Book Title: Cress
Author: Marissa Meyer
Number of Pages: 550
Rating: 4.5 stars
Genres: Fairytale-Dystopian, Romance, Action Adventure, YA Fiction
Books like it: Entwined by Heather Dixon
My favorite quote: “My life is an adventure.' she said, growing confident as she opened her eyes again. 'I will not be shackled to this satellite anymore.”
Brief Synopsis from Goodreads:
third book in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army.
Their best hope lies with Cress, who has been trapped on a satellite since childhood with only 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 goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing stop her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only ones who can.
My Summary:
Introduction:
I can’t even begin to explain how much I LOVE LOVE LOVED this book! Marissa Meyer is now officially my absolute favorite author of all time. She knows how to put an absolute perfect amount of romance, suspense, action, and thrill into her books. They are like a fun rollercoaster that you never want to leave. I have never read a dull moment in one of her books.
Cress was exactly like this. I was extremely angry because I didn’t want to read anything but Scarlet and Wolf. Cinder and Kai’s romance had been disappointing in Scarlet, and so I was desperately in love with the wolf and the girl with the red hair - I would have been perfectly happy with nothing else.
At least that is what I thought. And then I met Thorne and Cress together, and everything changed. My favorite couple is still Scarlet and Wolf, don’t get me wrong. However, Thorne and Cress have something that is slightly different than a textbook relationship, something so adorable that I adored them together.
My Synopsis:
This installment of the Lunar Chronicles focuses mostly on Thorne and Cress, with a little of Scarlet and Wolf and a good amount of Kai and Cinder. Also, Winter, the main character for the fourth and final book in this series is introduced.
Queen Levena’s plan to take over the Earth is almost ready. She and Kai will be married in a matter of weeks, and it is up to Cinder and her friends to find a way to stop her. It turns out that their answer might be Cresent, a Lunar shell that is held prisoner in a satellite above the Earth.
Their mission was to rescue her from the satellite and take her down to Earth with them. That mission is jeopardized when they are ambushed by some of Queen Levena’s loyal servants. Wolf is severely injured and Scarlet is captured. My heart felt like it was being torn into pieces at this part- both of them are separated. WHY, MARISSA MEYER? WHY?
Thorne’s attempt to get Cress off of the satellite falls flat when they are both trapped inside- and it starts hurtling towards earth. They manage to survive the crash, only to find that they landed in the middle of a desert with no food or water to keep them healthy.
So naturally, a desert seems like a good place to start for a hot romance.
With one of her friends captured and most likely dead, the other injured and one missing, and Queen Levena ready to take over the world, Cinder must be ready to fight back for her home and the ones she loves before they are destroyed.
Top Five Reasons Why I Love Thorne: (Used With Quotes)
1. “He leaned forward to inspect her closer. "Is that all hair?"
... Sudden, overwhelming panic clawed up Cress's throat. With a squeak, she ducked out of view of the camera and scrambled beneath the desk. Her back struck the wall with a thud that rattled her teeth. She crouched there, skin burning hot and pulse thundering as she took in the room before her— the room that he was now seeing too, with the rumpled bedcovers and the mustached man on all the screens telling her to grab her imaginary partner and swing them around.
"Wha—where'd she go?" Thorne's voice came to her through the screen.
"Honestly, Thorne." A girl. Linh Cinder? "Do you ever think before you speak?"
"What? What did I say?"
" 'Is that all hair?' "
"Did you see it? It was like a cross between a magpie nest and ball of yarn after it's been mauled by a cheetah."
A beat. Then, "A cheetah?"
"It was the first big cat that came to mind.”
Ah, Thorne. You sure know how to make a girl feel pretty.
2.“Captain,” she murmured.
“I think I’m in love with you.”
An eyebrow shot up. She counted six beats of his heart before, suddenly, he laughed.
“Don’t tell me it took you two whole days to realize that. I must be losing my touch.”
This is what you say to a girl who confesses love to you? Seriously? This is why you are my favorite. No more cheesy heros for us, guys.
3. “Captain?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you think it was destiny that brought us together?"
He squinted and, after a thoughtful moment, shook his head. "No. I'm pretty sure it was Cinder.”
THANK YOU FOR NOT BEING IN LOVE WITH CINDER! I mean, I was pretty sure there wouldn’t be a love triangle in this book, but I COULD NOT BEAR having to choose between Kai and Thorne.
4. “Captain! To your left there’s a Lunar guard and on your right is a doctor who’s running tests on Lunars and I’m being held by one of Levana’s wolf hybrids and please be careful!”
Thorne took a step back into the hallway a gun from his waistband. He spent a moment swiveling the barrel of the gun in each direction, but nobody moved to attack him.
With some surprise, Cress realized that the operative’s grip had weakened.
“Er…” Thorne furrowed his brow, aiming the gun somewhere near the window. “Could you describe all those threats again because I feel like I missed something.”
Always the endearing hero, bursting in to save the girl when you haven’t got a clue what’s going on. Here is an improvising expert, everyone!
5. “A laugh came from the cockpit and Thorne appeared in the doorway, strapping a gun holster around his waist. "You're asking the cyborg fugitive and the wild animal to be the welcoming committee? That's adorable.”
Sarcasm is always my favorite quality in male characters….. :D
Snippet:
“It's all right," said Wolf. "You loved her. I would have felt the same if someone wanted to erase Scarlet's identity and give it to Levana's army.
Scarlet stiffened, feeling heat rushing into her cheeks. He certainly wasn't insinuating....
"Aaaaw," squealed Iko. "Did Wolf just say he loves Scarlet? That's so cute!"
Scarlet cringed. "He did not-that wasn't-" She balled her fists against her sides. "Can we get back to these soldiers that are being rounded up, please?"
"Is she blushing? She sounds like she's blushing."
"She's blushing," Thorne confirmed, shuffling the cards. "Actually, Wolf is looking a little flustered.”
Conclusions:
You have not truly read a good fantasy book until you have read the Lunar chronicles. Meyer’s characters are beautifully flawed, and while their speeches are still inspiring, they don’t sound like written lines from a script. She knows how to keep readers entertained- readers of all kinds: action lovers, fiction lovers, romance lovers, and fairytale lovers. Usually when fairytales are mixed with the dystopian genre, it does not go very well, but Meyer is a brilliant writer. I love her style and I would read anything that she writes.
