Review - Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3) by Marissa Meyer

Cress by Marissa Meyer
Publisher: Square Fish (27th Jan 2015) – originally published in hardcover on 4th Feb 2014
Genre: Sci-fi, dystopian, YA

Blurb:
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.

Oh, here it is, folks! Cress, the third book in The Lunar Chronicles and it’s the penultimate book in the series. Are you familiar with the feeling of longing and a particular tinge of sadness and nostalgia when you’re about to finish a series you love so much but the story is building up so nicely that you can’t help but be filled with a desire to race to the ending of the series just so you know what happens in the end, hoping against hope that the characters get the happy endings they deserve?

Please prepare yourself with a ton of gushing from me because I am such a fanboy for Marissa Meyer’s books and I’ve only recently started reading her Lunar Chronicles series and I am loving them. I enjoyed Cinder, I loved Scarlet and I adored Cress. I love fairytales with a twist and Marissa Meyer never fails to deliver a spellbinding plot that would enrapture her readers and leave them breathless and gasping for more.

Cress is the eponymous book in the series that follows the story of Crescent “Cress” Moon, a skilled hacker who is imprisoned in a satellite that orbits the Earth. The treacherous Queen Levana uses Cress’s knack for technology to provide the Lunars with surveillance and intel on Earth. Prior to the events of Cress, she has contacted Cinder in the first book of the series so we have had a brief introduction of who Cress is and her role in the series. After the events in Scarlet, Earth is under turmoil after the vicious attacks launched by Queen Levana. Emperor Kai has to make a decision to save the fate of Eartherns but what if the only option he has is sacrificing himself?

Fanboy mode: on. WHAT EVEN. I THOUGHT SCARLET AND WOLF WERE THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE ROMANCE IN THE SERIES BUT I’VE NEVER BEEN MORE WRONG. I am sorry, Scarlet and Wolf. I am abandoning your stylish, furry and French-y ship. I’m boarding Cresswell. I totally ship the relationship between Cress and Captain Carswell Thorne. I loved how much of a sweet, innocent and unassuming character Cress is, even though her naïveté gets the better of her in some scenarios – bearing in mind that she’s been trapped in an orbiting satellite for 7 years and the poor girl has only her netscreens to keep her company. Tangled is one of my favourite Disney films and while I was reading Cress, I felt that the little love story between the undeniably adorable Cress and ever dashing and charming Captain Thorne is reminiscent of the one between Rapunzel and Flynn Rider!

Once again, Cress is the perfect example of strong female characters and female empowerment as the heroines in the series, Cinder, Scarlet and Cress prove that they can handle a nasty bitch queen as long as they have their self-belief, hope and a delicious can of kick ass. The plot development is detailed and well-paced, Marissa Meyer has divided each heroine’s tale with perfection as every chapter is suspenseful and tantalising, inviting us to read on to feed the curiosity running through our veins. Cinder and Scarlet’s romances were given the backseat because the spotlight in on Cresswell (I can never get bored of this ship. It’s too cute!) but fret not, you will gobble up the sweet, slow-building relationship between Cress and Thorne as they navigate the dangerous terrains of the great Sahara and endure the obstacles that come their way. The ending of this instalment is explosive and thrilling as it paves the way for the grand finale that will take place in Winter, which I am bursting to read.

Like its predecessors, Cress is an absorbing, heart-stopping read that exhibits Marrisa Meyer’s hand in weaving several tales into a great one, all the while infusing romance that would make the coldest of hearts melt because we love a good love story, don’t we? I have a strong feeling that Cress will be on my mind for a while, even after I’ve penned my thoughts in this review. That’s how good the series is getting. So I urge you – yes, you! – to pick up The Lunar Chronicles if you’re looking for a series to escape to.