Cress by Marissa Meyer

Summary (from Goodreads):

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.

Review:

There aren’t a lot of writers out there who can pull off switching points of view between such a large cast of main characters as expertly as Meyer does. Then again, I don’t know if anyone else could be as capable of weaving together multiple fairy tales in a futuristic setting with scary mind control Lunars (aka: moon aliens), space travel, a terrifying plague, and cyborgs. When I actually first heard of the idea for Cinder, I remember thinking did Meyer just compile a list of all the things she liked and then just decide she would somehow include them all in her first book? Seriously, how can she combine so many things, so many different elements and not only make it work, but make these books some of my all time favorite YA?

I have decided that Meyer is a master storyteller. And if I were to meet her, it would be hard not to curtsy or go into a Wayne’s World type, “we’re not worthy” mantra. These books could have gone in so many bad directions, and I was a little scared upon seeing the massive size of Cress, that maybe Meyer was finally just going to put too much into one book, but no. Cress was actually my favorite so far. And not until this book, is it clear just how talented Meyer is at weaving all her stories together. She clearly had stuff planned from the beginning that she’s implanting now, and I was a little amazed at how well put together her story is in its entirety.

There are still certain YA clichés that Meyer doesn’t avoid (like a lot of instant love soul mate type romance); however, she is writing fairy tales. And, I’ve been more than impressed by how these modernized tales are holding close to their originals (which involve a lot of this kind of romance). Also, romance never takes the lead in these books. All of the wonderful girl main characters know how to prioritize. World saving comes first. Also, a lot of these characters put themselves first! They actually think about what works for them and what they need before jumping into an instant love romance. I don’t think Cinder of Scarlet would be in love with their guys if they’re guys’ points of view of the world were any different. And I love this about them.

Cress, on the other hand, took me a little longer to love. But, like the others, I do love her. I’m never as interested in damsels in distress as I am strong female characters. And Cress was kind of a damsel. Thankfully, she was a computer genius damsel. So if you have to be saved by your long-time crush you might as well be able to help him hack into places and hide his space ship from those looking for it.

I also just love Cinder, and was happy to realize that she still remains a central element to the whole series. She has really grown into herself as a person, and a cyborg not to be messed with. It’s interesting watching her learn to use her powers. And Scarlet I can’t really talk about without giving things away. But, poor Scarlet! I hope her story improves in the next book!

Cress was loaded with un-put-down-able adventure and action. There’s a royal wedding to interrupt, African desserts to cross, crashing satellites, kidnapping, surgery, long lost family members, discoveries about the plague that change everything, revenge, torture, and more new characters, more romance, and just more! I need the next book now! I give this one a 10/10. And I cannot wait for Winter to come out. Also, how can you not love an author who manages to thank Tuxedo Mask in her acknowledgements section?