Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Fairest

It's good enough in a readable way, maybe more like a 3.5 to 3.75.

The last leap between the end and "now" is still a bit stretchy to me. And the whole mind manipulation/r*pe is... I don't know, but not the best. Like I get it, but also, I guess it could have been better explained and motivated. The timing of the flashback for the injuries of Levana should have come way sooner, and when you put it into context with the rest of her actions, it makes her whole building of the book crumble a little.

It's one thing to make us believe they see the rando commoner and people of Earth like a little more than livestock, the escalation to murderous intent is way too quick and weird giving her own backstory. The way she's portrayed is also kinda strange since she has this urge to belong with someone or people, there's a softness here and there + judgement and contempt against her parents, her sister and some nobility. There are flaws in how the author tried to make her become a complex villain, with an arc from "good" to evil. Sometimes, "cartoon villains" should stay cartoonish.

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franrodalg's review against another edition

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challenging

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.25

Why??? Just... why??? I honestly can't see the point of this, other than as a blatant cash grab...

I enjoyed The Lunar Chronicles much more than I could have ever imagined. I found it charming, entertaining and imaginative despite me not being the target audience at all. I even managed to bear the (multiple) romances, which is quite a feat for me. The villain, though, was not particularly exciting, but the series being classic fairytale retellings that's almost a given. It wasn't a perfect series by any means, but I had it in high regard.

After reading Fairest, though, I'm seriously rethinking my appreciation of the of the original series.

When someone gets one of those classic shallow, moustache-twirling villains and decides to write their origin story, one expects a reframing of the main narrative, a different angle that makes the villain if not more sympathetic, at least more complex, more human.

Not here.

Not only we follow a despicable individual, but an extremely unlikeable one on top. There are plenty of stories where the main character is an objectively evil person, but the author manages to make it enjoyable to follow them. Sand dan Glokta from the First Law series might be one of my favourite characters of all times, despite being a torturer. Alessandra from The Shadows Between Us is wicked and selfish, yet she managed to make me enjoy a romantasy book, something I would have never guessed. Even being inside Cersei’s head in ASOIAF is strangely addictive. But those characters were fun to follow, with a unique narrative voice and inner monologue.

Levana is just horrible, without any redeeming quality whatsoever, and the writing doesn’t compensate.

I was expecting to at least empathise with her, But no. I only learned that, on top of everything we already knew, she is [spoiler and trigger warning alert]a rapist.

This feels like an exercise on how not to write a villain origin story.

Marissa Meyer undoubtedly came to hate Levana’s character as she was writing the main series, creating a despicable backstory for her that intersected with the protagonists. That might have worked for those protagonists but, as it stands, does not work for the villain. You can’t write from the perspective of someone you despise, specially if you want readers to enjoy their experience.

What a disappointment.

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cortanasreadingnook's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

2.0

Fairest gives an insight to Levana Blackburn’s miserable life and how she came to be the queen of Luna as we read throughout the books. Marissa Meyer did a great job portraying this villain because there wasn’t any justification for her terrible behavior but merely reason. I really tried to sympathize with her, but she truly is a psycho that only yearned for love and acceptance in the most wicked way she could conjure those feelings up. She’s a manipulator and a power-hungry queen that reflects most world leaders today and their endless greed. Overall, this novella allows the readers to give their own judgement towards an iredeemable, powerful, yet badly scarred woman.

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melissaslibraryy's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Oh Levana, you crazed delusional woman, how many lives you’ve ruined including your own bc of your own selfishness and childish crush. The way she could’ve turned out a normal princess had her parents actually given a fuck about her and had her own sister not set her on fire and scarred her for life (physically & emotionally.) If therapy was a thing on Luna TRUST that Levana should’ve been first at the door 😭

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kot_zbigniew's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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h4wk1nz's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced

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

4.0

a good quick read, i read 60 pages last night and the rest this evening. i always find marissa meyer’s books to be easy to read and flow well, so it was very enjoyable and light.

i must admit i found myself confused at times, thinking i’d missed something but in most of those situations it was explained on the next page.
so while that was a little off putting for a split second, i was never completely lost and have not been left with any lingering questions about those moments.

overall this was a great read and i am as usual blown away by meyer’s ability to tell a story so fluidly even in this ‘unconventional’ time skipping style.

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kasaya_mt33's review against another edition

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dark sad 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

4.0

It was agonizingly uncomfortable being in the head of Queen Levana and her delusions of grandeur.... The tragedy of how the evil queen came to be and the tragedies that followed, I felt were written quite well. I was triggered by certain situations portrayed in the book but otherwise an unforgettable read.

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christy15reads's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Finished this book this morning from the Lunar Chronicles series . It tells why Queen Levana is as wicked as she is and confirms that I don't like her at all. And while Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress are suitable for the 14+ crowd, with a kiss here or there, I think this one is for someone older because of all the promiscuity in it! It was rather disappointing if you ask me because my teen daughter was reading these books along with me. Now I'm just hoping that Winter is not as inappropriate and she can finish the series with me because we both enjoyed the first 3 books but I can't pass this one along to her - I'll have to just fill her in on the queen's history.

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