Title: Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4) Author: Marissa Meyer Genre: Young Adult | Sci-Fi | Romance | Fairytale Retelling Publisher: Feiwel and Friends Publication Date: November 10, 2015 Format: Physical Source: Purchased
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)?
Most series enders wish they could be as epic as Winter!
Plot: Before diving into Winter I recommend giving the series, as a whole, a reread. I know your instinct will be "GIVE ME NOW," but trust me, you'll want the refresher. That being said, boy, is Winter epic! There was never a lull in the action and it was easy to lose an entire day to this book. Winter is a daunting 830 pages, but honestly it flies. This is in part that Meyer tells chapters from different perspectives and is constantly switching the teams up. Although Winter is Snow White inspired, I felt that the biggest retelling aspect of Winter was Queen Levana acting as the evil jealous step-mother. I would have liked more similarities between Snow White and Winter, but as a series ender, I have no complaints.
Characters: Jacin and Winter are my favorite couple in the entire series and I want MORE. I knew that I was going to love Winter from the first glimpse we got of her from Cress and Fairest only piqued my curiosity. I was sad that there didn't seem to be any more development in Winter that we hadn't seen in Cress. There was definitely more Winter as a person, but I wanted more exploration of her character. Regardless, she and Jacin pulled at my heartstrings and had me in tears a few times (if you wanted to make a Jacin/Winter novella Marissa, I would have NO qualms).
The old crew is back and I realized that one of my favorite aspects of The Lunar Chronicles is the genuine friendship between all of the characters. I loved their banter and just how loyal they were to each other.
World Building: If you've read Fairest, you've already gotten a glimpse of life on Luna, and that was just the tip of the iceberg. There were times where I couldn't help but compare Winter to the Hunger Games because the lifestyle on Luna was very similar to that of the Capitol: people in the palace living a lavish lifestyle while the outer sectors have rationed meals and basically live in a police state.
Short N Sweet: Winter is a satisfying conclusion to a beloved series, I'm just sad to see it go.
Now that that's over...
I really love Winter and Jacin. Like I REALLY love them. I love the whole idea of falling in love with someone of a different station that yourself and Jacin's dedication to Winter is out of this world.
Last week I was feeling nostalgic and going through all the bands I was obsessed with during my high school and university years. I came across Wolftron's Mare Crisium and I couldn't stop thinking about how it described Winter and Jacin's relationship. AND HOW FITTING IS THIS, MARE CRISIUM IS ACTUALLY ON THE MOON SOOO FATE.
