Title: Stars Above
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #4.5
Previous books in this series: Cinder (#1) | Scarlet (#2) | Cress (#3) | Fairest (#3.5) | Winter (#4)
Author: Marissa Meyer
Genre: YA, sci-fi, fairy tale retelling
Publication date: February 2016
Published by: Feiwel & Friends
Source: Purchased paperback
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Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository | Thrift BooksSynopsis: The universe of the Lunar Chronicles holds stories—and secrets—that are wondrous, vicious, and romantic. How did Cinder first arrive in New Beijing? How did the brooding soldier Wolf transform from young man to killer? When did Princess Winter and the palace guard Jacin realize their destinies? With nine stories—five of which have never before been published—and an excerpt from Marissa Meyer’s novel, Heartless, about the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, Stars Above is essential for fans of the bestselling and beloved Lunar Chronicles.
CONTENTSThe Keeper: A prequel to the Lunar Chronicles, showing a young Scarlet and how Princess Selene came into the care of Michelle Benoit.Glitches: In this prequel to Cinder, we see the results of the plague play out, and the emotional toll it takes on Cinder. Something that may, or may not, be a glitch...The Queen’s Army: In this prequel to Scarlet, we’re introduced to the army Queen Levana is building, and one soldier in particular who will do anything to keep from becoming the monster they want him to be.Carswell’s Guide to Being Lucky: Thirteen-year-old Carswell Thorne has big plans involving a Rampion spaceship and a no-return trip out of Los Angeles.After Sunshine Passes By: In this prequel to Cress, we see how a nine-year-old Cress ended up alone on a satellite, spying on Earth for Luna.The Princess and the Guard: In this prequel to Winter, we see a young Winter and Jacin playing a game called the Princess and the Guard...The Little Android: A retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid,” set in the world of The Lunar Chronicles.The Mechanic: In this prequel to Cinder, we see Kai and Cinder’s first meeting from Kai’s perspective.Something Old, Something New: In this epilogue to Winter, friends gather for the wedding of the century...
After finishing Winter, I was not quite ready to say goodbye to this world just yet, so I was very happy to find out that this exists. I loved it! It’s basically a collection of short stories set in the TLC world. We get a couple of different POVs, and most of them are prequels and go into the character’s past. There is one that doesn’t have a familiar main character, but it does take place in this same world. And then the very last story takes place AFTER Winter, so that was a nice insight into what they’ve been up to. And yeah, I obviously loved them all 😉
“It’s an unassuming name, but also... powerful. Because of where she came from. She survived that fire. She was reborn from the cinders.”
This first story is about Scarlet’s grandmother, Michelle, and her taking in a young Cinder, aka Princess Selene (although it does switch POVs from both Scarlet and Michelle. Scarlet’s grandfather saved Cinder from Levana and brought her to Earth (to Michelle) to keep her safe. And Scarlet had no idea that any of this was going on! And Cinder was in the tank for YEARS. Michelle hid her away and took care of her until they woke her up for Garan to take home.
I really loved the story and following all these side characters as they tried to save Princess Selene and protect her until she could take on her evil Aunt Levana.
Glitches is a prequel to Cinder and it takes place a few years back when little Cinder meets her new family. I really loved this novella and seeing Cinder arriving and meeting her new family. Even though I already knew how awful Adri was and that Garan didn’t make it, it still got me! It was so sad! But I highly recommend this to anyone who is as big a fan of The Lunar Chronicles as I am! It was amazing! (See the rest of my review HERE.)
The Queen’s Army takes place just before Scarlet and it’s about Wolf, aka Z, and him being turned into a soldier. It tells the story from the moment they came for him in his home, to his transition through the mutations, to how he became an alpha. It was just a really sad story 😞 But even though it made me incredibly sad, I liked it and liked seeing first-hand what this awful program was about and the awful things they did to these poor kids because of Levana. (See the rest of my review HERE.)
One of my favorite characters of this series is Throne, so you can bet I was excited to read this!
So Throne didn’t have the childhood I expected. He came from a rich family and he seemed to have everything. But as I kept reading this story, I started to understand him and why he left home to be a captain.
However, he was definitely a jerk for using people—a girl in particular—to get things he wants. I can admit that. But he changed so much throughout the series, so I’m glad for that.
This short story takes place WAY before he even meets Cinder. It was very interesting to see what he was like back then, but also why he is the way he is. I really enjoyed this one!
This was only the second time Carswell Thorne had stopped to ponder one Kat Fallow. The first time, he had wondered why she liked books so much, and if it had anything to do with why he liked spaceships. Because they could take you somewhere far, far away from here.
This short story is about 9-year-old Cress and how she wound up in the satellite. Basically, the excuse Sybil gave Cress for taking her blood was that they were trying to find a way to “fix” shells.
“But until that day, you have no place in civilized society, and no purpose beyond the blood that runs through your veins.”
She is awful! 😩 But little Cress wanted Sybil to be fond of her regardless! Little Cress is just so sweet. But she’s also really smart and imaginative! I really love that about her!
I really liked the story as well. I’ve always wondered how Cress wound up stuck up there, so it was nice to get a glimpse into this and just her past in general.
This one was a little surprising to me. It centers around Winter and Jacin... Jacin, who I was not the biggest fan of in Cress but came around to in Winter. I read this short story before Winter, so I was surprised at what a sweetheart Jacin was... to Winter only. Lol. I really loved seeing this side of him. And the story actually starts off with a little role playing between them and it was the cutest freaking thing ever! 😍
Anyway, this tells the story of why Winter decided to stop using her powers. And you know what, I totally get it. After reading what happened, I understand why she wouldn’t want to use them at all.
It’s so horrible. Poor girl. Poor Winter. And that’s why she made the vow to never use her power again for any reason. It’s understandable even if it does deteriorate her mind. She is so selfless and I love her 🖤
We also learn a bit about Jacin. Not only is he sweet and protective, but he wanted to be a doctor! He is only a guard to protect Winter from Levana. Oh, and speaking of that, we also see how she was disfigured... I mean, we know it was Levana, of course, but we see what led up to that. It was awful. Levana is the worst!
I really loved this short story! It helped understand Winter and her decision to not use her abilities, and we also understand Jacin and his motives better. The relationship between Winter and Jacin I really loved—it was SO cute! And when Winter realized she was in love with him... it was even more cute! 😍 I loved it!
From the title, you can probably guess that The Little Android is a retelling of The Little Mermaid. But this is the Hans Christian Andersen one, not the Disney one, so things happen. Yikes 😬
Our “mermaid” is an android called Mech6.0 (aka Star later on in the story) and she is very glitchy and loved her gossip. Lol. Mech6.0 ends up falling for this really nice guy working on a ship after she saves him from a nasty fall. Honestly, Mech6.0 might be an android, but damn, is she awesome! I love her! As we know from the OG Little Mermaid story, the guy falls in love with another girl, and even though I was expecting this, it was still so sad! He seemed nice and even the other girl was nice, too, but my poor Mech6.0! 😩 I really felt for her.
This was such a good, heartbreaking story and I absolutely loved it! There was so much to this story that I was not expecting, even though I knew the basic outline of the original fairy tale. I also loved Mech6.0 and how so sweet and selfless she was. She was basically another glitchy android, and I’m gonna be honest, I love them glitchy androids. Lol. We also got a cameo from a main character in the series that I did not see coming, but it was a really cool surprise! I loved this short story! 💔 (See the rest of my review HERE.)
So this little gem is Kai’s POV of when he first met Cinder at the market. He is taking his android to her to fix because it may have some important information regarding Princess Selene, who he is looking for. We know this. But you know what didn’t occur to me until reading this short story? So he’s looking for the princess so she can overthrow Levana, right? But what if the princess was as bad or WORSE than Levana? Obviously she’s not, since we know it’s Cinder. But what if it wasn’t Cinder? He got lucky. Lol.
Anyway, I thought the meeting in Cinder (the book lol) was already cute, but OMG I just can’t with this one! I didn’t realize I needed Kai’s POV on the meeting! 😍 But I'm so glad we got it because it was so freaking cute! I love him! I loved this entire thing, even though we've already seen it before from Cinder’s POV. It was great 🥰
This last short story takes place after Winter. Cinder has been on Luna for a while, you know, being a Queen and stuff. But now, Cinder is heading down to Earth to visit her friends for a very special occasion. When She and Kai reunite...
It wasn't until that moment, seeing Kai’s smile and being wrapped up in his arms—both of them ignoring the fact that the world was watching—that she realized he was the home she'd been missing.
It was the sweetest thing ever! They were just so cute together. I loved it! Also love Cress and Thorne. I really missed Thorne and his sass. Lol. And Winter seems to be doing better since she got the implant to suppress her powers, which I am so happy about! She sacrificed her mind to save Jacin in Winter, which was so sweet and selfless of her. But I am so happy to see her doing well.
It was a lot of fun to see what the characters have been up to since Winter. Cinder has been working to dissolve the monarchy, Scarlet and Wolf have been working on the farm, Cress and Thorne have been going around distributing the letumosis antidote all over the world, and Winter and Jacin doing ambassador-y things.
I really loved this one! It was just sweet all around and I loved seeing what the characters were up to and just seeing them reconnect and getting together for this very special occasion. I miss them already 😩
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