The Lunar Chronicles is one of my favorite YA Fantasy series. (The other big one being Tamora Pierce’s Tortall books.)I’d like to say it’s a bit of a mystery why it took me until now to finish the series, but after looking at Winter‘s pub date, I realized that it fell right smack into my first year of teaching. On the bright side, I spent the last couple of weeks rereading the series, so I got to pick up Winter as soon as I finished Cress 🙂
The final verdict: I love the Lunar Chronicles world. This is a great high-stakes sci-fi/fantasy/fairytale-retelling/romance series that I recommend to fans of these genres.
WHAT I LIKED
A Wide, Endearing Cast of Characters
Each of the Lunar Chronicles books introduces the subplot of a new heroine and her prince. There are also other fun side characters like Iko (but really, Iko). I like how the presence of the diverse cast members opens doors to expanding the world and furthering the plot from different physical locations in the Lunar world.
The Stakes Keep Rising
With the characters fighting for different reasons and finding themselves in various dilemmas, not to mention the moves made by enemy forces, the stakes keep rising. While there are moments of respite in the novel, these are few. For the most part, the stakes and resulting action keep the plot moving forward. This may be a large novel (at over 800 pages), but it’s hard to put down.
Spending Time on Luna
After all the talk about Luna, it was exciting to finally explore the moon and the culture that has developed there over time.
Cinder Steps into Her Own
All this time, Cinder has been struggling with her identity—from being a cyborg, to being a cyborg AND a Lunar, to being the missing Lunar princess. In Winter, she finally accepts who she is and finds her voice. She’s grown so much over the course of the series.
WHAT DIDN’T WORK AS WELL
A Case of Too Many POVs
I love how much can be done with such a large cast of characters, and Marissa Meyer does a wonderful job interweaving the different POVs to flesh out the world and keep the plot moving forward. The problem with so many POVs, however, is that the story doesn’t feel as consistent as it could be. Just as I got invested in one POV, I would be thrown into a completely different POV.
Lack of Girl (Friend) Time
The amount of time that the girls spend together is a fraction of the time that they are shown spending with their princes. Part of the reason is that events keep moving so quickly, and they rarely have down time, but I would have liked to see more scenes where the girls are together and need to work together to carry out their plans. Oftentimes, when the team splits, willingly or not, a girl and a guy end up together. I would have liked to see the girls’ relationships developed more.
Most of all, when I think of the girls, my first thought is their personal identity. My second is the identity of their “prince.” Other than Cinder, who has Iko, I don’t think about their relationships in terms of other girls.
Where’s Book Five?
Just Kidding. Almost.
I love The Lunar Chronicles and would have loved to spend more time in this world. (In a way, I do through Fairest, Stars Above, and Wires & Nerves.) That said, all good things must come to an end, and I look forward to seeing what else Marissa Meyer brings to us.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall, Winter provides a thrilling, high stakes conclusion to the series. I love The Lunar Chronicles and look forward to reading more from Marissa Meyers.
CONTENT
- Language (Swearing)
- Violence
CHAT WITH ME
Who is your favorite Lunar Chronicles character?
Author: Crystal
A story girl at heart, Crystal is a bibliophile who can easily spend the day immersed in a good read. She writes under the name Kristy Wang. You can follow her writing adventures on X and Instagram @_kristywang.
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