Cress by Marissa Meyer
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publishing Date: February 4, 2014
Page Count: 592 pages
Summary: 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.
This is a review of a sequel, so beware of spoilers! If interested in the series, you kind find the review of the first book, Cinder, here.
Honestly, I feel like each one of the books in the Lunar Chronicles goes a level high than before. I've truly become hooked on this series, more than I believed would happen and I love that the series has surprised me. Meyer has added some real magic to these fairy tales and made them action packed and so interesting to read! This book gave me beautiful butterflies in my stomach every time I read it and thought about it.
In Cress, we find the crew contacting the girl who originally helped Cinder in the first book, and discovering that she herself is a prisoner to the whims of Levana and Thaumaterge Sybil. So, they set out to save this damsel in distress, only to find out that it's not that easy. The characters end up getting split up, leaving Cress and Thorne together trying to find their way back to the others.
I truly enjoyed Thorne's character in Scarlet but I loved him even more in this book! Especially when he and Cress have to rely on each other. I think the chemistry between these two were amazing, with Cress being hesitant and bashful and Thorne being overly charming and entertaining. I also love that, while there was a touch of insta-love with Scarlet and Wolf, that's not what we get here with these two.
This book only touches on the beginnings of a relationship, of something a little more, between these two. And that should be a given, considering how, no matter Cress's crush, she is inherently naive. Giving time for things to grow just makes this relationship so much sweeter (and have I mentioned the chemistry? They were BEAUTIFUL).
I also really enjoy the way the chapters alternate between all the characters, especially since everyone has split up again, and everyone has to go through their specific challenges before coming together again. This series has really grown with each book and Cress was done so well in pacing and bringing together all the different point of views and parts the character's played in what is happening with Levana and her schemes. And as the series itself has grown, so has the characters.
Thorne is faced with his own challenge in this one: he's left blind after a head injury. But true to his character, he took it in stride even though he was obviously left upset about having to adapt and rely on Cress for help. And Iko!! I love Iko so much and the little gift Thorne brings her was so cute. Cress also gets the experience of a lifetime, being able to see Earth in person for the first time ever, and getting that experience of life she craved while stuck on her satellite. Cinder herself has to continuously face the fears that have kept her from even thinking about what she must do after overthrowing Levana and trying to save Earth and the people of Lunar. Due to some rather unfortunately (and sad because WOLF D:) circumstances, Scarlet doesn't play as big a role in book three but it seems, with the introduction of Princess Winter in the last book, she'll be more prevalent in book that completes the series.
Overall, this book was a pretty amazing reading experience. After initial freakout over the outcome of the crew trying to save Cress (because HELLO what a disaster) I was completely hooked. I finished this one much more quickly than I wanted to, and now I'll have to sit here until November to read Winter and finally see that crazy ass Levana not get what she wants most. This is a book I'd definitely recommend to others to read!
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