Cress (Lunar Chronicles, #3)

by Marissa Meyer

In this third book in the Lunar Chronicles, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they're plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army.

Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl imprisoned on a satellite since childhood who's only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she's just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.

• ISBN10: 0312642970
• ISBN13: 9780312642976
• Publish Date: 4 February 2014 (first published 1 February 2014)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Feiwel & Friends
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 560
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

Proceed With Caution:

This book contains blood, death, violence, and kidnapping.

The Basics:

Cress is the third book of The Lunar Chronicles, and you absolutely must read the previous two books before starting this one. The titular character, Cress, has been added to our band of misfits. She's also been added as a POV character along with Cinder, Scarlet, and Kai.

My Thoughts:

This series just keeps getting better and better! Cress picks up where Scarlet left off, and we finally get to meet the hacker who's been helping keep Cinder under the radar. Cinder is trying to start a revolution, but she also doesn't want to rely on her new found abilities and become like Queen Levana. This installment is a lot more emotional, but it's also lots more action packed as our characters get separated and have to find each other once again. There's so much going on, and it just speeds on by! This certainly didn't feel like it was 550 pages.

My favorite part of Cress--aside from Iko finally getting the body that she wanted--was Cress and Thorne. After their rescue attempt goes horribly wrong, they crash land in the worst possible location: the middle of the Sahara Desert. Luckily, Cress's satellite was stocked with supplies, so obviously, they're not going to die, but I adored seeing Cress take up a bit of a leadership role. At least until they get back to civilization. Her crush on Thorne is just too freaking adorable, and Thorne is still quite the charmer despite his change in circumstance. They just have so many little moments that do nothing for the bigger picture, but kept me internally awwwing.

The final quarter or so of Cress had me super nervous. I could not read it quickly enough! Our ragtag gang finally has what looks like a rock solid plan: crash the wedding and steal the groom! This is actually quite the obvious and predictable choice of action, but it still had me furiously flipping pages because so much could go wrong! Cinder and Company are not exactly superheros, so it's going to take perfect timing and execution to pull this off. It was a very tense hundred-ish pages, but by the end I could let out the breath I totally knew that I was holding.

Cress left me extremely excited for the finale. We already know that Levana has to retaliate in a big way. Cinder has to find a way to get the Lunars on her side so they can up-rise against their evil queen. Kai clearly cannot get married, but he has a responsibility to his country. Thorne and Cress need to do more kissing! Poor freaking Wolf and Scarlet! I need to know how this all turns out!

[Mad Soul Child]

я переживала так сильно что заболела голова. очень давно не могла так оторваться от книги, что не легла спать пока не дочитала. и наконец то я дождалась поцелуя Кая и Золы. мои сладулечки карамельные

[Steph L]

I loved this book so much!!!!!

[ibeforem]

This is the 3rd book in Meyer's Lunar Chronicles series, which is a fun series. The primary character in each book is very loosely based on a fairy tale character. First we had Cinder (Cinderella), then Scarlet (Little Red Riding Hood) and now Cress, who represents Rapunzel.

Like Rapunzel, Cress is trapped in her tower, except in this case the tower is a satellite in the moon's orbit. She is a Lunar shell, which means she doesn't have the mind manipulation powers of the other Lunar people. Everyone believes she was killed as a baby, but instead she was raised and trained to be a secret hacker for the queen. But she has been secretly helping Cinder, the rightful queen of Luna, and in exchange for her help they are coming to rescue her.

Unfortunately, things go terribly wrong during the rescue attempt, leaving our group split into several pieces. The rest of the story is very much a "get all the pieces in the right place for the story climax" novel, as things are prepared for the final book in the series, with a little romance mixed in. There are also a few key elements of the story that are revealed along the way.

It's been a while since I read the 2nd book in the series, so it took me a few chapters to get back into the rhythm of the story. But this is a solid YA series.

[vagasker]

I loved it! I loved the new characters and where Marissa is going with the story. But I hate that I have to wait till next year for the final book! I can't wait to read it!!

[Emma (SCR)]

This review was originally posted on Star Crossed Reviews This is the third book in the Lunar Chronicles. Cress was first introduced in book one when she warns Cinder of Levana's plan for Emperor Kai but this book is her story.

Cress has been imprisoned on a satellite for most of her life. Our reimagined Rapunzel is a little different to our previous main characters Cinder and Scarlet. Cress is a bit more vulnerable in the beginning. Cress' life has been extremely sheltered due to her imprisonment. Cress quickly learns what real life is like. Cress goes on a huge journey in this book and I couldn't be prouder of her.

As well as this being Cress' book this is also Thorne's book. Through Cress, we learn a lot about Thorne, his past, his motivations. I have to say I did fall a little bit in love with Thorne in this book.

Like in Scarlet we have multiple POV in this story. This keeps us up to date with all the characters. Multiple POVs are one of my favourite things so I was obviously excited about this.

I loved the characters in this book and ultimately I loved the book but it did seem to take me an age to finish. There were a few points in the middle where it dipped but the end more than makes up for it. Once I finished I had to start Winter!

[maggiefan]

3.5
It was very fast paced and actually pretty good!

[alindstadtcorbeax]

Hm. RTC. I felt like this one was a little harder to work through than Scarlet... only bc I think I like Scarlet better as a main narrator? Plus I need more romanceeeee btwn Thorne and Cress! No way there was even close to enough here. Lol but that ending ! Hell yesssss ♥️

Star Rating: 4 Stars
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

[teachergorman]

No spoilers, but I can’t review just one book in this series. These are all so well crafted and carefully plotted, and they nest so well, each fitting neatly in the one that follows as the cast grows. They creatively use the fairy tales upon which they are based without being to nod-and-wink about it. And the characters have wonderful, unique voices. Even the ones who initially seem like stereotypes get richer and more likable as the series goes on. By the end, the climax is earned and just enough of the loose ends are tied up to pay homage to the source material without beating the reader over the head with the happily-ever-after. I’m very glad I came late to this series so I didn’t have to wait between books and could consume all of them straight in a row. Devour these. You won’t get indigestion, I promise.

[thepunktheory]

Full Review on: my Blog ThePunkTheory

As usual, Marissa Meyer loosely based her story on a fairy-tale. This time, she was inspired by Rapunzel. You have no idea how creative Meyer is with the topic and delivers something completely new and fresh. She really is the only one how is able to pull off fairy-tale retellings!
As things are getting even more serious in the third installment of the Lunar Chronicles, the story is much more exciting and you will find yourself holding your breath. Meyer will break your heart several times in this novel, so prepare yourself for tears!
I love how she manages to come up with new plotlines, interweave them with the original story and then at some point split it into some completely new once more. Meyer really does an excellent job here.
Despite the Lunar Chronicles being somewhat sci-fi-ish, it all feels authentic, nothing is over the top or too weird. Fantastic job!