Word Nerd Review: The Lunar Chronicles
by Trisha Quezada

So, you know how most people binge watch TV shows? Yeah…I do that with books. Last week (okay…let’s be honest, it was just the weekend. I may have a problem…) I read the rest of The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. I had high hopes for the series after reading and loving Cinder, an extremely clever take on the Cinderella story, and I was excited to see where the story went. I’m happy to say that I wasn’t disappointed in the least.

Scarlet, Cress, and Winter each take an additional classic fairy tale and blend them into Cinder’s story. Scarlet features Little Red Riding Hood, Cress is Rapunzel, and Winter tackles Snow White. Meyer masterfully interweaves the elements of the classic tales into this modernized rendition: Scarlet is the daughter of a farmer who wears a red hoodie, Cress is trapped in a satellite and is an expert hacker, and Winter is a beautiful Lunar princess who refuses to use her glamour powers and is losing her mind because of it. Both the main characters and the supporting cast have depth so rather than just being straight retellings set in a novel location, Meyer captures the essence of the original stories and makes them into something new.

The characters in each book grow on their own and develop their strengths, but they also turn into a strong team to fight against their common enemy. The transitions between characters and story lines is a bit rough in Scarlet, but that very minor issue isn’t at all apparent in Cress or Winter. Overall, these are a fun read and the Sunday I did nothing but turn the pages of these books was fantastic.