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A review by ayah_reads
Winter by Marissa Meyer
3.0
The editor legitimately perished when editing this novel like THIS ABSOLUTELY DID NOT NEED TO BE OVER 800 PAGES and because of that there is literally no way I could rate this over 3 stars.
The truth is that the main plotline for this series is incredibly basic. But I like the characters and I ship the ships so I've enjoyed it regardless, I'm here for their character interactions, dynamics, and arcs while going through this basic plot. The plot is merely there to be the setting for the characters and to add some pace to the story.
But even with over 800 PAGES, I still felt like the characters didn't get enough page time?? Kai and Cinder were pretty solid, Wolf and Scarlet could have had more development but it was still okay, I wanted Cress and Thorne to be fleshed out more (especially Thorne's feelings towards Cress and Cress taking him off the pedestal more) but okay I could roll with it cos they had book 3, but literally Winter and Jacin??? It's technically THEIR novel but I felt like we didn't we get nowhere near enough time/development with them. I know they're childhood friends so they already have years of a relationship, but we're supposed to see that lovers arc and it just wasn't there ??
Like all these character arcs and development lost out TO WHAT?? to a basic straightforward kill the villain and everything is saved plot line??? Like Cinder really thought she was Katiness starting a revolution, honey you made a video??? I would have enjoyed this SO MUCH more if the characters and their arcs were done better, like the only thing this series has going for it is the CHARACTERS (it genuinely is impressive that I like every single pov), without it's like ?? I'm not even fussed that there weren't that many consequences cos the stakes never felt that high and we did have side characters deaths, but again the plot is not what I'm here for.
By far the weakest of the series. I think the best is Cress. The length of it was pushing it but with three main characters and their overlapping plotlines it worked well and I had great time with the characters.
I knew just by the length this novel wasn't going to be amazing and things would be dragged out, but I thought at the very least the characters and ships would be done as well as they were previously, but we didn't even get that 😠While I still kept reading and enjoying it, by the final third I did need to push myself to actually read instead of putting it off.
Overall, I have had fun with this series. It could have been better and with a much more intricate plot, but the characters, their arcs, the ships and their development, and the friendship rag tag crew were great and I just wish this novel had that to it's full extent. Like I think the fact that I'm not fussed that I've finished this series is indicative of how these characters did not get enough in this book cos I should be having a lot more emotions at my time with these characters being over ðŸ˜
I also don't think I really care to read the extra novellas, like that novella epilogue that is in the Stars Above should just have been included here, again over 800 pages and for what ??? So we'll see if I get around to reading them.
The truth is that the main plotline for this series is incredibly basic. But I like the characters and I ship the ships so I've enjoyed it regardless, I'm here for their character interactions, dynamics, and arcs while going through this basic plot. The plot is merely there to be the setting for the characters and to add some pace to the story.
But even with over 800 PAGES, I still felt like the characters didn't get enough page time?? Kai and Cinder were pretty solid, Wolf and Scarlet could have had more development but it was still okay, I wanted Cress and Thorne to be fleshed out more (especially Thorne's feelings towards Cress and Cress taking him off the pedestal more) but okay I could roll with it cos they had book 3, but literally Winter and Jacin??? It's technically THEIR novel but I felt like we didn't we get nowhere near enough time/development with them. I know they're childhood friends so they already have years of a relationship, but we're supposed to see that lovers arc and it just wasn't there ??
Like all these character arcs and development lost out TO WHAT?? to a basic straightforward kill the villain and everything is saved plot line??? Like Cinder really thought she was Katiness starting a revolution, honey you made a video??? I would have enjoyed this SO MUCH more if the characters and their arcs were done better, like the only thing this series has going for it is the CHARACTERS (it genuinely is impressive that I like every single pov), without it's like ?? I'm not even fussed that there weren't that many consequences cos the stakes never felt that high and we did have side characters deaths, but again the plot is not what I'm here for.
By far the weakest of the series. I think the best is Cress. The length of it was pushing it but with three main characters and their overlapping plotlines it worked well and I had great time with the characters.
I knew just by the length this novel wasn't going to be amazing and things would be dragged out, but I thought at the very least the characters and ships would be done as well as they were previously, but we didn't even get that 😠While I still kept reading and enjoying it, by the final third I did need to push myself to actually read instead of putting it off.
Overall, I have had fun with this series. It could have been better and with a much more intricate plot, but the characters, their arcs, the ships and their development, and the friendship rag tag crew were great and I just wish this novel had that to it's full extent. Like I think the fact that I'm not fussed that I've finished this series is indicative of how these characters did not get enough in this book cos I should be having a lot more emotions at my time with these characters being over ðŸ˜
I also don't think I really care to read the extra novellas, like that novella epilogue that is in the Stars Above should just have been included here, again over 800 pages and for what ??? So we'll see if I get around to reading them.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence