Cress - Review

Title: Cress
Author: Marissa Meyer
Part of a series? The third book in the Lunar Chronicles
Synopsis: Cress has been stuck in a satellite for most of her life. An expert hacker, she's been keeping a close eye on the band of fugitives Levana wants dead while dreaming about Earth and a certain Captain But she's going to find out that life on Earth may not be what she expected.
Cinder has accumulated an odd mix of friends, and now she's determined to save the Commonwealth and Kai from Queen Levana. The only problem is how to stop a woman as powerful as Levana, who may have something even worse than what Cinder thinks planned.
Rating: 5 stars.

Marissa Meyer has done it again! The Lunar Chronicles is fast becoming one of my all-time favourite series, and Cress did not disappoint. In this book Cress is introduced, and I loved her from the first chapter. She's sweet and different to Cinder and Scarlet in that she isn't streetwise, and she was a lot more vulnerable than our other two protagonists.

The plot completely took me by surprise. I can never guess what's going to happen in The Lunar Chronicles, but Cress was the most surprising. There was definitely a feeling that the overall story is coming to a close and that something big is building up, so I am very excited to read Winter in November!

*SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ON - GO READ CRESS THEN COME BACK!*

I loved the world-building in this book. At first, when I started reading Cinder, I was worried about all of the sci-fi terms, as I don't generally read books in this genre, but by now I feel fairly comfortable with portscreens etc. The desert scenes were possibly my favourite, along with the ball scenes, and I had such a clear picture of Cress and Carswell walking over sand dunes in my mind.

As usual, the character in The Lunar Chronicles were one of the best features of Cress. I love how relentlessly evil Levana is, and the small chapter that was written in her point of view was very intriguing. My opinion of Throne (whom I loved in Scarlet) changed a little as, like Cress, we think he's a hero in Scarlet, but in Cress it's revealed that he kind of isn't. One thing that really struck me as different is the fact that there isn't necessarily a reason for Carswell's actions, which is so different to other characters in other books. He is a chancer and a gambler and quite self-centred, and it was refreshing to read a character who is genuinely flawed for no apparent reason. That being said, I still really really like him. A LOT.

And Iko! She is one of my favourite characters in this series, and I was so happy for her when she got the escort android body. She truly is 'the most human android', and she always provides some laughter to a serious scene.

In Cress we also were introduced to Princess Winter, and I have to say that I like her already. I think she and Jacin will be cute together in Winter (I hope!), and I'm very interested in finding out more about her.
The only thing about Cress that mildly bothered me was that there was a large portion of the book where we didn't know what was happening to Scarlet, but her chapters were so horrifying that it was also kind of a relief! I can't believe that Levana chopped off her little finger. That being said, I love how The Lunar Chronicles focusses on all of the characters and that the cast gradually builds up with each book.

Bring on Winter!

What did you think of Cress? Let me know in the comments.
Thanks for reading(: