winter for free! Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar 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.

Winter: Chapters 1 & 2

Sheila Goicea

“She was prettier than a bouquet of roses and crazier than a headless chicken. Fitting in was not an option.”
 
I'm finally done. Sadly, I feel more accomplished after getting through 97 chapters of this book, than enjoying the book itself. 
 
Although this series was entertaining, it just...lacked. The repetitive vocabulary, situations, cliche-ness, didn't add up for me. This book, did NOT need to be 97 chapters long. Meyer's could have easily left out half of the scenes, and the same ending would have come about. 
 
She loved to draw out the four romances of the main characters. It was fine, to a point. But everyone, besides her most developed character Scarlet, had the worst time trying to voice their feelings.
 
Characters:
 
I was still disappointed with Cinder's character. She never truly developed. Despite her being our main protagonist, we still know little about her. Yes, she lacks some features that physically make her human, but that shouldn't strip the qualities that make her human. 
 
Prince/Emperor Kai - He was more of a filler character than anything. I never understood why he became so smitten with Cinder? It doesn't really say. They just...fell in love with each other... Apparently, the dirt on Cinder's face was irresistible. 
 
Scarlet - I still feel she was the saving grace of this entire series. Without her vigor, realness, relatability, the series would have been an entire flop for me. (I also liked that she was snarky.)
 
“What did you bring me today? Delusional mutterings with a side of crazy?” 
 
Her interactions with Winter were amusing, to say the least. She liked to call things as they were. It's refreshing to find a character who calls the shots without being unabashed for offending another. She simply said things as they were.
 
Wolf - Well, we don't really know a whole lot about him, probably because he isn't entirely human. Which works for his character. But ONLY his character. I thought the way Meyer's incorporated the "wolf" from "Little Red Riding Hood" into this series was brilliant, as I've stated in previous reviews. 
 
Cress - *Sigh* Okay, okay, she got better towards the end. But, the overwhelming "school girl" demeanor was exhausting. Obviously, Meyer's wrote this series for young adult, so her portrayal was appropriate for the age group...but sometimes, it was a bit much.
 
Captain Thorne - He was another great addition to this series. His banter with everyone was always entertaining. His character in general, worked. The typical overly-confident, womanizing (although he was a bit young to be thus,) seemingly-superficial was depicted well in Thorne's character. It was inevitable that he fell for Cress, despite the fact that she idolized him, and he loved that. 
 
Winter - She was an interesting addition to the series. Before "Winter," little is revealed about her. Adding someone with a twist of crazy, was compelling. And as I stated above, I thoroughly enjoyed her's and Scarlet's relationship. Comparing Winter to Cinder, despite her having a lesser role, she was still more developed than our main character. 
 
Levana - We can all agree she's a terrible person. 
 
Jason - I liked his character. It was clear that his devotions were only to Winter, and what would be best for her. His actions reflected his sole devotion, even if it consisted of betraying the others. 
 
Iko - Like Thorne, she added some great comic relief, which was enjoyable. However her purpose revealed in the end of the book (which I will not reveal here to not spoil for anyone) was predictable. 
 
I couldn't help but feel this was a soft-rendering of "The Hunger Games," with everyone in the capitol dressing extravagantly, and thinking little of the people from the outer sectors. Secondly, Levana was a ruthless ruler, similar to that of President Snow. 
 
The overall uprising ramped up wayyy too slowly. Several times I lost interest, and felt like just skipping ahead. 
 
This series has been hyped about so much, and loved by many. By far, it is NOT the best writing I've seen. It was an interesting plot, with some originality. However, I felt that the characters where unbalanced in their development, and there was so much unexplained romance that just...developed from nowhere. It was entertaining, but nothing which wowed me.

She's Going Book Crazy

Winter: Chapters 1 & 2

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