Friday, June 10, 2016

Book Review: Fairest by Marissa Meyer

Title: Fairest
Author: Marissa Meyer
Series: #3.5 in The Lunar Chronicles
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publication Date: January 27, 2015
Genre: Young Adult, Sci-fi, Fairytale Retelling
Pages: 220
Source: Library


Synopsis:
In this stunning bridge book between Cress and Winter in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles, Queen Levana's story is finally told. 

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

Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana asa rule 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. 

My Thoughts: 
Before Levana became Queen, before she became hell-bent on taking over Earth, she was just a tortured Lunar girl in love, dreaming of a certain handsome guard, and avoiding her sadistic older sister, Channery, who became Queen after their parents were murdered by a 'Shell'. Fairest is the dark and twisted part of the story that we don't usually get to read about first hand.


My biggest thought about this book was "Wow, these people are psychotic."
This novella is just plain dark. Channery is cruel and it really shows, but Levana isn't any better. Worse, even. We really delve into her strange personality and you can try to sympathize with her but there is really no atoning for who she becomes and the horrible things she does. The manipulation is strong with these royals. There's a cycle of cruelty in this family but we don't get an answer for why this is beyond Levana and Channery's terrible behavior. 

Fairest starts out with Levana around age 16, right after the death of her parents. We find out why she wears a veil, how she became so evil, how she became queen, and why she decides to take over Earth. This novella answered questions I've had since Cinder. 

This is probably the only book I've read from the villains point of view and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. Levana is one of those diabolical characters that you can't help but hate and this book didn't change that one bit. Instead it made me despise her even more. This woman is straight messed up in the head and always has been. What can we expect from a race that has the ability to manipulate others with their minds. This is definitely one world that I would not like to live in. 


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