IT SHOULD ALSO BE NOTED that there is a VERY LARGE excerpt of Winter in the back of Fairest. I gave the content 4 starts because there was a lot of talk about Levana's older sister, Channary, sleeping with guards and soldiers, and also a huge part of the story revolved around Levana's odd lust for Evert, to the point where she forced him to marry her.and it was really awkward. Īnd I really loved how all the little connecting pieces to the rest of the series fell into place and have begun to make even more sense. I thought the story was very well written, and the characters were well developed for a short novella - even the ones that just appeared in Fairest. Levana's childhood was very difficult, but it is show to us as an explanation, not an excuse for her behaviour.

Marissa Meyer has managed to write the origin story of the villain in The Lunar Chronicles in a way that the reader can sympathize with her on a certain level, but it is still obvious that she is not a good person. The positive message lies in readers realizing it's possible to find a little empathy for those set so firmly on the wrong path nothing is really 100 percent good or evil or black or white.įive Stars for story and writing, Four Stars for content

The great thing about this one is the opportunity to get up close and personal with the series' antagonist. So with the mature content, this is definitely a teen series. Her sister Channery is a worse queen, ordering her favorite seamstress' feet removed so the poor woman can concentrate on her sewing, as well as sleeping with lots of men (never described) before becoming pregnant, happy that she doesn't know the father of the baby. She's embroiled in assassinations by stabbing, gunshot, and fire (a near-assassination in that case) and brainwashes a man into having sex with her (not described, but she's 16 at the time).

As the fairy-tale homage unfolds, we see Levana become more like the queen in 'Snow White': more ambitious, envious, vain, insecure, and completely lacking in empathy. It's the shorter story of how the Lunar Queen Levana got to be her evil self. Parents need to know that rabid readers of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles series will want to get their hands on this prequel.

Fairest levana's story