Hi everyone!

Today, I’m going to be doing a book review for Fairest by Marissa Meyer! This book is a short story in The Lunar Chronicles Series, about the Villain Queen Levana.  While this book is part of a series, I will not be spoiling you on any of the other books in this series, but I HIGHLY suggest that you read this series in order of publication date (Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, Fairest, (soon) Winter), as it will be WAY more enjoyable! All spoilers for THIS book will be marked.

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.

Review:

I HIGHLY enjoyed this book! I thought it was an excellent way to surround more hype for Winter, the last book in the series coming out November 2015. Although, I had a few issues with it.

The first time I heard about this book they were advertising it as a FULL LENGTH NOVEL with FULL COLOUR ART. I have 2 problems with those statements. First of all, the length was just about 200 pages, the last 20-ish was an excerpt of Winter. Yes, this could be considered a full length novel, but the other books in the series are 300-500 pages, so 200 wouldn’t do for big fans (like myself). Second of all, this book had ONE coloured art feature, but it was BEHIND the flap of the book (for hardcovers). The image was shown twice, in the front and back. While the picture was beautiful, I wouldn’t think that this would count for full coloured art.

I also very much disliked the first half of the book. Warning, if you are underage, please skip to the next paragraph, or if you are planning on reading the book and have not done so already (spoilers). I didn’t think it was appropriate that Queen Levana wanted to marry someone who had a child, and had a wife who JUST past away. I also didn’t like how LITERALLY for the ENTIRE first half of the book all she wanted was to “make love” with him (if you know what I mean). She practically FORCED him to marry her and love her. You have to remember, all the guy wanted to do was be friendly to her, as he was a palace guard, NOT sleep with her!

Now, for the parts I did like, I really liked how they shared the whole back story of Queen Levana. I found it very interesting to learn more about her past, and find out the reasons why she is like this now. We also learn why “glamour” means so much to Queen Levana, and why she never leaves the palace without it. I also liked how we learned about the whole “no mirrors” thing. That was probably one of my favourite parts!

That is it for this book review! Overall, I gave it 3.75-4 stars!

Good Night Book Lions!