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Shruthi | Holmdel High School, Grade 11
Rating: *****
“Winter” by Marissa Meyer is not only the last book in the Lunar Chronicles, but it is also a clever spin on the tale of Snow White. Following the girl with hair as black as ebony, the story walks us through the princess of Luna’s life, along with dodging her step-mother’s blows and dealing with her panic attacks, a side-effect of neglecting her lunar gift, which was a choice that she made after painful events in her past.
However, when Winter’s step-mother, and the Queen of Luna, Levana forces her life-long friend and crush, Jacin to kill her, he helps her fake her death and lets her and Scarlet escape Luna to get to Cinder and help kick-start the revolution.
Set in the future, with high-tech gadgets and futuristic spaceships, Winter is not like any other fairytale spin off you’ve ever read. Full of courage, cunning, and wits, the story was very enjoyable and I was very sorry to see it end. I especially enjoyed the character development, like how Winter stepped up when her life and the life of other innocents were threatened.
Amisha | Biotechnology High School, Grade 9
Rating: ***
Winter is Queen Levana’s stepdaughter, the fairest of them all. She was even fairer than Queen Levana until Levana forced her to maul herself resulting in three long scars down her right cheek that make it look as if she is always crying. When Winter is sentenced to death as per the story of Snow White, her fate lies in the hands of Jacin Clay, her best friend. Meanwhile, Cinder and the rest of the Rampion Crew have been smuggled onto Luna through Emperor Kai’s pod ship and they are ready to advance. In the beautiful series finale, Marissa Meyer wraps up the lives of Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter and leaves you to find out whether that's a ‘Happily Ever After’ or not!
I really enjoyed reading the finale to The Lunar Chronicles and seeing how each of the characters changed through the course of this series. Cinder and Kai have evolved so much from the first book and so have their confidence and endurance. It was fascinating to see how Meyer weaved the expected events of Snow White into this novel and I loved reading about Winter, especially her friendship with Scarlet and her relationship with Jacin. I wish that she was focused on a little more and interacted with Cinder and the other characters so that we could see more of her character growth. Moreover, I found that the ending felt rushed and Meyer tried to incorporate too many events in this last book. I wished she focused more on the final war between the Rampion Crew’s army and Queen Levana’s army. Nonetheless, I definitely enjoyed this novel and recommend it to anyone looking for a bittersweet end to this loveable series.
Mariana | Frank Antonides Middle School, Grade 7
Rating: *****
Winter by Marissa Meyer is a sci-fi retelling of Snow White and a continuation of Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress. The main protagonist, 17 year-old Winter is a Lunar princess who refuses to use her glamour, and is loved by the people, more so than Levana. As an effect from not using her glamour, Winter has Lunar sickness, which makes her delusional. She often sees the palace walls bleeding and has visions of being trapped in ice and snow. Winter grew up very close to Jacin Clay, a family friend who is in love with her, as she is in love with him. Jacin, who came back to Luna in Cress, gave up his dreams of being a doctor and became a guard so he could stay near Winter, as his comfort is the only thing that keeps her from going insane. Queen Levana, jealous of her step-daughter’s natural beauty, orders Jacin to murder her, and he fakes it. Jacin, Winter, and two Rampion crew members kept as prisoners on Luna escape and join the rest of the crew where they help them overthrow Levana and save Luna and Earth from the evil queen.
Winter, the last book of the Lunar Chronicles, is my favorite book of all time! If you enjoyed the past books in the series, the finale will blow you away! I could not put this book down, and look forward to reading more of Marissa Meyer’s books. I will say that this book has more action, violence, and romance than the others and recommend it for ages 12 and older. This novel breaks the scale!
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