Book Review: The Lunar Chronicles

Hey guys! You may remember my review of the first book in this series, Cinder, from February. (If you haven't read that one yet, you might want to click here.) Since I finally finished all of the four main books, I'm going to review the series as a whole.

I really loved this series, and it's definitely now on my to-buy list! It was so good that it's left me in one of those book hangovers, where I don't want to read anything at the moment except more of that series.

(Thankfully, there's still two more minor books I haven't read yet, Fairest and Stars Above, so the series isn't quite over yet.
 UPDATE: I've read them now, so, unfortunately, it is over.)

Let me just say, Marissa Meyer is a writing genius. Her ability to remain remarkably accurate to the original Grimm fairy tales while also maintaining a dystopian, sci-fi plotline perfectly woven through all four books and all main characters is simply amazing. I honestly have not found anything like it.

The first book, Cinder, quite obviously focuses on the fairy tale Cinderella. I won't go into much detail since I've already reviewed this book individually, but Meyer did a wonderful job of transplanting all of the traditional Cinderella elements into a new setting. Again, if you haven't read the review on this one, you should really go read that first. I go into a lot more detail about this book there!

The second book is Scarlet, and this is a twist on Little Red Riding Hood. This one is, of all of them, probably the least accurate to the original fairy tale, but fantastic nonetheless. I was extremely glad when Cinder showed up again, because I was afraid this was going to be one of those series that doesn't connect between books. Boy, was I wrong! The books definitely connect, in more ways than you even realize to begin with.

Thirdly, there's Cress, based on the story of Rapunzel. After going back and reading the original fairy tale when I got my new copy of Grimm's complete fairy tales, I found so many little connections to the original story that it just blew me away. I can't actually list them all without giving you way too many spoilers, but seriously, I mean it when I say Meyer is a genius. I can't imagine how much time she spent studying the original stories and planning and editing her novel to get all of those little tie-ins in there.

I really should have stopped and read Fairest here, since it expands upon the main antagonist's backstory, which would have been good information to know before I read the last book. But I haven't actually found a copy at the library yet, so I'll read it whenever I get a chance. UPDATE: I just downloaded this on iBooks and read it in one night. Literally could not put it down! This was a fantastic addition to the series that really helps give a lot of backstory and understanding to the story.

Skipping ahead to the last major book in the series, Winter. I'm sure you can take one look at the cover and know what story this book is based on. That's right, Snow White. It may have been missing a few small things from the original (i.e. seven dwarves... unless I missed a reference somewhere), but it was definitely full of action. And, if you pay attention, there's plenty of other clever references to the Grimm version.

I really have no idea what Stars Above is about. Sorry about that, but I will definitely be reading it as soon as I can.

ALSO UPDATE: I downloaded this book as well, and read it in about a day and a half. It's a collection of short strories in the Lunar Chronicles universe. It was awesome to have more backstory for the main characters, as well as an epilogue to Winter and a new short story based on a different fairy tale!

Overall, I would highly highly recommend this series. It really has got everything: science fiction, fantasy, action, and romance, and I feel like most everyone could find something about the books that they like. They have definitely become some of my new favorites, and I'll be adding them to my collection as soon as I can.

Have you read these books? Do you want to? Let me know what you think in comments below!