Winter (Lunar Chronicles, #4)

by Marissa Meyer

[Amanda]

In order to prepare myself for Winter, I embarked on a reread of the four other books in The Lunar Chronicles (counting the Fairest "novella"). They stand up remarkably well to rereads, and prepared me to dive straight into Winter.

At 800+ pages, Winter is both a lot and not enough. (I hear the next Lunar Chronicles book is a collection of short stories AND an epilogue of Winter.) With all the cast of characters, everyone needs page time and a character arc and a romantic arc. Which is pretty much why it's a lot and not enough all at once.

As much as this is supposed to be Winter's book, it's also Cinder's book. And Scarlet and Wolf's. And Cress and Thorne's. And Kai. Iko. (Who deserves her own little HEA, I think.) We even get a few glimpses from Levana's POV, but it's about what you'd expect from her. Evil, evil.

You guys, a lot is happening in this book. People get taken prisoner. People escape. We're surprised by some characters. Some are exactly as we remember them. I wanted MOAR of all the relationship development between the characters, and less of the action, but... that's a personal preference and this book would have been even bigger and longer and potentially not as good.

It makes the epilogue make sense. EPILOGUE. Wedding of the century! But I digress...

Series enders are always tough. It's tough to say goodbye to a cast of characters we've grown attached to, but it's also tough to tie up all the loose ends and plot threads in a way that's believable and in line with everything else that's happened. I may not have always liked what happened in Winter, but it made sense and it furthered the story along.

I always know I'm in a good book when I'm not constantly analyzing how all the plot pieces fit together and simply read. That's what Winter was. You experience. Also, the book is huge, so it's easier to read and ache for whichever character you most want to read.

Honestly, my most coherent thought right now is that I want to read Winter all over again so I can experience everything at a slower pace. I recommend The Lunar Chronicles to just about anyone and everyone I think might possibly like it, and Winter is a wonderful ending to what has been an awesome series. I wish I could stay with the characters forever as they go forth and do the things they were meant to do... with the people they were meant to do them with. Is that vague enough? (Also, if I read this review later, will it be specific enough to remember what happens?)

As sad as I am to see this series end, I can't wait to see what Marissa Meyer has in story for us next.