Cress by Marissa Meyer

Cress by Marissa Meyer            
Release Date - February 4, 2014
Publisher Website - Macmillan/Raincoast Books
Publisher Social Media - Twitter
Pages - 560 pages
My Rating - 5/5
**received in exchange for an honest review from the publisher**

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

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.

Magical. If I had to describe The Lunar Chronicles series in one word, that's the one I would use. A story that has, so far, spanned three novels, and is woven masterfully together to create a stunning overall arc.

Cress is a dreamer. She uses her day dreams for comfort and a means of escaping her prison. I saw more of myself in Cress than the other heroines of this series, and because of that I immediately adored her. She's effortlessly beguiling, and her quirks are a large part of her charm. Her innocence does not mean a lack of resourcefulness which is refreshing. She doesn't always need to be saved, even though she's been so sheltered.

The interaction between the characters really begins to come together in this installment. The focus is on setting up the big finale, and it's like a chess board. Marissa has been setting everything up to get to this point, and the execution is pitch perfect. It's easy to spot when things have been plotted, and crafted in advance. This series reflects that careful planning, and is all the more cohesive for it.

The romance in this installment is my favourite out of all the romances in this series. It's tinged with a sweetness, and tenderness. Cress' innocence (due to her seclusion) made for some rather swoon worthy moments as her heart is given to another. Who wins her heart? That would be a spoiler, but safe to say everyone is going to want to be Cress after reading this. This romance reads more like a classic fairytale than the others, and infused it with a little whimsical element that is easy to gush over.

These three different, but each amazing, women coming together to save the world is what delights me the most about this series. There is romance, and kissing, but at it's core, it's very much about these women, and their journey. It's easy to see Marissa's other influences in her female characters. She delivers a message that women can save the world, and be vulnerable, and find love. She's taken what are often one note characters in fairytales and has turned them into wonderfully complex characters whose motivations are far outside those of their inspirations.

The brief glimpse of Winter that we get is delicious. She's everything I hoped she would be and more. That her madness is consuming her is evident from the second she speaks. Marissa talent at characterization is never more present, when in a brief glimpse, she gives us insight and a grasp into who Winter is. I am impatiently waiting to fall into her story, and be as captivated by her as I was by Cinder, Scarlet and Cress.

A intricately woven fairytale that deserves to be a classic in it's own right. A wonderfully plotted series that not only has a gripping plot, but ridiculously endearing characters. Marissa is an auto buy author from me since Scarlet, but Cress cemented exactly why she should be on that list.