Winter by Marissa Meyer Series: The Lunar Chronicles #4
Published by Feiwel & Friends on November 10, 2015
Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 824
Format: Hardcover
Also in this series: Cinder, Scarlet, Cinder, Cress, Fairest
Also by this author: Cinder, Scarlet, Cinder, Cress, Fairest
Source: Bought it
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.
Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend—the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.
Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters?
As a huge fan of Marissa Meyer’s The Lunar Chronicles series, the fact that it took me so long to read the final installment, WINTER, kind of makes me feel like a big, not-a-real-fan slacker. I’m not sure what it was that made me start WINTER, enjoy it for a little while, and then put it down for almost two months before blazing through to the end. Maybe I just got in the mood for something completely different? I know it wasn’t because I wasn’t liking it because I LOVED IT. Alas. But the bottom line is WINTER was everything that the ending to an epic series should be: emotional, well-paced, full of setbacks and advances, resolutions, and hard choices. Don’t let my reading hiatus fool you: WINTER was excellent.
Anywho, WINTER. I’m really going to miss this world and these characters, guys. Probably like most of you will. Getting to see all of the work and danger they’ve put themselves through come to fruition was really satisfying for me, as was getting to know Princess Winter, who was delightfully odd and sweet, and sometimes stupid like a fox. Everything came together; there were no loose ends left hanging in WINTER.
Since WINTER is the first real glimpse we get of Princess Winter, let’s start with her. I LOVED HER. She’s gentle but also fierce. Unstable but also capable of great focus. For someone who grew up under the cold iron fist of Levana, she has managed to keep a warm, open heart. Her friend and crush, Jacin, is sometimes hard to like just because he’s kind of gruff and doesn’t really have a sense of humor, but he’s loyal and protective of Winter, and I did enjoy their relationship.
Of course, Winter and Jacin are not alone in their desire to give Levana the what for. WINTER is chock full of our favorite characters, all in different pickles at one time or another. In fact, I really enjoyed the drama and tension that came from people being separated, caught, reunited, thrown in danger again–it kept things really interesting, and kept me on my toes. This is aside from the obvious joy I got from seeing everyone working together.
Another thing about WINTER that I really enjoyed was getting to see Luna. The entire book takes place on the moon, and we see not just Artemesia, the capital, but also some of the outer sectors as well. Artemesia reminded me a little bit of the Capital from THE HUNGER GAMES, but I loved it’s insulated weirdness and the stark contrast between it and some of the other sectors we got to visit with Cinder and friends as they try to foment rebellion among the people of Luna.
The relationships also got some fair time in WINTER. Of course, Winter and Jacin have been dancing around being something more than princess and guard for years, so that was emotional on a deep level, especially since Jacin is one of the only people who can help Winter come back from her lunar sickness episodes. Cinder and Kai are apart for most of WINTER but still gave me warm fuzzies, as always. Those two and just…UGH. Scarlet–who is fierce as hell in WINTER–and Wolf had some very intense moments together. But for me, the real standouts in the feels department were Cress and Thorne. Like, MAJOR FEELS ALERT. They shared what for me was the steamiest moment in the whole book and I just loved it and them and everything.
My favorite thing about relationships though? This whole crew of people were such a loyal team. They were 100% in each other’s corners, even when they weren’t together. They all supported Cinder’s claim to the Lunar throne and were prepared to go to the mats for her, and she for them. Cinder’s growth into a leader was really special to see as well, and the way her friends supported her was equally special.
WINTER was such an amazing culmination of this series. Characters that I never thought I’d see again poked their heads in for kind of extended periods of time, and the characters that I wanted to see shine, did. It really was a roller coaster. Marissa Meyer crafted such a unique story from the beginning, and got the pace and the plot down perfectly. I can’t believe it’s over! WAAAHHH! But I’m so very glad I got to see this rag-tag bunch of young people really kick some ass together.
