Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3) by Marissa Meyer

Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3)
by Marissa Meyer
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Format: Hardcover, 550 pgs.
Published: Feb. 4th, 2014 by Feiwel & Friends
Genre: YA Sci-Fi/ Fantasy

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Rapunzel’s tower is a satellite. She can’t let down her hair—or her guard.

In this 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. -goodreads

Review:


"Because if there was one thing Cress knew about heroes, it was that they could not resist a damsel in distress. And she was nothing if not in distress." Pg.29Cress continues this great sci-fi fantasy adventure infusing the tale of Rapunzel within the ongoing stories of Cinderella (Cinder) and Little Red Riding Hood (Scarlet.) This series is by far my favorite fairytale retellings, and Cress did not disappoint as we greet a socially awkward damsel into our hero group that’s set out to stop the evil Queen Levana.

      The fairytale of Rapunzel was never really high on my favorites list, and therefore I went into Cress not knowing too much about the original tale. I did know the basics, and from what I read, the book incorporated them wonderfully in the book. In relation to the previous books of The Lunar Chronicles, Cress does more of a combined plot line. This book more converges characters’ story lines, rather than beginning a new, albeit correlated adventure like what happened in Scarlet. The multiple point of views are a definite benefit in assuring the reader knows what’s going on throughout the galaxy.

"Thorne would come for her. He was a hero. She was a damsel. That's how the stories went–that's how they always went." pg. 293

      Cress has constant fantasies about how she imagines life would be outside her prison. They are all she have as friends and all she have to keep her sanity. She uses these fantasies throughout the book as support to give her strength in tough times, but I was glad to see she that she learns to do without, and learns to accept the realities and flaws of people and life. Although at a first glance, Cress seems weak and the very image of a damsel constantly in distress, when known on a deeper level, she’s cunning, smart and a great technological asset to the team.

“It wasn’t only loyalty and friendship that made very fiber of her body rebel against the notion that she could abandon them all.
        It was the knowledge that without them, she was useless. She needed them to stop the wedding and rescue Kai. She needed them to get her to Luna. She needed them to help her save the world.” Pg. 364

      Trust is a large theme, and the plot thickens as Cinder must find a strategic way to stop the wedding and protect Emperor Kai. Everyone is putting their trust in Cinder and when Wolf loses faith, he must try to keep his trust in her. Cress must learn to trust her new friends, and vice versa. Other characters that are introduced have their trusts questioned as well. Who will obtain and maintain this trust in Cinder, and who will waver? This book is a must read!

"'The people of Luna don't need a princess. They need a revolutionary.' 
Cinder furrowed her brow. 'A revolutionary,' she repeated. 
She liked that a lot better than being a princess." Pg. 549

      In the end, I love how Marissa Meyer plays with our emotions through the suspense of repeatedly breaking up the group, so we can see if and how they try to find each other. It’s a game of fortunes as we continue in the fight for humanity and the Lunar throne in Cress. As we are introduced to Winter, who seems looney but sweet, we are made to crave the next book that much more.

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First line: "Her satellite made one full orbit around the planet Earth every sixteen hours. It was a prison that came with an endlessly breathtaking view–vast blue oceans and swirling clouds and sunrises that set half the world on fire." Pg. 3

Last line: "'You said yourself that the people of Luna need a revolutionary.' She lifted her chin, holding his gaze. 'So I'm going to Luna, and I'm going to start a revolution.'" Pg. 550 

Quotes:

 "Queen Levana was a murderer an a tyrant and this wedding was going to ruin them." Pg. 64

 "Standing on the hotel step, with sixty guns trained on her, Cinder realized she was no better than that thaumarturge. This really was war, and she was in the middle of it. If she had to make sacrifices, she would." Pg. 393

 "Only the obvious Earthens met her look and nodded with scared, fleeting smiles. Not a fear of their Lunar neighbors, she thought, but a fear of what would happen if Levana took control of Earth. What would happen if Lunars ruled everything. What would happen if Cinder failed." pg. 369