Cress by Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #3
Published by Feiwel & Friends on February 4, 2014
Pages: 550
Format: Hardcover
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Rapunzel’s tower is a satellite. She can’t let down her hair—or her guard.

In this third book in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army.

Their best hope lies with Cress, who has been trapped on a satellite since childhood with only 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 goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing stop her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only ones who can.

Cress was an incredible, action-packed read that had my heart pounding with anxiety every step of the way. Marissa Meyer is the most beautiful story-teller I have ever encountered. Having seen her in person at a Fierce Reads event and having heard her speak at length during a live-streamed launch for Cress, Meyer has become one of my favorite authors and I look forward to seeing more from her in the future!

Cress was an interesting character and the story was a fascinating take on the Rapunzel fairy tale. We actually met Cress early on in the series, back in Cinder. From things I had heard, I knew who she was and I was immediately intrigued and wanted to know more about her. While Cinder is, thus far, my favorite of the heroines, Cress comes in at a close second. I love that she’s a hacker and I love the way she daydreams and pretends everything is a great drama in order to keep herself occupied. She isn’t the strongest or the fighter of the group, but she definitely doesn’t go down without a fight. She pushes on and holds her own.

As always, the moments with Cinder were my favorite. Since we’ve known her the longest, I’ve seen the greatest story ARC with her and I feel like she’s grown and changed and matured in so many ways. She’s finally embracing what the future has in store for her and it shows a level of maturity that I don’t think she had in the beginning of Cinder (the book). Scarlet didn’t really stand out for me this time around. She’s never been my favorite and she didn’t really have a large part in Cress. Most of the time, unfortunately, I didn’t even think about her. We got to see more of Iko, though, and I can see why everyone loves her!

Thorne is my absolute favorite of the guys we are introduced to throughout this series. We first met him in Scarlet and he was front and center in Cress. From watching the live-stream of the Cress Release Launch, I had a feeling that a certain thing was going to happen to him. So, while it was still incredibly sad and upsetting, it was also expected and it added a certain depth to the story. Cress and Thorne are, by far, my favorite coupling of the series. I had so many feels! I just can’t even begin to describe all the feels. I’ll end up rambling on and on if I even try!

I’m really, really torn where Kai is concerned. He really annoyed me at the end of Cinder, but he sort of redeemed himself in Cress. He’s on the road to earning back my trust, but he has a long way to go. Although, one of my favorite scenes involved him, so… Yeah, I won’t spoil it!

There were some really shocking revelations in Cress. Though one was more obvious than the rest, it was still a shock to have it confirmed. Dr. Erland had some interesting revelations and some shocking moments and his fate.. Well, it was fitting, but still pretty upsetting. I feel like there was some… unfinished business with him. I don’t know now if we’ll ever see any resolution there.

Jacin… Wow, I loved Jacin. Supposedly, he was introduced in Cinder. But I don’t really remember that. All I know is I completely adored him and I’m hoping a few things happen with him in the next and final book, Winter (Out in 2015). But with how things ended for him in Cress…… We’ll see.

Some of my most anticipated moments happened near the end of Cress. Things I’ve been waiting for, things I’ve wanted to happen – most of it happened in Cress and it was awesome! Certain characters got what was coming to them, which is always awesome.

Overall, Cress was spectacular – if my gushing review wasn’t enough to convince you. I seriously CANNOT wait for Winter. First of all, I have a feeling the cover for Winter is going to be gorgeous. Second of all, for reasons, I have a feeling I’m going to love Winter (the character) – maybe even more than Cinder (the character). We’ve had some.. sneak-peaks.. that have me eager to learn more about her and have me wanting to get inside her head. Though Snow White has always been one of my least favorite fairy tales, I have a feeling Marissa Meyer will spin it in such a beautiful, lyrical way that I’ll be hooked!

Obviously, I highly recommend this book – This whole series, honestly! If you haven’t read it, I urge you to head to the book store RIGHT NOW to get it!