Cress: The Lunar Chronicles

After reading Cinder, I'd been a bit disappointed by Scarlet, so with some hesitation I started Cress.

Overall: What a brilliant surprise. Not only was the book itself an excellent continuation, it made Scarlet make more sense. The author actually bothers to tie up details that felt "too convenient" from Scarlet giving them believable reasons for occurring rather than just ignoring them and hoping the reader will suspend believability. This is rare and highly enjoyable in a YA book.

Character: Cress herself as commented in a different review is a refreshing change in perspective. She is not the usual "tough"girl (Scarlet) or the "smart" tomboy (Cinder), but rather a gentle rather shy heroine who screams when she's afraid gets excited over pretty dresses but still has the courage to do what's right. Her relationship with Thorn is awkward and hilarious and full of true feelings rather than sappy. The author even makes a gentle, but distinct point that helped compensate for the Scarlet (love at first sight) that generally romance is simply an opportunity not a destiny. Cress is an excellent compliment to the other two characters, and gives the story heart.

Plot: The genius in managing to stick to the outline of the original fairytale while weaving the story into a huge multi-layered, fast-paced plot put these books neatly above the cliched YA. I must take my hat off to the author. I consumed the book neatly in two days flat and was left eagerly awaiting Winter. However, never fear readers! She actually bothers to tie up plot-lines instead of dragging them on to the final page of the book. Rather she hooks you with new twists instead of relying on only one dramatic question.

STORY (YA fantasy scifi) - Cress is the third book in The Lunar Chronicles series. Like the first two, it is a futuristic twist to a classic fairy tale. Cinder(ella) is a cyborg mechanic with a mean step-family who dreams of attending a ball and meeting Prince Kai. Scarlet (similar to Red Riding Hood) has a boyfriend named Wolf and has been searching for her lost grandmother. Now we add Cress, who is a long-haired computer hacker trapped in a lunar satellite (like Rapunzel in her tower). The characters are all working together to foil an attempt by the evil Lunar Queen Levana to extend her reign to Earth, and the author has done a masterful job of combining the characters and stories together into one clever plot.

This is a fun, easy listen which works well as a break between "heavier" books. It is fast-paced, with lots of action and touches of romance. You should listen to the books in order, as each one introduces a new fairy tale character to the overall plot. Cress comes to a nice stopping point, but the adventure will continue into future book(s) as the plan to thwart the conquer of Earth by Queen Levana continues...

NARRATOR - Good job, but nothing special.

OVERALL - Recommended for listeners of all ages -- a great story for family listening.

Great story, great characters, easy read. The beginning is a little slow. I'm not sure if it was because I wanted to jump into the Cinder storyline, or if it was because Cress's character was being set up. Once we knew exactly who she was, the book took off. And we were off and running with Cinder!

Yes, she does a good job. Her portrayal of Queen Levana is a little weird, but all in all she does it well.

All I can say is watch for Captain Thorne running down a hall. That is all I can say. Lets just say the crowd of people around me were looking around to see what was funny.

Yes, how long do we have to wait for book 4?

I cannot express enough how good these books are. The characters, setting, plot, everything is fantastic! If you like scifi and fantasy and adventure, and amazing multidimensional characters, this is the book series for you and this is the best one yet!!!

The Lunar Chronicles Series by Marissa Meyer is at the top of my “Favorite Series” list, and has been since I read Cinder two summers ago. And while I was disappointed with the ending of Cinder, Scarlet more than made up for it. (Read my review of Scarlet here.)

Cress is the third installment in the series, and in my opinion, the best yet. I just loved Cress (and little Cress). Though she is a definite remake of Rapunzel, Cress is a totally unique character. Meyer has woven a backstory for Cress that is heartbreaking, yet the girl, while terribly naive, is brave beyond measure, though it is in her own small way.

I loved getting to know Captain Thorne a bit better as well. He isn’t quite as he seems. While he may not be the dashing, hardhearted rogue he wants everyone to believe, neither is he the knight in shining armor that Cress imagines. The truth is more of a strange mixture of the two. There were moments when I really thought he was beyond hope, but maybe he’s not.

I’m on pins and needles to see what is next for the whole crew in the upcoming “Winter”. I’m hoping that Scarlet and Wolf will be reunited and, in addition to learning Princess Winter’s story, we will finally get some closure on the budding romances between Cinder & Kai, Scarlett & Wolf, and Cress & Thorne.

It's impossible to narrow it down to one thing...
I love the premise, it's like a mash up of Disney princesses and Star Wars or Firefly--3 of my favorite things, no big deal. Just kidding, this series makes me giddy. AND Marissa Meyer does not disappoint.

The plot is clever. Meyer puts her own spin on classic fairytales, intricately weaving together multiple stories while managing to remain true to the most beloved parts of the original.

The Characters. I love them. All of them. Meyer does such a great job with the group dynamic. I love how she brings the different princesses to life with all of their idiosyncrasies. I love each of them, it's hard to pick a favorite, which means there's never a dull chapter. Each POV keeps my attention, I never wanted to skip ahead to a different plot line. I love that the 'princes' have personalities, woo hoo! (thankfully Disney and Pixar are jumping on that bandwagon, too). Captain Thorne is my absolute favorite.
Oh, and we can't forget about our favorite sidekick, Iko, she is simply fabulous.

The narration. Rebecca Soler is the best narrator I've ever listened to (and I have a few dozen audiobooks). She really brings the characters alive, giving each one a perfect voice. She truly is an actor. Every emotion the character's are feeling come through in her tone and delivery, she has great comedic timing, great accents, and a pretty awesome robot voice. Not gonna lie, I'm jealous. She brings something to the story that I never would've gotten simply from reading it. There are times where her acting is so good I feel like I'm listening to a movie. Soler is the best. I wish she narrated more books.

The plot, characters, settings, adventure, the romance, and the world of The Lunar Chronicles. That's everything, right?

Don't ask that of me, it's impossible to choose.

Definitely.

We need to get a petition going for Joss Whedon to turn this series into a movie.

Cress is an amazing continuation of The Lunar Chronicles. This has been my favorite series that remade fairy tales.

Lunar chronicles is such a fantastic series and the next installment Cress doesn't disappoint. In this installment we have Cress (aka Rapunzel) joining the band of misfit princess'. Cress is a Lunar Shell that has been imprisoned on a satellite orbiting the earth for the last 7 years forced to operate as the queen's personal programmer/ hacker. Cinder attempts a rescue mission to spring Cress free when everything hits the preverbal fan. The whole group of outlaws must find away to regroup and stop the royal wedding between Queen Lavanna and Emperor Kia. I absolutely love the new futuristic spin on the classic princess fairy tales, the best spin of all is the damsel in distress princess' turning into kick-butt hero's and I love it! I hope "snow white" will be joining to gang in the next installment, which I am eagerly waiting for. Very credit worthy all the way.

Recall: Cinder, the Lunar cyborg mechanic, is still on the run from the evil Lunar Queen Levana. Cinder knows that she is the young missing Princess Selene and she is plotting to overthrow the queen with the help of Captain Thorne, Scarlet, and Wolf.

Cress has been imprisoned on a satellite since she was a girl. All of her solitude has been spent playing on her netscreens, which have made her an excellent hacker. Cress was the one who warned Cinder about Levana’s plan to kill Kai in the first book, and Cinder plans to repay the favor by saving Cress from her satellite, when things take a turn for the worst.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story; I didn’t like the second book very much, so I was worried that this may not be very good either, but it was a great story. Cinder has growing and understanding her powers, Iko is as charming as ever, and the rest of our cast, especially Thorne and Cress are all great characters. I even went back to “Fairest” because the end has the first couple of chapters from “Winter” and I just needed to hear them. Can’t wait until the Winter comes out on November 10, 2015!

The story it's self and the narration. Good story + good narrator = listening heaven.

All the action. It was so exciting I didn't want it to end.

She did a great job at narrating as she did in the previous two book. Her voices for the characters are distinctive and easy to following. She bring lots of energy to the story and it's characters. Making this a entertaining and exciting fast paced listen.

I need book 4 now! I don't know how I'm going to be able to wait until next year for the conclusion. I'm excited to learn more about the Queen's stepdaughter (who will be a spin on Snow White) in Winter which is book 4. We got a brief glimpse of her in Cress. I know Winter is going to be even more action packed in the conclusion of this series. Sigh. Can't wait.