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myleejmiller's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
In Fairest by Marissa Meyer, young princess Levana faces the hardest trial of her spoiled life: unreciprocated love. When her ambition to find a companion turns into manipulation of someone who refuses to adore her as much as she adores him, she starts down the deep and dark path of denial, anger, and villainy.
When I first bought Fairest, I didn't realize it was meant to be read between books three and four of The Lunar Chronicles. However, my late readthrough didn't make the story any more difficult to understand. As always, Meyer does a phenomenal job of crafting vivid characterization, advanced worldbuilding, and bone-deep motives for every aspect of the storyline. It was a joy to see the stories told through the original series expanded into the heart of this backstory. Readers don't have enough villain origin stories and reading about Levana's past made me want even more stories with villains at the forefront.
The reason I rated this novella four stars was because of two things: one, the descriptions of the setting and the people weren't as profound or in depth as I would have liked. While a few characters were described, such physical descriptions were rare. Rarer still were details informing the setting, which I feel would've enhanced the storyline even further. Two: the villain was absolutely, undeniably evil.
"But Mylee!" you might say, "it's a villain origin story; of course they're evil." Which is fine, considering how Levana was shown to grow up in (hinted at) the past of the narrative. I do understand. However, I find myself more drawn to villains who become what they are throughout the course of the story as it plays out on paper. The late revelation as to why Queen Levana became a villain deterred me, rather than drawing me in.
Otherwise, this novel was a wonderful addition to the Lunar universe!
When I first bought Fairest, I didn't realize it was meant to be read between books three and four of The Lunar Chronicles. However, my late readthrough didn't make the story any more difficult to understand. As always, Meyer does a phenomenal job of crafting vivid characterization, advanced worldbuilding, and bone-deep motives for every aspect of the storyline. It was a joy to see the stories told through the original series expanded into the heart of this backstory. Readers don't have enough villain origin stories and reading about Levana's past made me want even more stories with villains at the forefront.
The reason I rated this novella four stars was because of two things: one, the descriptions of the setting and the people weren't as profound or in depth as I would have liked. While a few characters were described, such physical descriptions were rare. Rarer still were details informing the setting, which I feel would've enhanced the storyline even further. Two: the villain was absolutely, undeniably evil.
"But Mylee!" you might say, "it's a villain origin story; of course they're evil." Which is fine, considering how Levana was shown to grow up in (hinted at) the past of the narrative. I do understand. However, I find myself more drawn to villains who become what they are throughout the course of the story as it plays out on paper. The late revelation as to why Queen Levana became a villain deterred me, rather than drawing me in.
Otherwise, this novel was a wonderful addition to the Lunar universe!
brittanica_bold's review against another edition
5.0
I love a good villain backstory. I especially love watching the villain go from a normal person through the series of events that cause them to snap and become the terrible character we know.
While reading Fairest, Levana's backstory in The Lunar Chronicles, I was hit with more sympathy for Levana than I thought I would be. We meet her as a young girl having to pick up the pieces of being royalty when her sister Channary would rather be off partying than dealing with her role as Queen. We see the good intent in Levana, with her wanting to make the right decisions for her planet and wanting to be the best ruler for all of their citizens. But slowly, we see her being pushed by her sister, isolated with no friends or family, and making one bad decision after another. A character who starts with good intensions slow drifts off into unforgiveable territory, coming to a head with the events we've all read about in the first three books of the Lunar Chronicles.
I also find it very interesting that Marissa Meyer has presented Levana and Cinder in rather parallel circumstances, both having been through the same devastating "accident" and then being raised in a rather isolated manner. Are Cinder and Levana really two sides of the same coin?
I feel bad for Levana and I pity her, but at the same time, her decisions were her own and lead to the monster we see represented in the first three books. For her bad deeds, I cannot like or forgive her, but for her unfortunate beginning, I can sympathize with her. That is excellent character building.
4.5 Stars from this Lunartic!
While reading Fairest, Levana's backstory in The Lunar Chronicles, I was hit with more sympathy for Levana than I thought I would be. We meet her as a young girl having to pick up the pieces of being royalty when her sister Channary would rather be off partying than dealing with her role as Queen. We see the good intent in Levana, with her wanting to make the right decisions for her planet and wanting to be the best ruler for all of their citizens. But slowly, we see her being pushed by her sister, isolated with no friends or family, and making one bad decision after another. A character who starts with good intensions slow drifts off into unforgiveable territory, coming to a head with the events we've all read about in the first three books of the Lunar Chronicles.
I also find it very interesting that Marissa Meyer has presented Levana and Cinder in rather parallel circumstances, both having been through the same devastating "accident" and then being raised in a rather isolated manner. Are Cinder and Levana really two sides of the same coin?
I feel bad for Levana and I pity her, but at the same time, her decisions were her own and lead to the monster we see represented in the first three books. For her bad deeds, I cannot like or forgive her, but for her unfortunate beginning, I can sympathize with her. That is excellent character building.
4.5 Stars from this Lunartic!
livvthepig's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This was a re-read and my God I didn’t remember it being so horrible. Not in a bad book kind of way, but in a “wtf is wrong with you Levana” kind of way. It’s such an interesting glimpse into her mind, but everything with her and Evret is so genuinely hard to read, it’s just so uncomfortable. But I say that in the best way possible. I’m glad Marissa Meyer didn’t take her villain and just be like “they had a sad backstory :( “ like no, Levana is just a really terrible person, but there were definitely factors that made her a lot worse. This was a very short, but very interesting read.
mehsi's review against another edition
3.0
I am not going to write a long review. As people can probably see my rating is a 3 stars. The book was good, don't get me wrong. But I am really confused about Levana.
We knew Levana is a baddie, she is the big villain of the whole series, but while reading this book and getting to know her better, I see she is bad, she is disturbing and at times a psychopath, but I can also see a girl underneath. A girl who just wants love and someone to like her for how she is. Because, that is the biggest problem that Levana has:
But on the other hand, she is also creepy and scary. Her thoughts were just urgh at times. Thinking of ways to kill someone, her total obsession with Evret. How she treated Evret and what happens near the end. I mean, WTF is up with you girl? Seriously?
The whole Selene part, and what happens there was just hugely disturbing and made me feel sick.
The book also gives us some more insight on Winter, her backstory, what happened to her and I can say, that I am now even more excited for Winter. She seems like a great character, and I really want a book from her POV.
Channary was just a horrendous person. Breaking her sister, hurting her sister, being an overall big bitch and a very bad ruler (yes, I would say, while Levana is bad, Channary was even worse at times).
I really loved seeing Luna before all the events that happen on Earth. How things weren't going all too well, how the relations between Earth and the Moon were broken/bad, and how the plan was concocted to infect people on earth. How everything went from bad to terribly wtf happened here?
All in all, though I would recommend this book if you want more insight on Levana, to see how everything went to hell.
Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/
We knew Levana is a baddie, she is the big villain of the whole series, but while reading this book and getting to know her better, I see she is bad, she is disturbing and at times a psychopath, but I can also see a girl underneath. A girl who just wants love and someone to like her for how she is. Because, that is the biggest problem that Levana has:
Spoiler
she is disfigured, she has burns over a big portion over her body, thanks to her dear sister who pushed/held her in a fire when she was young. And I think this event and also the fact with how her sister is, and how everyone expects her to be pretty, made her the way she is now. Hateful, spiteful, angry at those who are pretty. And it breaks my heart, it made me feel for her, feel sorry for her that she has such a sister and has to go through so much.But on the other hand, she is also creepy and scary. Her thoughts were just urgh at times. Thinking of ways to kill someone, her total obsession with Evret. How she treated Evret and what happens near the end. I mean, WTF is up with you girl? Seriously?
The whole Selene part, and what happens there was just hugely disturbing and made me feel sick.
The book also gives us some more insight on Winter, her backstory, what happened to her and I can say, that I am now even more excited for Winter. She seems like a great character, and I really want a book from her POV.
Channary was just a horrendous person. Breaking her sister, hurting her sister, being an overall big bitch and a very bad ruler (yes, I would say, while Levana is bad, Channary was even worse at times).
I really loved seeing Luna before all the events that happen on Earth. How things weren't going all too well, how the relations between Earth and the Moon were broken/bad, and how the plan was concocted to infect people on earth. How everything went from bad to terribly wtf happened here?
All in all, though I would recommend this book if you want more insight on Levana, to see how everything went to hell.
Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/
sienna727's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
magnolia4039's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
letsbebookfriends's review against another edition
2.0
I was a little disappointed by the villain story. It was good to have a back story, and I now understand that Levana has been crazy from day one, but this really didn't excite me like the other books.
tonks332's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
bookishjosh's review against another edition
4.0
Fairest finally made me understand the catalyst behind Queen Levana's cruelty.
With that in mind, I really hoped that she would be able to find redemption at the end of the series, after everything she did to Cinder and the rest of our darling protagonists. Har-har.
Although Levana's childhood or upbringing was indeed such as disaster, my hatred for her did not lessen. However, I guess I somehow liked her because she perfectly illustrated that we will always be a product of our choices in life.
Kudos to Marissa Meyer for another beautiful retelling.
With that in mind, I really hoped that she would be able to find redemption at the end of the series, after everything she did to Cinder and the rest of our darling protagonists. Har-har.
Although Levana's childhood or upbringing was indeed such as disaster, my hatred for her did not lessen. However, I guess I somehow liked her because she perfectly illustrated that we will always be a product of our choices in life.
Kudos to Marissa Meyer for another beautiful retelling.