Book Review: Cress

Cress by Marissa Meyer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Cress marks the third installment in The Lunar Chronicles, a sci-fi series of fairy-tale retellings. Along with continuing the stories of Cinder Linh (Cinderella) and Scarlet Benoit (Red Riding Hood), Cress tells the story of Crescent Moon (Rapunzel), a Lunar shell who's is incredibly skilled at hacking, and is being exploited of those talents by the Lunar Queen Levana. As the wedding of Levana and Kai, the Emperor of the Eastern Commonwealth, draws near, everyone has to make a choice of what they're going to do when the time to act comes.

As this is the third book in a series, you can expect some spoilers. That being said, there are a few spoilers of this installment itself; depending on how observant you are, they could be pretty big ones. You've been warned; I will accept no responsibility for hospital bills.

This book had me talking out loud, smiling uncontrollably, and even crying. Which I don't actually do very often with books, and when I do, it's sobbing type crying. Basically, it was really really good.

Cress takes place a little while after Scarlet, after everything has calmed down a bit. We are introduced to Cress, the internet hacker entrapped in a satellite orbiting Earth as she's forced to monitor and find information for Queen Levana. She hasn't seen another person, other than her keeper Sybil Mira, in six years.

I loved the way that Cress was written. Like, absolutely, actively, consciously loved the writing of her. I loved her naivete, her awkwardness, and the fact that she was entirely out of her element, and didn't just adapt to the circumstances like Scarlet or Cinder might have. She did grow and strengthen as a character, but it wasn't the same as we'd seen before, and it suited her character. Being trapped and alone for half your life is going to do some damage, and we actually watched as Cress was able to finally mature from the scared child that first entered that satellite.

I also like how the relationship between Cress and Thorne is being developed. One cool thing about Marissa Meyer is that every character is different, and she recognizes that by not just telling the same story three times over. They both don't instantly fall in love with each other, and even when they have time to develop their feelings, it doesn't happen all at once. In fact, it hasn't even totally happened yet.

So, along with Cress's story, I loved the development for the other characters. We got to meet Jacin, who I assume we'll be seeing more of, and while I wanted to punch him (woo Cinder!), I know that there's a whole other story there. I cried for Dr. Erland, who I've generally disliked.

Real quick: There was one scene, nothing big, just the characters on the Rampion, being individually described, and I just couldn't stop getting this awesome Firefly vibe. I mean, come on, Wolf as Jayne? Don't tell me you can't see the resemblance!

I also felt so bad for Wolf and Scarlet. It's going to be really gratifying, in more ways than one, once their story picks back up again.

And of course, I couldn't go without mentioning Cinder's and Kai's stories. I felt like I'd sort of distanced myself from Cinder during the second book, and I think that had to do more with the fact that there wasn't much development going on for her until the end (which was just how the story had to be; it's not a problem, just the fact of the story), so I was really glad that we got to hang out with her a lot more. I loved actually getting to see Kai; I know that he had some scenes previously, but we get more here. His determination to do what he needed to do for the good of his people, as well as the weight of that need, made me want to give him a big ol' hug. I'm glad that Cinder can go ahead and do that for me now ;)

So, besides the obvious fact that I can't wait for Winter to hit shelves (that book is going to go by at the speed of a racing train, I can already tell) (also I just realized: Winter is coming!), my final observation/love about this book was...Iko! She was a hoot and a half, no matter which mechanical body she inhabited :D In short: if you want to read a story that is best described as "sci-fi-fairytale space book," and ends up making you feel as many feels as any given episode of Firefly, then you would do well to pick it up.

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These Broken Stars

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

These Broken Stars is the first novel written in the Starbound Universe by Meagan Spooner and Amie Kaufman. In it, heiress Lilac LaRoux and war hero Tarver Merendsen are the sole survivors of the crashing of the Icarus, the universe's biggest interstellar ship. Having crash landed on a planet that appears terraformed but is strangely devoid of human life, the two must find a way to get word to civilization that they are alive, while at the same time navigating the strange new planet and trying not to kill each other in the process. Soon, secrets are uncovered, and their crash seems to have been more than just a freak accident.

I love love loved These Broken Stars! I was wary at first, because the cover drew me in so much in the beginning, and I was nervous that the story wouldn't meet my expectations, but they exceeded them in fact. While it felt like it took a little while to feel totally immersed, once I was there was no stopping me from turning the pages.

From the get go, we know that the story is not like any other, because Tarver and Lilac like each other at first, but then end up hating each other! The reader gets no breaks when it comes to watching the evolution of these characters' relationship to each other. Lilac is tough and stubborn, but also vulnerable and scared. Tarver is strong and in his element, sure, but he's having to struggle with his opinion of Lilac and try to avoid thinking about his own fears. In the end, they make a couple that outshines the stars (just enjoy the pun and move on).

Pacing was phenomenal. At first, it was a little repetitive, because they had a long way to walk, but the pacing of the story itself was on point at all times. By the time I reached the last page, I felt like I'd been stuck on the planet with them for a whole month, instead of the week or so I read this in. Not only do we see both characters in balanced moments of respective strength and weakness, but we also get all the information needed for the main plotline delivered clearly and without feeling like we'd had a dumpster truck drop all the info on it at once. This also allowed for the storyline to be believable--or rather, it felt like something the characters could resonably believe.

I'm very interested as to where Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner will take this story. Not only are we going to read the next volume from the perspective of two new characters, but I can't wait to see how the main conflict is going to grow and manifest itself. I also really reallly hope we get to see more of Tarver and Lilac, because one book was not enough!

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The 5th Wave

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The 5th Wave is a dystopian science fiction by Rick Yancey. It is the first in a series.

The story follows a handful of characters over the course of the alien invasion of the Others. Over the last few months, Earth's population has dwindled down near to 1 or 2% of what it used to be, having been hit by four waves of attack by the Others. With everyone simultaneously anticipating and dreading the next wave to come, the characters must battle with themselves over what they consider worth dying for, living for, and what they plan to do about it. The book mainly follows Cassie, a girl who has lost her whole family and is on the search for her five year-old brother. Over time, she must decide who is trustworthy when absolutely no one can be trusted.

There is so much to this story, yet it moves like lightning. It's almost impossible to write a coherent review.
I'm kicking myself for not having read The Fifth Wave sooner than I did. This book is like being slammed into by a tractor trailer, in the best way possible. In the first sixty pages, we've been told everything that has happened so far, and it's so overwhelming that you become so bonded to the characters, because you're able to understand where they're at. Every emotion Cassie felt, I felt as well. It's overwhelming and frustrating, but an incredible experience. Never in a post-apocalyptic/dystopian novel have I been able to fully grasp the loneliness and fear that comes with being in the characters' situations, and I applaud Rick Yancey for the accomplishment. Nothing in this story is black and white, and you never know what you're supposed to trust. It's the plight of the characters, that they can't trust anyone or even themselves, and it was incredible to have that so seamlessly communicated through the writing. I can not wait to see what the sequels have in store for us.

P.S. This book reads like the movie it absolutely MUST be adapted into.

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The Darkest Minds

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The Darkest Minds is a dystopian novel by Alexandra Bracken. In the future, a deadly disease has gone through and damaged the population of children considerably. Those that survived have begun to manifest unique abilities, and no one knows how to handle it. The government finally decides to round up the children and place them in institutions in order to research and possibly find a cure. What those not in the loop don't know is that these institutions are little better than concentration camps, where life is miserable at best, and short-lived at worst. The protagonist Ruby has a past even darker and more twisted than her inmates, and when a possibility of escape arrives, she soon realizes that life on the outside is stranger and more complicated than even she could expect.

This book snuck up on me with how attached I got to it. I was reading along, not thinking I was too invested in it yet, and the next day, it was all I could think about. All I wanted to do was get back to my room so I could sit there and find out what would happen next to Ruby, Liam, Chubs, and Suzume. Something I found interesting was that, at least in the beginning, Ruby is not some strong, brave, defiant heroine whose goal is to take down the system. She's the character you typically scoff at, that you yell at your pages to because they won't stand up and DO something. Because that's realistic. Ruby has been living in what could be considered a concentration camp for six years, told on a daily basis that she's worthless, better off dead, with no forseeable escape. Keeping your head down would be what I would do, at least, and it drew me to Ruby because it made her seem more real. And it doesn't stop the second the plot shifts, but it's a continuing issue with her that she has to overcome throughout the novel.

However, once she grows and begins to realize her self worth, she becomes one of the strongest characters in this book, which I loved. Nothing makes me smile more than visible character development.

I also thought the world building in this was incredibly well done. In Shatter Me, for example, everything is spot on, but the world it takes place in seems a bit randomized, and not entirely developed (though we've been told that will be resolved in the upcoming sequel). The Darkest Minds is one of the better set up dystopians I've read, not simply because it's detailed, but because it is realistic (that word again) to the point where if something like this were to happen, I'd imagine it would go down in a similar way. Alexandra Bracken knows how to spin an amazing impossible tale, and give it a thread of reality strong enough to make it incredible.

And that ending? FOR REAL?!?!?! I can't simply wait around for a sequel with an ending like that! Give me Never Fade, NOW!!!

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