Cress

Cress - Marissa Meyer

If there's one thing that always makes me incredibly happy, it is coming across a book series where every book feels consistent in how well-written and interesting it is, and the Lunar Chronicles are a wonderful example of that. "Cress" does an already mouth-watering series great justice by building on the strong foundation established by its predecessors, and made for an enjoyable read.

I must say however that it did start out slower than the other two books, and I had some more difficulty getting into it. It was only about halfway through that I think I really truly started to get into the writing and ended up going through the second half of the book in one day. Perhaps that was just me, seeing as how the ratings for each book only increases in comparison to the previous in the series. I do however agree that this was one wonderful addition to the series.

The characters, as always, are lively and detailed and a pleasure to follow along. Scarlet has solidified her position as my favourite however. The romance in the story isn't the dominant force, as always, but when it is mentioned it is looked at and approached as a genuine, realistic thing without any excessive sugarcoating or drama that often taints other YA romantic relationships. For Cress especially, her and Thorne had such a nice edge to their emotions and the way their relationship developed that I enjoyed.

As always, the ending leaves you wishing the next book was already in your hands so that you could keep reading. Alas, the wait is until November when finally the conclusion will be revealed. The 'preview' of Winter at the end of "Cress" was wonderfully done and I could already see that it's easy to pair up Scarlet with Cinder and Cress with Winter in relation to the kind of personalities they have. It makes for an interesting dichotomy that isn't excessive while aiding in each of their character developments.

I can't wait to see where "Winter" will lead. The strength of each of the characters and Cinder's resolution to bring a Lunar revolution to end Levana's reign has remained strong in each book and I'm hoping for an equally energetic and memorable resolution.