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charlieteuthis's review against another edition
5.0
A spectacular conclusion to an incredible series.
hurrikanekathrina's review against another edition
4.0
actual rating: 4.4 stars
This book was really good. I feel like I read 10 books with all the stuff that happened in this book. And Jacin, I love Jacin *.* He and Thorne are definitely my favorite (male) characters in this series!
This book was thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining, and had little to none boring parts, but it didn't make 5 stars for me. Firstly, because I'm trying to be a bit less enthusiastic with my rating now (because I'm the kind of person that gives every good book 5 stars and then regrets that I can't rate the books that I loved, loved, loved one star more) and secondly because this book had it's flaws. The world of Lunar was awesome, and I absolutely love Meyer's characters and will gladly read everything else she writes (about them), but this book didn't hit home as the most amazing book ever or something. Also, I didn't warm up to Winter (no pun intended). At all. I was so excited for her character and since I love all of Meyer's characters and main couples, and the premise for Winter and Jacin seemed awesome, I was sure that they would become another favorite ship in the TLC series. But Winter was just so overdone. So melodramatic. And also, she was that one character, the trope that I hate, this girl that everyone just LOVES, the character that is so GOOD, so BEAUTIFUL, so AMAZING, that EVERYONE just freaking LOVES her. I know, it's kind of in the job description for a snow white character, but let's be real, Meyer took some liberties with the fairy tales, and making Winter this type of character was definitely her decision. And it was so annoying. I think I would've gotten over Winter's horrible melodramatic "visions" (which is a super cool premise, but I just hated how it was done. The images and the way that Winter described the visions had me cringing and feeling like I was reading Shatter Me. "I am a girl made of icicles." Oh my god, shut up!) and even the fact that she's the beloved, beautiful princess (because Levana's envy had to come from somewhere), if Meyer hadn't pushed it too far with also adding that Winter is the most innocent, pure, good-hearted, kindest, amazing person ever, yadda-yadda. It was just too much.
Also, though I love how long and complex the story was, the last few chapters kind of dissappointed me. Those fated "after the final battle" chapters, the part in which your couples finally get together and the author struggles to wrap things up sufficiently without it feeling too constructed. Almost every single book lacks severely in this department, because after the tension is out and the battle is won, it's always difficult to wrap up. Nobody wants to read 150 pages of epilogue and aftermath after the battle (looking at you, Cassandra Clare), unless there's something really interesting going on (looking at you, Laini Taylor. I would've gladly read a 100 pages more of epilogue after DoGaM). After the book ended, I simply wasn't left with this "wow, what an aaaaamazing book" feeling, though at some parts during the book I did think so. But in the end, it didn't leave a big enough of an impression on me to deserve 5 stars.
This book was really good. I feel like I read 10 books with all the stuff that happened in this book. And Jacin, I love Jacin *.* He and Thorne are definitely my favorite (male) characters in this series!
This book was thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining, and had little to none boring parts, but it didn't make 5 stars for me. Firstly, because I'm trying to be a bit less enthusiastic with my rating now (because I'm the kind of person that gives every good book 5 stars and then regrets that I can't rate the books that I loved, loved, loved one star more) and secondly because this book had it's flaws. The world of Lunar was awesome, and I absolutely love Meyer's characters and will gladly read everything else she writes (about them), but this book didn't hit home as the most amazing book ever or something. Also, I didn't warm up to Winter (no pun intended). At all. I was so excited for her character and since I love all of Meyer's characters and main couples, and the premise for Winter and Jacin seemed awesome, I was sure that they would become another favorite ship in the TLC series. But Winter was just so overdone. So melodramatic. And also, she was that one character, the trope that I hate, this girl that everyone just LOVES, the character that is so GOOD, so BEAUTIFUL, so AMAZING, that EVERYONE just freaking LOVES her. I know, it's kind of in the job description for a snow white character, but let's be real, Meyer took some liberties with the fairy tales, and making Winter this type of character was definitely her decision. And it was so annoying. I think I would've gotten over Winter's horrible melodramatic "visions" (which is a super cool premise, but I just hated how it was done. The images and the way that Winter described the visions had me cringing and feeling like I was reading Shatter Me. "I am a girl made of icicles." Oh my god, shut up!) and even the fact that she's the beloved, beautiful princess (because Levana's envy had to come from somewhere), if Meyer hadn't pushed it too far with also adding that Winter is the most innocent, pure, good-hearted, kindest, amazing person ever, yadda-yadda. It was just too much.
Also, though I love how long and complex the story was, the last few chapters kind of dissappointed me. Those fated "after the final battle" chapters, the part in which your couples finally get together and the author struggles to wrap things up sufficiently without it feeling too constructed. Almost every single book lacks severely in this department, because after the tension is out and the battle is won, it's always difficult to wrap up. Nobody wants to read 150 pages of epilogue and aftermath after the battle (looking at you, Cassandra Clare), unless there's something really interesting going on (looking at you, Laini Taylor. I would've gladly read a 100 pages more of epilogue after DoGaM). After the book ended, I simply wasn't left with this "wow, what an aaaaamazing book" feeling, though at some parts during the book I did think so. But in the end, it didn't leave a big enough of an impression on me to deserve 5 stars.
sarahreffstrup's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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
nihilisticpoptart's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this whole series, but this one is my favourite by far. It's a retelling of fairytales so of course it has to have romance, but it's done very well and not the main focus of the story: it comes across as very realistic and organic to me. It was excellent to hear a version of these fairytales which the females take the lead and become the heroes of their stories. Winter is 823 pages and I flew through them. Highly recommend.
jenmangler's review against another edition
2.0
I enjoyed reading this book, for the most part. I often had to remind myself that the things that bothered me about the book were true to the fairy tale origins of the characters, but there were times that I couldn't contain the eye-rolling. I found the actual revolution a bit disappointing, after all the buildup to it, and the ending was quite abrupt. Still, I'm glad I read the series.
butterflyl3's review against another edition
3.0
Cress was again unbearable, but Winter and Cinder kept the read interesting. The ending was too happily ever after for me, but I guess that's something you'd expect...
writermags's review against another edition
5.0
So apparently I can't share my Kindle highlights for books that I've borrowed, which really sucks because I made a lot of snarky comments on this one.
Anyway, to make a long story short: We all know I don't have a heart, but if I did, this book would have completely destroyed it. You know the feeling when you read a book that's so GOOD it just exhausts you? But not in a bad way. The good kind of exhaustion, like after exercising or something. Wow. I think I'll need some time to recover...
Anyway, to make a long story short: We all know I don't have a heart, but if I did, this book would have completely destroyed it. You know the feeling when you read a book that's so GOOD it just exhausts you? But not in a bad way. The good kind of exhaustion, like after exercising or something. Wow. I think I'll need some time to recover...
seyahrue's review against another edition
3.0
INITIAL REACTION:
Did that really just end with “and they all lived happily till the end of their days”? Really? That’s got to be the cheesiest ending to a book I’ve ever read.
FULL REVIEW:
Winter was... disappointing.
Most of this book seemed to comprise of them having a plan, then someone doing something stupid and getting captured. Most notably, Cress and Thorne get sent on a very important mission and rather than actually doing what they’re supposed to, they sneak off to make out in a cupboard and Thorne ends up getting captured. That whole scene was so infuriating! The entire plan was so dependant on Cress and Thorne completing their goal and they just didn’t seem to care. Also, I hadn’t made the connection before, but Cress is barely 16 and Thorne is at least 20 which didn’t sit right with me. If they were both a few years older I don’t think it would bother me as much.
Winter was a really interesting character, and I enjoyed her during the first half of the book, but then she just because sort of redundant? She didn’t do much that was relevant throughout the rest of the book, at least nothing that no one else could have done. The same with Scarlet, actually. You could have taken her out of the book and it really wouldn’t have made much difference after part one, she was just sort of there.
Having eight main characters in this book just felt like way too much, especially now that we’re getting chapters from Levanas POV as well. Even though this book was really long, every section felt rushed and like there was too much crammed in, to the point that certain parts of the plot didn’t hit the mark they were supposed too. For instance, when Wolf got captured and modified even more, it was all done so quickly, in such small bursts and ultimately made zero difference to the plot that I just didn’t care? I don’t think it helped that Wolf did pretty much nothing in ‘Cress’ and I had no attachment to his character whatsoever.
As for Cinder, it just felt like she made so many stupid decisions that ultimately ended up getting a whole bunch of people killed or captured. They tell her multiple times that she shouldn’t be going outside because she’ll be spotted on the cameras, and what does she do? Go outside anyway, get spotted on the cameras, have the Lunar military show up and murder a bunch of people to find her, end up getting herself and Wolf captured because she dragged him along with her and so on. It just seemed like she was a lot smarter than that, and ever time she would do something dumb it just irritated me a bit.
Overall, I thought that this book was just alright. I didn’t hate it, but I also didn’t love it, it was just okay.
Did that really just end with “and they all lived happily till the end of their days”? Really? That’s got to be the cheesiest ending to a book I’ve ever read.
FULL REVIEW:
Winter was... disappointing.
Most of this book seemed to comprise of them having a plan, then someone doing something stupid and getting captured. Most notably, Cress and Thorne get sent on a very important mission and rather than actually doing what they’re supposed to, they sneak off to make out in a cupboard and Thorne ends up getting captured. That whole scene was so infuriating! The entire plan was so dependant on Cress and Thorne completing their goal and they just didn’t seem to care. Also, I hadn’t made the connection before, but Cress is barely 16 and Thorne is at least 20 which didn’t sit right with me. If they were both a few years older I don’t think it would bother me as much.
Winter was a really interesting character, and I enjoyed her during the first half of the book, but then she just because sort of redundant? She didn’t do much that was relevant throughout the rest of the book, at least nothing that no one else could have done. The same with Scarlet, actually. You could have taken her out of the book and it really wouldn’t have made much difference after part one, she was just sort of there.
Having eight main characters in this book just felt like way too much, especially now that we’re getting chapters from Levanas POV as well. Even though this book was really long, every section felt rushed and like there was too much crammed in, to the point that certain parts of the plot didn’t hit the mark they were supposed too. For instance, when Wolf got captured and modified even more, it was all done so quickly, in such small bursts and ultimately made zero difference to the plot that I just didn’t care? I don’t think it helped that Wolf did pretty much nothing in ‘Cress’ and I had no attachment to his character whatsoever.
As for Cinder, it just felt like she made so many stupid decisions that ultimately ended up getting a whole bunch of people killed or captured. They tell her multiple times that she shouldn’t be going outside because she’ll be spotted on the cameras, and what does she do? Go outside anyway, get spotted on the cameras, have the Lunar military show up and murder a bunch of people to find her, end up getting herself and Wolf captured because she dragged him along with her and so on. It just seemed like she was a lot smarter than that, and ever time she would do something dumb it just irritated me a bit.
Overall, I thought that this book was just alright. I didn’t hate it, but I also didn’t love it, it was just okay.
sheiltheshell's review against another edition
1.0
Marissa Meyer’s past tendency to portray ableism and a lack of awareness regarding race relations has come to my attention. I, in no way, condone this behavior.