Review:: Fairest (Lunar Chronicles 3.5) by Marissa Meyer #LunarChronicles

Readers of Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles series are nearly united in their distrust and, in some cases, outright hatred for the Villainous Queen Levana, whom has sent everyone in her power to ‘take care’ of Cinder and her band of friends whom are determined to show both Earth and Luna the err of Levana’s ways. When I heard Levana’s story was being published in between Cress and Winter (such a LOOOOONG wait), I was ecstatic. I wanted to find out how the Queen turned into such a person—after all, Once Upon a Time has taught us that there is a reason for everything the evil queen does, right?

Levana, like the rest of Luna, is sad when her parents are killed by shells—Lunars not blessed with the gifts other Lunars are blessed with. Levana’s older sister, Channary, is coronated and assumes the role of Lunar Queen. But the relationship between these two sisters is even more rough that that of other sisters—due to Levana holding Channary responsible for the accident that burned Levana’s face and body, causing Levana to use heavy glamours to disguise her disfiguring scars. Levana’s only friend is a palace guard named Evret Hale, and as Levana begins to have feelings for the man, only to learn of his pregnant wife, Solstice. As Levana finds herself plotting to be the only one Evret loves, Solstice dies giving birth and Channary confides in Levana that she, too, is pregnany—Levana starts to form her plans—she will do ANYTHING to get what she wants—the heart of Evret, the Lunar crown and all the while, her glamour insuring that she is the Fairest and best in the entire kingdom.

While this was 3.5 in the series, Fairest was a great piece of Lunar Chronicles lore. At 220 pages, it is a little short, but it does clear up a few things in the Chronicles.

Levana’s sister, Channary, has a baby named Selene, whom is the true heir to the Lunar throne. While it is not known whom the father may be, Levana suspects her sister had been meeting up with someone in the caves, as their dust ends up poinsoning her. As for Levana’s relationship with Evret and his daughter, Winter, it parallels the story of Snow White.

Meyer also uses Fairest to better explain the way leutmosis was engineered and set up by the Lunar regime as a weapon again Earth, and also explains the super soldier program that eventually will create Wolf and his packmates.

I loved this—reading this and then Cress in such a short period of time makes me only more excited for the Winter release—which sounds like it will be in November of THIS YEAR!!! It is so hard to wait.

Are you into the Lunar Chronicles? What part are you most looking forward to hearing about? Are you interested in Levana’s story, or do you prefer to leave this alone and just wait for Winter?