Cress

Cress The Lunar Chronicles #3 Marissa Meyer 4.5/5	Published 2014 First Sentence "Her satellite made one full orbit around planet Earth every sixteen hours."
Publisher's Description: In this third book in the Lunar Chronicles, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they're plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army. Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl imprisoned on a satellite since childhood who's only ever had 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 of Cress goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.
Dear Reader, Cress is now my favorite, I know I said that about Scarlet but I really mean it. Watch me get attached to Winter next... the characters AND the books get better and better. The writing is improving and I'm completely invested. I loved the complexity this book has surrounding Cress... having been left alone in a satellite for her whole life, with little contact with anyone. She is so isolated with only a younger version of herself keeping her company as a computer simulation. The journey she goes through in this book is pretty fascinating because we grow with Cress, we get to see what the world looks like from the eyes of someone who has only read about it. What does a forest look like? Water? Animals? How the world opens up... you can only imagine getting a little wigged out. Cress is so much more than that though, she is that computer nerd who thinks in codes, she is that techy girl I love. Now we have Cinder (the mechanic with courage), Scarlet (the brave warrior), and Cress (the geeky, odd computer genius)... fantastic cast of characters if you ask me. I love that any teenage girl reading this series will be able to connect with one of them and relate to their personality. I'm completely digging the girl power of this series, you can't deny that the heroes of this story are the females. This is not to say that I would consider this a book only for girls, absolutely not! The sci-fi aspect will really appeal to anyone and the otherworldly fantasy element is perfect for anyone willing to escape to a different world. I can't help feeling that not only is Meyer improving in her writing but the story is flying by smoother. These open endings are killing me, I've caught up (other than the next inbetween book 'Fairest') and now I don't want to wait until November! The torture... I hardly ever get addicted to series like this, but I'll admit, this one has me. I'm patiently (NOT) waiting for "Winter" to come out now. Happy Reading, AmberBug

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Scarlet

Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2) Marissa Meyer 4/5	Published 2013 First Sentence "Scarlet was descending toward the alley behind the Rieux Tavern when her portscreen chimed from the passenger seat, followed by an automated voice: 'Comm received for Mademoiselle Scarlet Benoit from the Toulouse Law Enforcement Department of missing persons.'"
Publisher's Description: Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She's trying to break out of prison--even though if she succeeds, she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive.  Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.
Dear Reader, I enjoyed this book so much, even right after reading Cinder. I know I was a little harsh with Cinder but this series is growing on me and is starting to meet my expectations of what I want from a book. This one follows the story of Little Red Riding Hood, but completely twists it around. I think the Author did a much better job staying away from that linear approach she followed with the first book. Yes, the main character Scarlet has Riding Hood written all over her and she is searching for a lost Grandmother, plus she meets a guy nicknamed "Wolf" who might be connected to the missing Grandmother. However, you get a completely different story, she twisted it so much that the only recognizable things had to do with the characters themselves. I loved that. Scarlet is also set in France, which I found a little more comfort in. I don't know why but when reading Cinder, I didn't connect with the setting at ALL. Where was Cinder located? I almost felt like it was an alien planet. The setting brought me back to more of a futuristic Earth (which is what I think the Author was going for). My friend told me recently (Hi Marsha) that the Author used these countries (China for Cinder and France for Scarlet) because that is where the origin of the fairy tale originated. I thought that was pretty neat and clever. This book also feels a little more rough, almost like a mystery splashed with western but set in a futuristic land, space cowboy? I was digging it. We have rebels, outlaws, gangs, kidnapping but it all tied down to the cliffhanger in Cinder perfectly. I liked how the Author connected two very different storylines and characters but made it feel very believable. I was also happy to see that Cinder got quite a bit of page time in this one - the cyborg is not forgotten! I can't wait to see what happens next but after all the books I took home from BEA and all the ARCs that have been backing up on my Kindle... I need to take a break and come back to this. I hope it doesn't ruin it for me but I'd also love to finish the last half of the series in one giant chunk (sometime when Winter comes out). Happy Reading, AmberBug

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