Title- The Lunar Chronicles
- Cinder (Based off Cinderella)
- Scarlett (Based off Little Red Riding Hood)- my favorite of the bunch
- Cress (Based off Rapunzel)
- Fairest (Levana’s Story) – highly recommend reading this novella
- Stars Above- a collection of stories set in the Lunar Chronicles universe that could be skipped since there’s lots of backstory
- Winter (Based off Snow White)
Rating– Each individual novel had its own rating, as a whole I’d give it a 4.5/5
Genre- Sci/Fi Young Adult
POV- Third person, past tense
Trope- robots, androids, futuristic, coming of age, teen love, teen revolution leader
Similar/Comps– Six of Crows (on my TBR), Throne of Glass (on my TBR)
My emotions- Engaged, excited, eager
Characters–
Cinder- a gifted mechanic and a cyborg, witty- the entire series revolves around her
Kai- Prince to New Beijing- I’m glad he found his balls later in the series
Scarlett- my favorite heroine, strong, assertive and bad ass
Wolf- my favorite hero of the bunch, protective alpha
Cress- my least favorite character of the group. Damsel in distress
Captain Thorne- arrogant, dare-devil thief turned into a pilot
Winter- kind, beautiful, animal lover, a wee bit crazy in the head
Jacin- the strong assertive guard, I may have a crush on him.
Levena- antagonist- she was fun, I appreciate a good antagonist
Plot/Blurb of the 1st (Cinder)
A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless Lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on Cinder. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.
Plot/Blurb of the 2nd (Scarlett)
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.
Plot/Blurb of the 3rd (Cress)
Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and prevent her army from invading Earth. Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl trapped 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 being forced to work for Queen Levana, and she’s just received orders to track down Cinder and Kai. When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is splintered. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a higher price than she’d ever expected. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai, especially the cyborg mechanic. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.
Plot/Blurb of the 4th (Winter)
Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people 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?
Best part-
This novel had such a creative and unique perspective on the classic Cinderella that it could barely be compared to the fairy tale. I still loved the bits and pieces thrown in from the original version like little bread crumbs for romance lovers. However, I don’t feel that Cinder was a romance. I loved how each character had such clear and concise objectives.
What I’d change-
I don’t feel as if these are classic romances because I wanted more emotion between the couples, however as the series went on, their connections became stronger and the feelings were more evident.
The last book, Winter, was complicated with how many characters and side plots were going on.
Pacing-
Winter was over 800 pages! Overall, this series took me longer to get through than the average YA reads.
Cassie Swindon 