Fairest

The Lunar Chronicles - Levana's Story

By: Marissa Meyer

Narrated by: Rebecca Soler

Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's Summary

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?

Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her "glamour" to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story - a story that has never been told - until now.

Marissa Meyer spins yet another unforgettable tale about love and war, deceit and death.

©2015 Marissa Meyer (P)2014 Macmillan Audio

For fans only

This should really be called The Lunar Chronicles 0.5, not 3.5, because it is a prequel that takes us up to the start of events in Cinder. It's an interesting backstory on Queen Levana. As a fan of the series, I'm glad to have listened to it, although you can easily give it a miss and not lose any momentum of the main story arc.

However, my primary criterion for an audiobook's success is 'Will I listen to it again?', and by this measure, Fairest fails completely. I never intend to listen to this book again. It has no humor, no light moments at all. It is unrelievedly dark and sad, as Levana first experiences horrible physical and mental abuse as a child, always feels unloved, and grows up quietly turning into a sociopath. How many times would you want to listen to a child being forced into a fire, or a absolute monarch deciding to cut off a servant's feet so she'll have nothing better to do than sew the queen's clothes? See what I mean? It's ALL like that.

Rebecca Soler's narration is fine, but it's not going to redeem a story like this for me.

Also, buyer beware that this book really only clocks in at around 6 hours, which I generally feel is not worth an entire credit. A full 30 minutes is given to the beginning chapters of Winter, which is supposed to complete the series and is not due out until the fall. I got more enjoyment out of those few chapters than I did from the entire story of Fairest.

Not as sexual as other reviews imply

I listened to this book out of order, I listened to Cinder and then Fairest. This is the story of how Levana came to be the vicious ruler that we hear about Cinder, Scarlet and Cress.

Queen Levana didn't have very loving parents, and she had a truly pathological sister. We learn the sad tale of how Levana came to have the scars she had, and about her ruthless rise to the thrown, and what she was willing to do in order to never lose it.

A lot of reviews talk about the sexual aspect of this book; I feel that it's worth mentioning that, just like in Harry Potter, you grow with the book. As you move further into the series, the age of the reader is presumed to have grown as well. I don't think the book was overly sexual; but if the reader hasn't learned anything about sex, then you won't want them to learn about a 16 year old girl losing her virginity.

Remarkably, the sex wasn't the part of the book that I found upsetting. I was more upset/disturbed by the story of Levana's accident, and the things that she did to secure her role as queen.


**Possible spoiler; but related to sexual aspects of the book**
The only sexual events in this book include: the older sister sleeping with many men, in no detail other than you know that the relationship is sexual. Levana (at age 16) using her glamour to get a man to take her virginity, and then a brief sentence where she mentions the blood on the post coital sheets. Otherwise, Levana talks about wanting a baby, and sharing a bed with her prince, in little to no detail.
*I hope this information helps listeners decide if this appropriate to share with younger listeners/readers.

Don't Waste a Credit

I love this series, but Fairest is a waste. An entire story devoted to a sociopath. We already knew Levana was awful. Now we get to see how she got there. The story is unusually short for listening purposes and has not one happy or amusing moment. It does nothing to advance the saga. Wait for Winter.

Fantastic depiction of a villain's rise

I've become a huge fan of the Lunar Chronicles. I didn't know what to expect from this story, which is for Queen Levana what the Star Wars prequels were for Darth Vader in that it shows how she turned from a sympathetic and well-meaning teen into a fearsome villain. And thankfully, Marissa Meyer handled the gradual twisting of her villain much more dexterously than George Lucas did. Watching Levana's gradual transformation into the terrifying force of evil she is in the first three Lunar Chronicle books is like watching a burning building. It's kind of horrible, yet perversely entertaining, and you just can't look away.

I'd recommend reading this story only after reading the first three Lunar Chronicles books, as there are many references to (and perhaps mild spoilers for) Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress. Reading Fairest after those three added a lot of color to the world Meyer has built. Whereas the first three take place mostly on Earth and offer only glimpses of Luna, Fairest shows us what's happening on the other side of the war.

Anyway, loved this book, love this series, and can't wait for the next installment!

Not for me

People have called this. More than "dark", this goes into sexual coercion in a way that left me uncomfortable.

Not for me

This is a matter of preference. No matter how good the story, the writing, the narration, I don't like to spend time with unpleasant characters. This is a story about an unpleasant character. Spoiler alert: What I term as a 'dating at the funeral' situation was unpleasant, showing a true sociopath with no empathy resulting in bizarre behavior. I was really looking forward to this book, but was unable to enjoy it. Nothing wrong with the story at all, just too dark. I am looking forward to the next book, but I will try to forget this one. Up to this point I had really enjoyed the series.

Totally disappointed

If you are looking for a background story of where the primary characters of the story line came from...then you might be satisfied.

The previous books have wonderful balance of story, character development, drama and action. If this book had those qualities, I would be writing a different review.

This is soooooo weighted toward the drama of Levana... the story is very slow.. and the only action is a fire.

so, for me this was disappointing because it does not fit into style of the other books.

How disappointed I am in you Ms Meyer

As in the The first three books, then narration was very good. However, this is a series that appeals to middle and high school girls. While this book is appropriate for adults, there are many aspects that are too intense and motivated by a level of evil and cunning that, in my opinion, is not appropriate for middle schoolers. This series is on our Accelerated Reading lists, but this book I can't put on the middle school list.

Waste of a credit...disappointment

The reader's performance was good, as usual, but the story was depressing. I guess that's to be expected, given what we already knew about Levana, but in my anticipation of another Lunar Chronicles book I set my hopes too high. I wish Marissa Meyer had just skipped this book and released Winter instead. This offers nothing to the story except to see how Levana went from a selfish brat to a crazy queen. There's not a happy moment in the book.

I wish books had ratings

Dark story but then the evil queen is dark. I was disappointed with the sex in the book. Was it necessary to talk about the many conquests of the Queen and mind control to get a guard in bed with the 16 year old princess? This is supposed to be a book for young people. I loved the first 3 books and got my granddaughter started on the series. I don't want her to read this one and now I'm worried about the next one.