Reviews

Cress by Marissa Meyer

akookieforyou's review against another edition

4.0

*4.5*

“No more secrets. No more lies.
Well, just one.
She thought she might be a tiny bit in love with him.
But there was no way she could tell him that.”

This was just so good!!! I can't even begin to describe just how addicting this was to read; I read nearly half of it in one night! And honestly this was so much better than Scarlet, mostly because Cress was a much more interesting and enjoyable protagonist to follow. Plus the relationship between Cress and Thorne was just adorable. But the stars that stole the whole show for me, and have since book one, are Cinder and Kai.

Spoiler

My reaction to their reunion and kiss was nothing short of comical; I legit gasped when he kissed her. Who even does that? Lololol I also may have cried a bit during that scene as well.... I just feel like their story has the perfect amount of tension and build up. They aren't magically in love after one day, and even after three books, and a beautiful kiss, they still aren't fully in love yet. That type of romance has always been more appealing to me.

I can't wait to see what the finale will be like.

betwixt_the_pages's review against another edition

5.0

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.

- - - - -

Rating: 5/5 Stars
Quick Reasons: drama, action, romance, suspense! this book has a little bit of everything; kickass characters; spectacular character growths; intriguing introduction of new plot points/plague elements to further the sub story; emotionally charged, heart-wrenching scenes

Being the third book in a series, there's not a LOT I can say about this book without breaching the “spoilers” line and betraying any readers who haven't gotten the chance to pick this series/this book up yet. I promise I'll do my best to keep this utterly spoiler free; if I fail, you have permission to douse me with glue, cover me with silver glitter, and call me Edward Cullen. (Wait... that's a totally different book! Oh well, too late now to take it back.)

A laugh came from the cockpit and Thorne appeared in the doorway, strapping a gun holster around his waist. "You're asking the cyborg fugitive and the wild animal to be the welcoming committee? That's adorable."

Now, I listened to this via audiobook. I decided not long ago that I wanted to at least TRY audiobooks sometimes, when I wasn't in the mood to actually read but still wanted to “read.” I started this one sort of spur of the moment...and absolutely fell in love! The narrator, Rebecca Soler (who I guess also did the rest of the Lunar Chronicles series) went to a lot of trouble to make each character unique, easy to tell apart, and personable. She put a lot of extra depth to them just with her voice, which really helped to bring this story to life for me. So if you're considering audiobooks and this read is on your list, you should definitely give it a shot—I was thoroughly entertained!

That being said, let's move on to the actual review, yes?

“But you're a prisoner," said Thorne.

"I prefer damsel in distress," she murmured.

One side of Thorne's mouth quirked up, into that perfect half smile he'd had in his graduation photo. A look that was a little bit devious, and all sorts of charming.

Cress's heart stopped, but if they noticed her melting into her chair, they didn't say anything.

The characters REALLY leapt to life for me in this book. Where I was a bit disappointed overall in the characters/their motivations/their interactions in Scarlet, this addition more than made up for it. Marissa Meyer is QUEEN at writing snarky dialogue and emotionally charged scenes, and I was kept on my toes the entire read—anticipating, hoping, squealing, or flushing from exasperation. Each character brought his or her own flair to this story, spinning and weaving it into a masterful journey of suspense, action, humor and (at times) romantic intrigue.

The prose is well-done, the dialogue is entirely realistic and ALWAYS entertaining. I giggled aloud more than several times, especially during scenes involving Cress (my favorite, I think, of them all) and Thorne (these two just... gah, the feels. All the feels, all the time). They're just so freaking snarky and innocent and... I had secondhand embarrasment more than once. We also get a hint of mystery in our newest character addition—I have to admit, I can't wait to see what book four brings! The plot is action-packed, the pace hardly ever slows down; it's a gut-churning adventure, with more than a few surprising twists to keep readers on the edges of their seats!

Her satellite made one full orbit around Planet Earth every sixteen hours. It was a prison that came with an endlessly breathtaking view— vast blue oceans and swirling clouds and sunrises that set half the world on fire.

I really, really enjoyed this read, and would definitely recommend the series to lovers of fairy tale retellings, space and cyborgs, and uniquely crafted worlds! I can't wait to see what book four brings to the table!

notmle's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

halfbloodcity's review against another edition

5.0

“Because the palace walls have been bleeding for years, and no one else sees it.”

lydz1106's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture

annaecarroll04's review against another edition

adventurous tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

_xcchxrlxttx_'s review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

there is literally so much that has just happened holy fuck. i mean i knew the war was going to happen but literally so much just happened i’m shook. lemme just say that SHIT JUST HAPPENED. SHIT JUST HAPPENED. lemme recap. the gang needed to rescue cress. thorne was going to go into cress’ satellite and save her. but sybil found out about their plans and trapped thorne and cress and they were going to die being seperated from the rest of the group. they landed on a desert safely but thorne lost his eyesight. meanwhile there was a fight between sybil and the gang causing wolf to become badly injured, scarlet being kidnapped and jacin the guard being accidently kidnapped by cinder. cinder flies to africa to find dr erland and help wolf. meanwhile thorn and cress wander around in the desert until some people find them and save them. the people realised that thorne was the wanted fugative and cress is a shell so they sell cress to dr erland. cress escape and bump into rest of gang. thorne follows cress and reunites with gang and has an android body for iko (SLAYYY). they are surrounded by the military and they are caught but the civilians save them and they manage to escape. they all hop onto the rampion and go to kai’s palace and kidnaps him. meanwhile, dr erland is fixing thorne’s eye’s and we discover that erland has letumosis. they leave dr erland and they go bac kto the ship but sybil and her gang is there and there is a big fight. the gang wins and sybil is dead (LOL BITCH) however jacin either escapes or gets kidnapped and is brought to levana. kai wakes up and is shook and he finds out cinder is princess selene. they find out that levana killed the civilians in africa and war has started. 

 

 

THAT WAS A LOT OF INFO OMGOMGOMG THIS BOOK WAS SOOOO GOOOD. i defo think my favourite parts of this book was when the big struggle happened causing the rampion gang to seperate like OMG THAT SHIT IS CRAZYYY ugh i felt so bad for cinder because she literally had a dying wolf, and this rando lunar guy with her. honestly tho jacin is a strange guy. like based off of the last scene he was in with levana, idk if he just betrayed them or if he has some sneaky plan. idk bro but I NEED TO KNOW. i also love the parts with thorn and cress in the desert. idk why i just love them. i will say tho the age gap is a little questionable but im just going to ignore it. i did thought tho when they were in that town, and when thorn was flirting with that girl with blue hair, I THOUGHT HE WAS BEING A LIL WHORE AGAIN BUT NOOOOOOOOO HE WAS FINDING IKO A BODY FOR HERRRR 🥰🥰🥰🥰😩😩😩 honestly tho i love cinder and thornes relationship they’re so sweet. like when i was reading scarlet i thought he was going to be a one time cahracter that helps cinder and then dips BUT NOO. talking about cinder and thorne- i also looooooove the scene when everyone is in the hospital room and all the characters were staring at each other confused as fuck and screaming at each other. IT WAS SO FUNNY AND SO CUTE I CANT. BECAUSE THE GANG IS GETTING TOGETHER AGAIN. omg i especially love the part when thorne is running to find cress and wolf says “thorne???” but when cinder and thorne reunited i can’ttttttt 

 

 

i will say tho cress is a little weird. like i know she was trapped in a satellite for 7 years so she has no social cues but she was a little cringe. i didn’t like the fact she was acting like a damsel in distress and she kept on referring herself to that. like be quiet. and her crush on thorne was a little odd. more creepy than cute. i do think out of everyone so far- cinder and kai’s romance is the best because why??? it isn’t rushedddd. like scarlet and wolf basically fall in love within a week and cress had this creepy crush on thorne and thorne just loves all women likeeeee. 

 

 

also i didn’t like the fact scarlet’s first pov after getting kidnapped by sybil was her being controlled. i thought it was a little weird. like she was no control over her mind why does she get a pov. 

 

 

i will say tho i am really excited to know how winter is implementing in this story. so far tho- she is a little weird and idk if i like her. idk. it could be just an act tho. hopefully otherwise she might be a little annoying. 

 

hippocapybara's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

mariannes's review against another edition

adventurous tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

cyparenteau's review against another edition

4.0

Third book in the series. The storytelling is still solid, and I think that it was important to have Cress be a very different kind of person than Cinder or Scarlet. I didn't really like her, but I like that she doesn't fit the "strong female character" mold while still being quite strong.