Fairest

Author: Marissa Meyer

Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Retelling

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Year: 2015

Ranking: 4,5/ 5

  

Synopsis

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. This extraordinary book includes full-color art and an excerpt from Winter, the next book in the Lunar Chronicles series. 

The Author

Marissa Meyer is an American novelist. Her debut novel, Cinder was released on January 3, 2012. It is the first in her new series, "The Lunar Chronicles". Meyer was born in Tacoma, Washington and attended Pacific Lutheran University, where she received a degree in creative writing. Before writing Cinder, Meyer worked as a book editor for five years and wrote Sailor Moon fan fiction under the pen name of Alicia Blade. In an interview with The News-Tribune, she said that doing the fan fiction helped her learn the craft of writing, gave her instant feedback and how to take criticism. 

The Lunar Chronicles is a four book series (quartet) with volumes based on Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Snow White. The first book, Cinder, was a New York Times bestseller. In 2013 Meyer received a new 2-book deal from Feiwel & Friends for a young adult series featuring the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland. The first book, Heartless, is set for a Fall 2015 release. 

Personal Experience with This Book

Fairest.... Oh Fairest. I waited so Long for you to come out. And it was worth the wait.

A short but spectacular book. With small pieces of what life was like before Levanna met our protagonists of the series. The story of how she became queen and how Winter ended up being her stepdaughter.

I loved this book. As I have loved every book in the series since I started reading it. I think that gives you an understanding of the personality of Levanna, of why she did what she has done and what are her main reasons to want to marry Kai. But the truth is if you read this you will hate Levanna even more than you hated her before. Levanna is evil by nature and a mentally ill character. For me, at least.

I fully understand that because of what happened when she was a child, she is marked by the hatred to her sister and that she has never felt loved by anyone. And when finally someone, someone she has admired for a long time, it shows her a little bit of concern and interest in her life, she just gets happy and amazed by that, and that she feels loved which I completely understand her excitement. However, and I must say this, the extent to which this woman takes things was definitely out of context.

She becomes so obsessed with the poor man Evret who end up having mental problems because of this woman. And besides, Cinder and Winter fall victim of her obsession about having children and being queen. Levanna is a really twisted character.

I loved knowing about Cinder and Winter’s life as children and I enjoyed knowing the relationship between Jacin and Winter when they were young. I loved seeing a somewhat softer side of Channary (she was a monster also) with his daughter. And I was very pleased to see the first 3 chapters of Winter at the end of the book. This only leaves you wanting more! But ....anyways.

Fairest is a book that complements the Lunar Chronicles in a spectacular way. Everything that happened before I started this story with Cinder seems to be unimportant to the story until I read this book. So I think if you read Cinder, it makes sense to read this book too. But do not read it before reading Cinder ... or Scarlet or Cress. Read it after reading the previous three, that way it will be easier to understand.