Review: Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3) by Marissa Meyer

Title: Cress

Series: The Lunar Chronicles #3

Previous books in this series: Cinder (#1) | Scarlet (#2)

Previous novellas in this series: Glitches (#0.5) | The Little Android (#0.6) | The Queen's Army (#1.5)

Author: Marissa Meyer

Genre: YA, sci-fi, fairy tale retelling

Publication date: February 2014

Published by: Feiwel & Friends

Source: Purchased paperback

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Synopsis: In this third book in the Lunar Chronicles, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they're plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army.

Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl imprisoned on a satellite since childhood who's only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she's just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a higher price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.

My rating: ★★★★★

So this book follows the beats of the Rapunzel fairy tale, with Cress being our Rapunzel. Poor Cress has been locked away in a freaking satellite in space for a long time! However, Thorne and Cinder launch a rescue mission to save her... but then things go all sorts of wrong 😬

I was very excited for this book! One of my favorite things about the series is all the interactions between the characters. And one of my favorite characters so far in this series that we just met in Scarlet is Thorne. We got SO MUCH Thorne in this one and I could not be more happy! 😍 I love him! I also really loved Cress. She’s very endearing and shy and just really sweet. Her obvious crush on Thorne was funny but also so freaking cute! 😆 They’re thrown into a situation together and I just loved their interactions!

As for Cinder, she’s actually training with Wolf to get a handle on her Lunar powers.

Iko chimed in. “Estimated time of arrival is nine minutes, thirty-four seconds. Which, by my estimation is enough time for Cinder to be defeated and embarrassed in seven more brawls.”
Cinder glared up at the ceiling. “Also just enough time to disconnect your audio device.”

😂 I love that Cinder sass. But seeing her use her powers and start to understand them was really cool. The girl is badass! She is definitely another character I love.

And Kai... well, we all know what a great leader he is (his speeches are SO good and they are so relevant to today! It’s crazy!) and that he would do anything for his country. Including marrying Levana 😩 It’s so heartbreaking, especially because he still has feelings for Cinder. WELL, Cinder and the crew also have a plan to stop this insane wedding from happening... but the plan is even more insane than the wedding itself! 😂 It was crazy, but I was into it... as was Iko because of course she would be 🤣

They kidnap Kai. Yep. That’s what they do. They kidnap him from Earth and just hang out in the Rampion. Kai is not into it though. Not that he’s not happy to see them, but he has a country to run, you know? Speaking of seeing the crew, when Kai and Cinder reunite... so much yes! The kiss 😍 I found myself re-reading the end a couple times because it was just so good! I loved it!

Another couple that was being super cute is Scarlet and Wolf. I admit I wasn’t a fan of how fast their relationship progressed in the last book, but they were pretty cute in this book. Unfortunately, Scarlet finds herself in a pretty bleak situation. It suuucked. I really felt for her.

We also finally got to meet Princess Winter! She was not at all what I was expecting, but I’m really looking forward to more of her in the next book and seeing what her deal is. And also what the deal with Jacin, her guard, is, cause he was kinda a dick.

But I really loved this book! There was a ton of action and thrills and the anxiety was REAL! There were some interesting discoveries about letumosis, and some shocking revelations about Dr. Erland, the doctor who helped Cinder in the first book. And as I mentioned, I loved the characters and all their fun banter! Plus, I’ve also really enjoyed seeing the story unravel and seeing the fairy tales shift from one into the next seamlessly. And the addition of it being set in a futuristic world? SO GOOD! I love this series! 🥰

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! 😊