Cress by Marissa Meyer

YES! I was able to read an ARC copy of CRESS borrowed from my friend Karin! Here is a copy of the book I read:

The big cover reveal was this past week and as with the other two books in the Lunar Chronicle series it does not disappoint:

MY REVIEW:

I am a huge fan of series. I love them! I'm addicted to them. I can't seem to ever have enough of them. I'm obsessed with collecting every book in the series. Sometimes though I have gotten disappointed in a series and thought about actually not buying any future books in that series...That is so not the case in The Lunar Chronicles!! Each book so far has been just as good as the very first one. CRESS does not disappoint from the opening pages to the very end. The Lunar Chronicles have become one of my favorite series of all-time.

As you can tell from the cover there is a take on the Rapunzel fairy tale in CRESS. Instead of the princess stuck in the tower though Cress has been stuck in a Satellite for 7 years monitoring Earth for her Lunar Mistress Sybil. Dreaming of someday being rescued by a handsome prince, Cress spends her days alone entertained only by her dreams and the monitors that fill her satellite.

Cinder and the rest of the cast are all back in CRESS. Cinder and Captain Thorne are still on the run from Queen Levana's army. They are now joined by Wolf and Scarlet. Cinder is trying to find a way to stop the wedding between Emperor Kai and Queen Levana without starting a war of epic proportions. When they all become separated it looks like their mission is doomed. With Lunar ships waiting outside of Earth's atmosphere it is only a matter of time before Queen Levana's wishes are granted and she becomes supreme ruler of all.

With each book and each added character I become more of a fan of these books. Captain Thorne as the worldly rogue and Cress as the innocent and naive make the perfect couple! Cinder and Kai seem like a lost hope with Kai going to marry Levana, but all hope is not lost for them as a couple. Wolf and Scarlet are not very prominent in CRESS, but their relationship has developed and there is a strong bond between them. Then I think my favorite character is the robot Iko! She cracks me up with her antics of trying to be human. She is quite entertaining.

The ARC copy of CRESS has 550 pages in it and I have to say I was disappointed when I turned that last page! The published copy doesn't come out until February 2014 which means the last book in the series will not be published until 2015. That is a LONG time to wait for the ending of this wonderful series. If you haven't picked up The Lunar Chronicles yet I would say they are a MUST READ. Here are my reviews of CINDER and SCARLET.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

First off, don't you just love this cover?! From the first time I saw it I wanted to get this book and read it. Yup, I love a good cover!

Cinder is a cyborg. She lives with her guardian and 2 step sisters. Yes, this is a retelling of Cinderella. 

Cinder is a mechanic in the marketplace. She can repair just about anything.  Prince Kai, the soon to be emperor of New Beijing, brings his android for Cinder to fix. Cinder can't believe when the prince seems to be flirting with her. But Cinder knows that she can never be attractive to him once he finds out that she is cyborg.

When the dreaded plague attacks Cinders step-sister Peony, Cinders step-mother immediately volunteers Cinder to go to the palace research facility to be tested on for a cure. No cyborg that is tested on ever comes out alive.

When Kai's father dies from the plague Kai is made emperor. Being forced to marry the Lunar queen in order to save earth from war, Kai holds a ball to announce his coming marriage. Barely able to be civil to the queen, Kai is determined to save his people from war with the Lunar's. Cinder has found a hidden chip in Kai's android that will expose the Lunar queen's plans for war. She must go to the ball in order to inform Kai before it is too late.

I really enjoyed this story and am looking forward to the next book in the series. Cinder kind of reminded me of the Uglies, Pretties, Specials series by Scott Westerfeld. I don't even know why? Maybe because of the post-apocalyptic flavor to it? Maybe because of the advanced technology? Whatever the reason, with robots, spacecraft, cyborgs, romance and evil queens and step-mothers Cinder is a fun read and a great new twist to the Cinderella story!