Title: Fairest

Author: Marissa Meyer

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Publisher: Feiwal and Friends

Format: Paperback

Pages: 220

Rating: 4/5 stars

Synopsis (Goodreads):

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.

Book Review:

This book was a great in between book for the series. I actually like that I read it after Winter because it answered a few questions that I had at the end of Winter (which I know I that I wouldn’t have had questions if I had read Fairest first). Winter still made perfect sense, and I don’t think it matters what order you read it in- Fairest or Winter first.

Fairest was a great a great book in that you get to delve deep into Levana’s character and what events occured to make her so sinister. The book starts with the funeral of Levana’s parents, and her sister Channary becoming queen. Levana and her sister do not have a great relationship, due to something that her sister did to her, and how cruel Channary is to Levana. We can see that Levana just wants to be considered a person in the royal court, and to be considered beautiful. She especially wants the attention of Evret, a cute guard who is, unfortunately for Levana, married. She harbours a crush on him that eventually leads to some unfortunate mistakes.

The evolution of Levana’s character is well written. We can see as readers that she is vain, but she is because she considers herself ugly due to what her sister did to her. She slowly starts to resent a lot of people, and she honestly believes that she would make a great Queen, and that the people of Luna need her. She reminded me a bit of Regina from Once Upon a Time (which is a fantastic tv show, if you have not seen it). Regina was a great person, but due to some horrible things that happened to her, she blamed a person who was not necessarily responsible for her hardships, and she took it out on them.

This book was a great look into the world of Levana, and it made me love the series even more. Now on to the last book, Stars Above!

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to send me an email or comment. Happy Reading!