Fairest by Marissa Meyer

Fairest by Marissa Meyer
Release Date - February 3, 2015
Publisher Website - Raincoast Books
Publisher Social Media - Twitter
Pages - 222 pages
My Rating - 5/5
**received in exchange for an honest review**

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

In this stunning bridge book between Cress and Winter in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles, Queen Levana’s story is finally told.

Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is the fairest of them all?

Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story – a story that has never been told . . . until now.

Marissa Meyer spins yet another unforgettable tale about love and war, deceit and death. This extraordinary book includes full-color art and an excerpt from Winter, the next book in the Lunar Chronicles series.

Before Levana was Queen, she was just a young girl. A girl whose layers are peeled back in Fairest. There are plenty of surprises in story during her story, but perhaps the biggest surprise of all is how you'll view Levana when all is said a done.

The most striking part of Levana's story is how sad it is. As I read the desire to scream at her to make different choices and go down a different path was all encompassing. Each decision and choice she makes directly leads to the woman she is when we first meet her in Cinder. You see how she denied herself the chance at happiness because of her actions. I wouldn't say you fee sympathy for her, but there is a slight twinge of heart pulling that her path didn't end differently. She had plenty of chances to take a different path which is all the more heartbreaking. She wasn't always the ruthless woman we know and love to hate.

The heart of this story is a love story. An unrequited love story. One that absolutely broke my heart for everyone involved. The way Marissa has woven in the Snow White tale was delicately and wonderfully done. I left me breathless with anticipating to see what she'll do with it in Winter. I have long held the suspicion that it would end up being my favourite, and this proved that my instinct may just be correct.

Perhaps the most delicious part of this novella is the chance to see our beloved characters as children. We get glimpses of many of the characters, and there are connections revealed that were intriguing. Cinder (Princess Selene), in particular, had a huge impact on the story and plenty of intriguing things were revealed about that chapter of Levana's story.

This is more character driven than plot. This is a study into what makes a villain. Marissa gives us the chance to get inside the head and heart of the woman who would eventually become Queen Levana. We see how evil is perhaps crafted over time, and that it's our choices that ultimately define who we are. Fans of the previous novels will delight in the chance to fill in some of the back story. It's truly a gift for the fans of the previous novels and one that I am most thankful for.

A story of unrequited love, ambition, and longing. A story of a women who would sacrifice anything for what she feels is right. Levana's story is all the more heartbreaking because, in hindsight, things could have been entirely different. Fans of the series will not want to miss this one as it sheds new light on our favourite villainess and the story in general.