Reviews

The Lunar Chronicles Boxed Set: Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, Fairest, Winter by Marissa Meyer

emlaughlin's review

adventurous challenging tense medium-paced

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

4.5

n_j_k's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny inspiring lighthearted relaxing tense medium-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? No

4.0

aaalena_s's review

medium-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

3.5

breezymor's review against another edition

5.0

This is one of my top favorite series ever! It holds a special place in my heart. Scarlet and Winter were my favorite books but Cress and Cinder were good too! Before I even finished Cinder, I went ahead and ordered the rest of the series and it was not a mistake! I was absolutely hooked!

aphroditv's review

adventurous tense medium-paced

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

5.0

drlainie's review

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

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

5.0

hummyvibes's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense 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

5.0

kaypat23's review against another edition

4.0

I'm currently on a mission searching for problematic authors and unfortunately, Merissa Meyer has made the list. https://problematicauthors101.tumblr.com/tagged/marissa-meyer

It's kind of sad that so many authors that I loved as a teen ended up writing things that are actually quite harmful on second or third reading. I will be re-reading this soon to see if I spot anymore of these harmful tropes but for now:

There were some problematic elements that I cannot ignore in the first novel such as:
1. Amalgamation of Asian traits and cultural heritage. Prince Kaito is coded Japanese but the entire Asian city is just a mess of what white culture calls "Asian" (eg: Buddha statues, wonton, chopsticks, noodles etc.). The book takes place in New Beijing but the characters use Korean honorifics. What language are they even speaking in? Did the author do her research before mashing all the Asian traits together? Cinder at times is racially ambiguous and I think that is another mistake people make when they claim Cinder is about an Asian protagonist because it was never confirmed. Just because she lives in New Beijing does not mean that she is Asian. I think it is a little unrealistic and messy upon second reading.

callalila's review

adventurous emotional funny inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

oni's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring tense fast-paced

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

4.0