Review--Fairest by Marissa Meyer

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 as a ruler 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. This extraordinary book includes full-color art and an excerpt from Winter, the next book in the Lunar Chronicles series.

I finally finished Fairest by Marissa Meyer and I must say what a delightful read this was! It's the perfect addition to the Lunar Chronicles because who doesn't want to get a better understanding of the villain? And that's exactly what we get here! A better understanding of Levana. I have to say that I did sympathize for her a bit because she was horrendously mistreated growing up, but I still think she needs to be held accountable for her actions! 

The book opens up to Levana's parents' deaths. They were murdered and yet, she can't find it to be too worked up about it. Her parents weren't the best parents. They were neglectful and rarely cared that they had two daughters. So when her sister, Channary is about to take the throne, all Levana really feels is an envy of sorts. She doesn't think Channary is fit to rule Luna, mostly because Channary doesn't care to help better Luna and make the moon a better place for her people. 

Channary is yet another character who was horrible to Levana. She always made Levana feel bad about herself, especially her appearance when she let a glamour drop. And we do get to learn why she always wears a glamour too. 

Levana finds herself falling in love with a solider, Evret. She believes he loves her too, but is suppressing his feelings because he is married. I feel like it's at this juncture that we get to see the inkling of the Levana we have always known. She wants something she cannot have and she will do whatever it takes to get it. She's manipulative and it's sickening. What she does in taking away a person's rights is despicable. But as I said, this all plays out to how she became the villain she is. 

True, there are moments when I felt sorry for her, but they soon faded away at the disgust I always felt towards her. It was a back and forth battle. 

I love seeing how some things came into fruition. Like how the battle with Earth was instigated, how Winter came into the picture, how Selene came into the picture. All those little things are answered in this one and it was all quite shocking! Even more so was how at time Levana knew what she was doing was questionable, but she would have some reason or other that convinced herself that she should do it anyway. She wasn't always a horrible person, she really did just come from a neglectful family; nurture vs nature really plays a part in this scenario! 

I found myself quite intrigued with the Selene bits. How she was born and set to rule Luna one day and the drastic measures Levana went to prevent that from happening. It may seem obvious as to origins and what not, but I won't reveal anything anyway. I just was quite surprise with it all, especially her mother. I mean it was weird seeing it, I can't explain why really. Guess the whole motherhood changes everyone kind of thing. I was a little disappointed that her father was never revealed, but oh well.

I forced myself to resist temptation in reading the sneak peek of Winter. I can't handle sneak peeks because I'm always left wanting more and the sneak peek ends up doing me more damage than good! LOL! So yes, I refrained from reading that. Otherwise, this was a fairly fast read! Highly enjoyable and highly recommended if you have read the Lunar Chronicles to date. And like most everyone has said, despite that this is a prequel story, it's far better to read it after reading Cress, because there are little events and whatnot that you might not quite get or will be spoiled for. 

A delightfully intriguing read and I so can't wait to read Winter later this year to see how this amazing series comes to an end! 



Overall Rating 5/5 stars