Review: Winter by Marissa Meyer

WINTER
Author: Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #4
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Retelling, Romance
Release Date: November 10th 2015

Book Length: 827 pages
Publisher: Puffin

Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and 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?

Goodreads / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Barnes & Noble

Review
800+ PAGES OF PURE GOODNESS!

How do I even express my utter love and adoration for this series? Also how absolutely thrilled I am that Winter was everything I wanted it to be and more. Prepare yourself for an emotional roller coaster, some twist and turns and whole lotta’ shipping going on!

Quick Summary: So in the beginning we are quickly caught up and reminded of the plot through Cinder, Scaret and Cress all the way to the present day. Cinder and her crew kidnapped Prince Kai on his wedding day. Scarlet was captured and is now on Luna being held prisoner. Cinder, Iko, Wolf, Cress and Captain Thorne are now planning on sneaking into Luna to rescue Scarlet and to overthrow evil Queen Levana from her tyranny.

I'll break my review up into characters as it’s a little easier on the eye but also because this book has only just been released and I would not spoil this for any of you but rather encourage you that it has been worth the year long wait and a few little comments here and there. I don’t think talking about the characters mentioned below as pairs is spoiler-y as it’s obvious that they all have a very special bond whether it’s romantic or platonic, also it’s just easier as they have intertwining roles. Plus it will also make my review a whole lot shorter. Ha, yes this is actually short!

            Cinder & Kai: Cinder is one hell of a woman/cyborg! She’s as fierce as ever and will stop at nothing to save her people and end Levana’s reign. As we all know Cinder is quite fragile despite her hard demeanor but in this book she truly grows and becomes the confident, mastermind we all know and love. Kai, where to start? I love him. His character growth is pretty great too, no longer a Prince playing politics but a King who is willing to risk is life for his country. Kai also has a little rebellious streak in this book which was fantastic, I loved him being a tad corrupt and being a part of the crew.

“I have returned and I am here to take back what’s mine.”

            Scarlet & Wolf: Scarlet is still a prisoner of Luna and is now Princess Winter’s pet. However her budding friendship with Winter is so sweet, it somehow keeps her sane even though Winter isn’t of sound mind but sometimes it's that little bit of human interaction that can keep you going and thus Scarlet remains to be strong, daring and fierce while she waits for her alpha. Wolf is half the man he is when Scarlet isn’t around, he’s not coping with her sudden departure well at all. He will do anything to have his mate back, nothing is more important that Scarlet’s return to him, so he's training his crew, preparing everyone for war and is ready to take down anyone who stands in his way.

“Oh, stars. I don't know his real name. How can I not know his real name? What kind of alpha mate am I?”

            Cress & Thorne: Cress, my little Lunar pixie. I love her personality, she’s just so sweet and adorable plus I love that she’s actually a genius with computers and despite her young age she’s pretty dangerous when she has a port screen. Our innocent Cress grows up a lot in this; she finally becomes one of those strong heroines she used to fantasize about. Thorne? Oh Captain Thorne, how I am in love with you and your cocky attitude. Captain Thorne remains as swoony as ever, determined to be the hero, save the day whilst looking good and ensuring the safety of his crew. Thorne's quick wit and flirtatious nature are hilarious and he only gets better and better.

“See that eye roll? It translates to, ‘How am I possibly keeping my hands off of you, Captain?”

            Winter & Jacin: Now I have quite a lot to say about these two. At the end of the Cress, I wasn’t really sure what I thought about them and if I would ship them. I had mixed feelings about Jacin throughout Cress and couldn’t decide if he was a hero or villain and if I liked his character or not. Let me tell you there is only one answer when it comes to Sir Jacin Clay – Let me LOVE YOU. Seriously the whole Princess and the Guard scenario was just too perfect for words, my heart melted every time we got to their chapters. We spend the beginning of Winter like the other books- being introduced to the new characters and finding out about their relationship and history. It just made me fall for Jacin all the more, he’s the hero in the shadows, his only thoughts and drive in life is Princess Winter and her safety among a court of mind-controlling Lunars. Princess Winter has purposely stopped using her Lunar gift, she refuses to glamour people and manipulate them like puppets. As a result of this she has something called 'Lunar Sickness' and through this she experiences terrible hallucinations and the longer she refuses to use her glamour the more she loses her grip on reality. These too completely over took my other ships they are just so cute and obviously Jacin is just hella’ gorgeous and protective.... I'll stop fangirling now!

“I fear tomorrow will be even more difficult for you, Sir Clay. Do try to think of me when you can.”

“Try, Princess?” He smirked, meeting her gaze again. “I can’t seem to think of much else.”

            Iko: Iko does not need a pairing, this ass-kicking android is just as hilarious as ever and provides some great one-liners with her immpecable comedic timing, leaving you feeling a little lighter during those hard to read chapters. Iko is just the best friend you wish you had, she will do anything for her friends but she’s also that self-obsessed girl who god forbids chips her nail varnish, who can’t have a hair out of place and who completely fangirls over princes. I need an Iko in my life.

“A kiss from the Captain would probably melt my central processor.”

Thorne winked at her. “Oh trust me. It would.”

            Queen Levana: The bitch is back and she’s firing on all cylinders- Queen Levana is the cruelest of them all. She actually scared me a number of times in this book, her punishments are swift and cruel and her wrath is like no other. However we do see another side of Levana; it’s still evil so don’t hold your breath. We actually get to see how deluded she is, forever paranoid that the people are turning against her, forever wondering about how destroy ‘potential’ uprising’s and how self-obsessed she is with her glamour. I enjoyed getting to know her a bit more and learning about her past, chilling as was.

“No. She will never be queen.” She swayed toward him, and he felt like he was being encircled by a python, smothered and choked.” 

The plot was fantastic, well thought out and it continued to change throughout the story making the characters adapt and think of their feet. It felt a lot more realistic as it was never a straight search and rescue mission and defeating the evil Queen. Characters are divided and captured, one minute their winning the war the next their at rock bottom, it was a constant fight for survival and one I thoroughly enjoyed reading.    

I was always fascinated with Luna since Cinder so I thrilled to finally be on Luna and get to see how they lived and survived on this remote planet. Meyer explains how Luna came to be under the rule of Levana but also how the people of Luna has been able to survive and it’s basically constructed of a working nation and all of the profits and benefits going to the centre of Luna: the Palace. Sort of like the district system in the Hunger Games if you will, outer factions work to feed the Capitol.

The Romance. By far my favourite parts of the book. It was simply glorious; I was shipping my ships so hard. Don’t get me wrong I would have loved a little bit more with a certain 2 pairing but it was amazing all the same.  There are a few kisses scenes that I have already gone and re-read because they were epic; my heart was practically coming out of my chest. So enjoy your swoons people!

“He was not going to die. She was not a girl of ice and glass at all, but a girl of sunshine and stardust, because Jacin wasn’t going to die.”

Overall Winter was an absolutely fantastic ending to unique and imaginative series. After 800+ pages I still wanted more, I would have loved an epilogue at the end to see where my favourite characters ended up, however the ending does tie everything up nicely. The last hundred pages are just packed with action and tension and does leave you more than a little nervous as to what will happen or who will survive. Winter was worth the wait, it’s worth your time and it’s totally worth re-reading!

“She’s our lost princess. And she’s coming home.”