Marissa Meyer - The Lunar Chronicles series

I adored fairy-tales when I was little. Getting one of my parents to read one for me before bed, and then later devouring them myself. As time went on, my focus shifted to other genres, and the princesses and dragons that were once so close to my heart were forgotten. That being said, I never gravitated towards fairy-tale re-tellings in my teenagehood or adulthood for one simple reason – I considered them childish, and quite frankly boring, since you can quite easily work out the plot if you have a passing knowledge of the inspiration behind it.

Enter the Lunar Chronicles. I decided to pick up Marissa Meyer’s Cinder based on a recommendation from a friend couple of years ago, and I was lost to this world! Recently, I have been feeling quite nostalgic, and decided to pick up the series again, hoping it would hold up to my fond memories…

… and it did. But let’s start at the beginning.

The Lunar Chronicles follow four heroines, Cinder, Scarlett, Cress and finally Winter. A blend of genres, including fairy-tales, fantasy and science-fiction, it follows the four girls as they form an unlikely group to free Luna from the rule of cruel Queen Levana, who set her sights on Earth to extend her powers. It is revealed in the first book (spoiler ahead) that Cinder is Levana’s niece, lost Princess Selene and the rightful heir to the Lunar throne. This is the big reveal of the first novel, and quite frankly, anyone could see it coming, but the journey you go on while reading the series is magical enough to let that slide!

Cinder herself is, as the name suggests, inspired by Cinderella, however, thankfully she is a much more developed character than the original! Resilient, quiet and a little awkward when interacting with others. That last quality is shown to be rooted in the societal disapproval and discrimination against cyborgs such as herself. Cinder looks down upon herself for that reason and tries to hide her mechanical hand and leg as best as she can, which proves to be relatively easy as she works as a mechanic. The character development she undergoes from the moment me meet her is staggering, but she does retain all of her original qualities to a degree, which was interesting to see – rather than becoming a completely different person, she worked on improving her flaws.

Scarlett, the Red Riding Hood incarnate of this universe is a sharp contrast to Cinder. Just as capable, she is shown to be an excellent pilot and someone who knows how to protect herself, however, she has a fiery temper, which leads to some interesting situations. This is by no means glorified, it is clear that Scarlett’s attitude is meant to be viewed as a flaw. The sharp contrast between her and other heroines is quite welcome, inviting personality clashes and entertaining character interactions.

Cress is our naïve hacker, freed from her prison, much like Rapunzel. It goes without saying that she is incredibly smart, however, having spent most of her life in isolation, she knows very little about the outside world. This leads to heart-warming scenes of Cress appreciating the beauty of Earth, however, it also means she is incredibly naïve. I have seen some opinions that her behaviour is annoying, however, personally, I think that she is flawed, which makes her more believable as a character. Furthermore, much like Cinder, she changes considerably over the course of the series.

Winter, the Sleeping Beauty of the Lunar Chronicles world is described as incredibly beautiful, however, Meyer does not fall into the trap of making that her entire personality. In fact, her beauty is shown to pale in comparison to her gentleness and kindness. Furthermore, it is shown to be more of a danger to her, particularly, just as in the fairy-tale there is a jealous stepmother, Levana. I enjoyed the fact Winter was also shown to be resilient, and quick to joke, which was prominent in her friendship with Scarlett.

I will not say too much about other characters, as this review is already lengthy enough, but they are developed well, and have believable personalities. Switching the point of view from the main characters to the secondary ones, or even the villains definitely helped achieve that effect.

There is a plethora of romantic relationships across the series, with all four of our heroines searching for their happy ending in that sense. Some of them are more interesting and realistic than others, but I will let you judge that for yourself. In my opinion, it is the platonic relationships that shine in this series. Our main characters are a group of extremely unlikely friends, which, granted, is a common trope, but executed very well here. My personal favourite would have to be the reluctant at first, then fiercely loyal friendship between Cinder and Thorne. As an added bonus, their bickering provides some levity in a rather serious setting.

The issue many fantasy/science-fiction novels run into is the world-building, which often is not pronounced enough, or even worse, the reader is thrown into the deep-end and is expected to figure out things as they go. The Lunar Chronicles luckily do not fall into this trap, partly because the world is relatively simplistic, but also because it is well and gradually set up, allowing the reader to immerse themselves in this fantasy future. This links nicely to what I wanted to say about the pacing of these novels, as it is well executed. The action is fairly slow in the beginning, leading towards a major event at the end. As the entries in the Lunar Chronicles get longer, so does the action-filled ending proportionally. This pattern does not apply to the big finale that is Winter, as things progress fast from one precarious situation to another, keeping you at the edge of your seat. That is not an exaggeration, I could not put it down and read in a single Saturday!                                          

It is worth mentioning, that each novel in the series introduces one of the four main characters, while the ones from the previous books are also followed. This works particularly well in favour of ‘Scarlett’, where Cinder is trying to understand and come to terms with the reveal of the previous book, which shakes her sense of identity. Personally, I very much appreciated her reluctance to just jump in the action straight away, as that would be unrealistic, especially considering she is merely a teenager. However, that is all that happens with this thread of the plot in the entire book, meaning it would probably be viewed as quite boring. The fact Meyer introduced Scarlett and her search for her grandmother prevents that from happening, illustrating how effective this solution is.         

Before I conclude this review, I just wanted to say a quick word on the bioelectricity, or the lunar gift. I immensely enjoyed the fact this wasn’t chalked up to be some mystic power, but rather, was explained on relatively scientific terms. I think this is an excellent illustration of how well executed the blend of genres in the Lunar Chronicles is!

By no means perfect, The Lunar Chronicles are an entertaining read that will keep you at the edge of your seat, especially towards the end. A creative spin on the fairy-tale retelling, with an intelligent mix of genres and compelling characters with interesting relationships, it provides some much needed escapism in the current grim landscape. Highly recommend!

Rating: 9/10