Fairest (Lunar Chronicles, #3.5)

by Marissa Meyer

[Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews]

Queen Levana takes center stage in this novella to tide readers over until the conclusion of the Lunar Chronicles, Winter. In Fairest, the reader is given back story as to what makes Levana tick and the events that would lead up to Cinder, the first in the series.

While reading Fairest I was reminded of the Star Wars trilogy. Fairest to me was The Phantom Menace, it answered the mystery behind Darth Vader but was not on the same par as A New Hope. It was a good story but was missing the oomph that its predecessor had. Instead it just kind of dragged along and waited for Levana to quit being the awkward, shy girl into the mega-bitch who like Darth Vader with “The Force” uses her Glamor for evil, in fact both wear masks of a sort to cover disfigurement making them more mysterious and dimensional.

Fairest was plot based and was really a fact taker, learning of the beginnings of the virus that will overtake Earth, the birth of the Thaumaturge and the sisterly relationship between Levana and her sister Channary which has a Wicked Witch of the East and West vibe to it.

At the end of the day, This was a solid addition to the Lunar Chronicles and enjoyed the sneak peek of Winter, but I have conflicting feelings on Levana and feel this way about her story as well.