Review - Cress by Marissa Meyer @marissa_meyer

In this third book in Marissa Meyer's bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they're plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and prevent her army from invading Earth.

 Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl trapped on a satellite since childhood who's only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she's being forced to work for Queen Levana, and she's just received orders to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

 When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is splintered. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a higher price than she'd ever expected. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai, especially the cyborg mechanic. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.

Review:

Marissa Meyer did something right with this book series because I can’t stop reading it. She’s created a sci-fi fantasy world that I’ve been able to completely immerse myself in. I enjoy the way she has taken classic fairy tales and given it a completely unique twist. Their stories are recognizable but she has given them enough changes that it is now her own story and characters but kept the essence of the stories without making the books stale.

The third book in the series introduces this world's version of Rapunzel. Cress, is an alien hacker locked up in a satellite orbiting the earth instead of a tower. I adore the way Meyer incorporated the classic elements of the original Rapunzel story. In Meyer’s version, Cress, is a hacker and her hacking abilities are too unrealistic for me to sustain my suspension of disbelief. While it is a modernized fairy tale, it bothered me how she seemed to know magically absolutely everything relevant to the plot without any real explanation as to how.

Meyer did an incredible job of making a story that held my interest despite the story’s problems. It has the right amount of adventure and violence and romance to make it enjoyable. I appreciate the work she put into making her story universe for Cress to take place in. Her characters for the most part are all interesting and with their own distinct voice. She created an irresistible plot and knows how to word things to keep you guessing and wanting more.