Fairest by Marissa Meyer

Fairest (Lunar Chronicles, #3.5)

by Marissa Meyer

Prepare to see the New York Times-bestselling series like you've never seen it before, now with new cover art!

A standalone prequel to the #1 New York Times- and USA Today-Bestselling Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer! Find out what made the evil space queen from the beloved series so wicked.

An interesting mash up of fairy tales and science fiction . . . a cross between Cinderella, Terminator, and Star Wars. --Entertainment Weekly

Prince Charming among the cyborgs. --The Wall Street Journal

Mirror, mirror, on the wall.
Who is the Fairest of them all?

Pure evil has a name, hides behind a mask of deceit, and uses her glamour to gain power. But who is Queen Levana? Long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress in The Lunar Chronicles, Levana lived a very different story--a story that has never been told . . . until now.

New York Times
-bestselling author Marissa Meyer reveals the story behind her fascinating villain in Fairest, an unforgettable tale about love and war, deceit and death. This extraordinary book includes a special full-color image of Levana's castle and an excerpt from Winter, the exciting conclusion to The Lunar Chronicles.

Don't miss these other books from #1 New York Times- and USA Today-Bestselling author Marissa Meyer:

The Lunar Chronicles:
Cinder
Scarlet
Cress
Winter
Stars Above
Fairest
The Lunar Chronicles Coloring Book

Wires and Nerve: Vol. 1
Wires and Nerve: Vol. 2

Renegades:
Renegades: Book One
Archenemies: Book Two
Supernova: Book Three

Heartless

Reviewed by inlibrisveritas on

5 of 5 stars

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4.5 Stars

Fairest is a prequel novel that starts 17 years before the beginning of Cinder and focuses on the Queen Levana. I would say though this is a prequel I do not recommend starting here, but instead reading it in the order of publications (Cress then Fairest), as there are some things that are revealed in the fully books that would be spoiled by reading this first.

I loved getting to know Levana, and being able to be in her head space for a while because I learned a lot about her. Not only do we get to see how intelligent and cunning she can be, but we also get a front row seat to her tittering sanity. I can’t go into details of course, because this is definitely a story best experienced if the reader doesn’t know what to expect. We do get to see her softer moments, the reason for the veil, and just what happened to the previous rulers. Getting to know about some of the major background characters that are mentioned in the other three books, but never mentioned in too much detail (mainly because those characters didn’t know them) was really fun and at times incredibly heartbreaking. Part of me really felt awful for Levana, and then the other part of me would feel really horrified by everything she was doing and that pity would go away.

While I wouldn’t call this a necessary read for the over all plot , I do think it’s well worth the time if you want to know more about the main antagonist and just what makes her tick. Levana is a complicated character with a jumbled mess of a mind, and it was a treat to see her rise to power.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 2 February, 2015: Finished reading
  • 2 February, 2015: Reviewed