Novel Review: Fairest: Levana's Story (The Lunar Chronicles, #3.5/.1) by Marissa Meyer

Rating (Out of 5): ~4-4.5

Genre: YA Sci-fi/Fantasy Fairytale Retelling

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends (Macmillan)

Release Date: January 27, 2015

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Teaser Tuesday. Wishlist Thursday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

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.

The Cover:

I do think this cover is quite pretty, and it is very fitting for Levana. I will admit, though, that the fact it doesn't quite match the other covers in this series bothers me. It has a different format and coloring. But it's still very pretty, and since it's technically a side-story, I will let it slide. And the image inside the cover definitely wins me over.

Review:

"'Love is a conquest! Love is a war!'" (Hardback, pg. 92)

I was looking forward to and dreading this book. Because, for one, it’s another book in the Lunar Chronicles and I cannot get enough of this series. I love everything about it. But on the other hand, it’s Levana. And I hate Levana.

I guess part of this is that I expected to see a different side of Levana, to see her sob story that makes her more understanding and all that. And while we are given a background for why she is this way, there’s no real understanding. She’s a horrible person, and here we get to see inside her head as that develops.

Levana has a horrible family; her parents and sister are just as bad as she is, maybe in different ways. And because they treat her so terribly, she starts acting the same way. Mostly because she wants to be loved. But her wanting that makes her force a man to marry her. It makes her kill (or try to) her own niece in order to take the thrown. And then it makes her kill her husband in order to get more power, even if it hurts her in the process.

I was surprised by how easy this was to read. It’s a relatively short book (just over two-hundred pages), but it was very easy to keep reading. Levana’s progression is terrible but understandable, even if I hate it and it does not make me like her even a little. I only hate her more, I think.

We also got to see Winter in this book, or at least more of her. And now I seriously cannot wait to get my hands on that book. Winter has me so intrigued, and I want to read the finale so, so terribly bad. It’s going to be amazing, I can’t wait. (Also, it’s like eight-hundred pages long? Is that crazy or what? I love it.) 

This turned out better than I thought, but just made me want to see the conclusion all the more. Also, I must say that this book is gorgeous. I love the way that it’s put together, and the cover is pretty. But inside the hardback, there’s an image of the lunar castle, and it’s just gorgeous.