Winter by Marissa Meyer
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends (8th Nov 2015)
Blurb:
When Princess Winter was thirteen, the rumor around the Lunar court was that her glamour would soon be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana. In a fit of jealousy, Levana disfigured Winter. Four years later, Winter has sworn off the use of her glamour altogether. Despite her scars, Winter’s natural beauty, her grace, and her gentleness are winning admiration from the Lunar people that no amount of mind-control could achieve.
Winter despises her stepmother, but has never dreamed of standing up to her. That is, until she realizes that she may be the only one with the power to confront the queen.
Can Cinder, Prince Kai, Scarlet, Wolf, Cress, Thorne, Princess Winter, and the palace guard Jacin find their happily ever afters? Fans will LOVE this amazing conclusion to the series.
I have never been more excited for the final book of a series and Winter is the first finale book that I had to wait because I haven’t been reading that many book series, to begin with. Oh, my! Where do I begin? I picked up Cinder after I read a review by a fellow blogger, surely you’d know who Alexa from Alexa Loves Books is? Her review enticed me to give The Lunar Chronicles a go and I did and I am extremely thrilled that I did because it’s one of the best decisions I made.
Cinder was amazing. Scarlet was wonderful. Cress was beautiful. And Winter? Well, it’s everything you expect from the finale of a series and everything more. Marissa Meyer gave her readers the perfect finale to such a kick-arse and phenomenal series. I finished the book at 3AM last night/this morning and I can’t believe the series has come to an end and all of the characters have their happy ever afters. I was extremely late to the party when I picked up Cinder last year and I finished the series yesterday. I can’t begin to imagine the wait for the next book every other reader had to endure!
Okay, where to begin talking about Winter without sounding like a total fanboy? Heh. Fat chance of that happening! Can I start by putting it out there that for me, Winter has the best cover in the series? I can’t wait to get home and have all the books in the series together so I can take a photo and sigh with contentment? Perfection. There’s nothing like the feeling of completing a book series in the same edition, am I right? I read Winter after I’ve read Fairest, which I strongly recommend you to do so as it gives you a brief introduction to who Winter is. And of course, you get to read more of Marissa Meyer’s work.
Winter picks up where Cress left off and the stakes are much higher now that Levana is on to the gang and she has waged war against the Earthens. I still don’t know why Levana has to resort to violence but moving on, let’s talk about the action-packed scenes in the final instalment of the series, shall we? If you thought the previous books had action, please. It is of utmost imperativeness that you pick up Winter and lose yourself in the story. It was thrilling as it was terrifying, all the while being totally absorbing and utterly addictive. The plot of the book was delicious because for a 824-page novel, it was just a breeze to read. I loved Marissa Meyer’s writing in the previous and there’s no reason for me to feel otherwise in Winter.
Ooh, let’s get on, we haven’t got that much time, now do we? Not that my finals have ended, I have to make a dent on my never ending, ever growing TBR pile! Characters! Let’s split them according to the ships! There’s Kaider, Wolflet, Cresswell and Jacwin. OK, I am sorry, I don’t know the correct ship names for them but these are the ones I came up with on my own. *beep* I just checked. Apparently I almost got all the ship names correctly, based on a Lunartic’s Instagram. It’s Wincin for Winter and Jacin! Not too bad, eh?
Kaider – So much has happened since Cinder and both Cinder and Kai have changed so much. I loved reading about how their relationship grew and they got closer in Cress. Oh, wire cutters, I am so happy that they finally kissed. It got me incredibly giddy and it made me love Kai more! As much as I loved their relationship, Cinder and Thorne’s banter had me smirking and laughing too.
Wolflet – As much as I liked the pairing between Scarlet and Wolf, I was quite disappointed that the redhead and the mutant beast didn’t really have much going on in Winter. Read and you will know what I’m talking about, even though Wolflet isn’t my “one true pairing” (OTP), they got the happy ever after they deserve. Oh, tomatoes. I am so happy for them!
Cresswell – Not to be biased or anything but heaven on earth and stars above, my favourite pairing in the series is Cress and Thorne. What’s not to love when it comes to an adorable, naïve little girl who has never had feelings for anyone and she falls in love with the dashing, Han Solo-esque character in the book upon seeing him for the first time? And they get stuck on a desert together, minus the part where they almost died. Thorne might be all cool and macho and bravado but they are such a sweet pairing and the feels, man alive. Thorne, you make my heart stop!
Jacwin/Wincin – Well, I won’t say that they are my least favourite pairing because I love each and every character in the book dearly. With the exception of the villains, because I would wish to control Levana, Sybil Mira and Aimery Park and let them have their own battle to the end, where all three of them end up dead. Oh, stars! Back to Winter and Jacin. I really liked Winter in the book because she’s quirky and kooky, and she’s beautiful, the way Marissa Meyer describes her. It says a lot when you know a character is beautiful from reading their description. I feel like it took me quite a while to warm up to Jacin, which was a bit disappointing for me because he was like a walking hulk of ice.
Everything in Winter was on point and perfect. It is the ending every reader deserves and so much more – it’s just as spellbinding and explosive as the other books in the series, if not more. Utterly magnificent and upon finishing Winter, it has just placed Marissa Meyer on my list of favourite authors. With the perfect blend of intense fight scenes, mushy and sweet romance that would make you want to cuddle your pillow and glorious triumph, Winter is sparkling like the brightest star in the sky and the explosive, mind-blowing finale the series deserves. The Lunar Chronicles is nothing but Marissa Meyer’s stamp on her signature, sublime storytelling prowess with the most amazing characters you would love and root for. Marissa Meyer made me believe that fairy tales do exist and happy ever afters aren’t as elusive as they seem. Oh, and heroines can seriously kick butt and whoop asses.
Winter is out on hardback, paperback and eBook now.
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