Angie
Proceed With Caution:
This book contains blood, death, violence, torture, and a suicide.
The Basics:
Stars Above is a collection of short stories which take place during The Lunar Chronicles. Some are prequels, epilogues, or happen sometime during the series.
My Thoughts:
Overall this was an okay collection of stories. None of them really add anything to the series as a whole, so if you're not a super fan, I'd say it's safe to skip Stars Above.
The Keeper
★★★★ - This was a good story about Michelle Benoit, who was a small part of the series but still extremely important. It tells us how she came to be involved with Princess Selene's recovery and how Scarlet came to live with her. I would have loved to have gotten more of her time on Luna though.
Glitches
★★★★ -Another origin story, this time of Cinder and Iko. This tells of Cinder's first days with the Linh family and how she put Iko back together. It's a pretty sad story though.
The Queen's Army
★★★ - While this is Wolf's origin story, it's more focused on how the special operative army works. It goes from when Z is taken from his family, through his modifications, and ultimately how he became Alpha and his pack was chosen for the Queen's mission on Earth. It was good, but not as interesting as it could have been.
Carswell's Guide to Being Lucky
★★★★ - Clearly this is Thorne's story. He was the same lovable charmer and schemer at thirteen as he was when we meet him in Scarlet. This is a pretty cute story that goes in depth into one of the fights he got into which Cress looked up and asked him about.
After Sunshine Passes By
★★ - Cress was my favorite character, and this story was disappointing. It was so short and had no development. It was just "here is how Cress got to her satellite." That's it. More of a FAQ answer than a true bonus story.
The Princess and the Guard
★★ - Of course, Winter gets the longest story, but it just made me realize how even more useless she is. Obviously this focuses on when she stopped using her gift and started "going crazy." This girl is simply useless and did it to herself. She can only think in extremes. How is damaging your mind good for anybody? The only interesting part was when Levana made Winter cut her own face, but that further cemented the fact that Winter is a moron. Change your hair or your shoes? Do something! You don't have to interfere with people's lives. Just do something small to save yourself. Idiot.
The Little Android
★★★ - I liked this story, and I wish it had been longer, but it really doesn't fit with the rest of these. It has nothing to do with The Lunar Chronicles. It should have been its own, standalone novella. It's an interesting twist on The Little Mermaid.
The Mechanic
★ - That was literally just Kai and Cinder's first meeting, but from his POV. Nothing is different. Nothing is new or exciting. It was almost identical, since it's in third person anyway.
Something Old, Something New
★★★ - Did I need to see Scarlet and Wolf getting married? No. Was this a cute reunion? Absolutely! Did I like Kai and Cinder stealing the spotlight for no reason? Nope.
