Tag: Cinder

Our Favourite Fairy Tale Retellings

April 23, 2017

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I don’t know about you but I’ve always loved a good old fashioned fairytale and when it comes to fairytale retellings, I’m all over them like a rash! I’m currently reading ‘Stealing Snow’ by Danielle Paige and I’m kind of enjoying it but not as much as others but fingers crossed it gets better soon! Anyway, I thought I’d share a few of my favorites with you and feel free to comment down below recommending me some of your favorites!

Cinder – Cinderella as a cyborg! Marissa Meyer is a genius, re-imagining of one of the most popular fairy tales and adapting it to a sci-fi universe. Set in the distant future in New Beijing, we follow the protagonist Cinder across a mysterious adventure uncovering things from her past and future whilst she tries to stay alive as well as handling a tricky love life. We all know the tale of Cinderella and this novel follows it but with many unexpected twists and turns!

Cruel Beauty – Cruel Beauty is a wonderfully written blend of Beauty and the Beast retelling and Greek mythology which is a combination of two of my favorite things and to top it off its characters were equally as wonderful and powerful, especially Nyx. This heart-breaking love story was full of twists and turns as well as sticking to the classic Beauty and the Beast storyline which I really enjoyed.

Dorothy Must Die – As you can possibly figure out from the title, the story is a continuation from the Wizard of Oz but things are very different from where the film/book left. It’s quite some time in the future and we’re introduced to Amy, a young girl in a bit of a situation at home and at school. One night when she’s left home alone a tornado hits, and guess what, her home flies up in the tornado and lands in the magical Oz. However it’s not quite how the book or the film depicted it, everyone is miserable, grey and depressed, the munchkins are slaves and flying monkeys are wingless. So what happened to the Oz Amy grew up loving? Dorothy happened.

Heartless – I’m a huge fan of the Luna Chronicles by Marissa Meyers, so when I heard she was writing something different I got very excited. It follows the backstory of the Queen of Hearts and how she became so evil! This is definitely one of those books where you have to be patient and persevere for a bit as it starts a bit slow however I can guarantee that if you keep reading you won’t be disappointed.

A Court of Thornes and Roses – This is probably one of my favorites on the list as in my eyes Sarah never writes a bad book! Growing up ‘Beaty and the Beast’ was my favorite Disney fairy tale and I thought Sarah’s retelling was unique and nothing short of magical.  All the characters are wonderful especially Feyre who was such a strong and powerful woman who has amazing character development and relationships with other characters if you know what I mean! Pre-warning this book is steamy, I’m not kidding, the chemistry sparks right from the pages and we get some sexy times that made me swoon (Chapter 27, if you know what I mean…).

Winter – Marissa Myers

January 24, 2016

What a perfect end to a perfect series! Even though this book was over 800 pages, there was never a dull moment and I was on the edge of my seat for the whole story. Words can’t describe how much I loved this book, characters and storyline; it was just amazing!

The final instalment to the Luna Chronicles follows our group of hero’s as they try to once and for all put an end of Levana’s reign and find their happily ever afters by leading a revolution! The story also introduces and follows the life of Princess Winter, who is adored by the people of Luna but despised by her stepmother, and because of this she won’t approve of Winters feelings for her childhood friend—the handsome palace guard, Jacin. Winter must try and save herself as well as her planet with the help of Cinder and her allies!

*Spoilers Ahead*

“She’s our lost princess. And she’s coming home.”

I really didn’t want to say goodbye to these characters as I love them all so much (especially Thorne!) and I really felt apart of their unique and brilliant friendship. I’m going to miss the banter between Cinder and Thorne, Scarlets and Wolfs complicated relationship and Iko’s funky personality! I wish someone could just wipe my memory so I could experience this incredible journey all over again for the first time. I have to admit I was really pleased with the conclusion of this novel/series and I was really pleased that each of our characters got their happily ever after as they all deserved it. 

The romance and relationships between all the characters is certainly one of my favourite aspects of the book and I don’t think that I’ve ever shipped so many ships at once! I also really enjoyed getting know Princess Winter and I like that she wasn’t your typical princess! Her and Jacin were also really cute and how he always wanted to protect her made me swoon!

The plot was paced really well and flowed nicely with the odd plot twists thrown in now and then; you thought they were going to win but then something would happen and our hero’s would be separated again and stuck in difficult situations. We finally get to experience the world of Luna and it’s people as it was a nice change from our usual surroundings on Earth and abord the Rampion!

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and it is easy to say that I give it 5/5 stars! It is one of my all time favourite series and I highly recommend it to everyone as it is an action packed tale based on classic fairytales but with a si-fi twist! If your interested in reading the series, why don’t you check out my review on the first book in the series ‘Cinder‘! Finally, Thank you Marissa Myers for creating this wonderful world and brilliant characters who I instantly fell in love with.

Cress – Marissa Meyer

November 23, 2015

When I first saw the size of this book I was worried it would take me forever to read it however I whizzed through this book! It was such a easy read with a gripping and exciting storyline. I loved the fact we were also introduced to new characters who fitted in really well; it was like they were a missing piece of a puzzle.

Cress is the third book in the Lunar Chronicles and this time centres around Luna Shell Cress who is a wiz on the computer and must help Cinder and her team with their plan to overthrow Queen Levana. However it isn’t that simple as the team suffers ups and downs and very tricky situations…

Again one of the main reason I loved this book wasn’t because of it’s amazing storyline but was it’s characters and the multiple points of view which never fails to entertain me. Meyrer’s writing makes it clear who’s point of view your reading from which made it easier to flow from chapter to chapter. She also never fails to surprise me with the new and different view points from minor characters who help add to the suspense and reveal secrets!

This book mainly centres around the character of Cress who I really liked as she was so cute and loveable and it was nice to see her develop throughout the book. Her relationship with Thorne I also really enjoyed and I found really cute that she always saw the good and belied in him even when he didn’t; she changed him. And what really made it for me was their relationship as he fell in love with Cress though her personality not her looks. Thorne’s one liners and banter never failed to make me laugh however I really do hope he gets his eyesight back, I don’t think I could deal with it otherwise!

Cinder in this book again is still our butt kicking hero and I really enjoyed seeing her powers and secrets develop. My heart melted over the final scene with Kai and I’m really excited to see where their relationship will go…. I have to admit, I was disappointed that we didn’t see much of Scarlet but it did neatly line us up for the next book ‘Winter’ which I really need to get!

Overall, I’m really enjoying this series and it’s characters. It’s easy to give this book (and series) 5/5 stars a perfect read for those who love a good actioned packed si-fi novel.

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

August 3, 2015

I can’t believe it’s been a whole year since I read the first book in the series ‘Cinder’ and I still can’t believe that I forgot how amazing this series is!

Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison–even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive. Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder.

Being able to travel all over the world, and see more of this futuristic world Meyers has created was great. The Lunar Chronicles manages to not only create a futuristic community, but a dystopian world. You never have to wonder what people on other continents are doing because soon enough, you’ll find out. Scarlet was mostly set in France which I was excited about as I am huge lover of French culture and France itself.

I loved the multiple points of view in this book and the fact that the two storylines crossed and hopefully plan to cross in future novels which I am looking forward to. I thought it worked really well and when Cinders and Scarlets paths finally crossed, they crossed with a bang and a huge action packed fighting scene! Yes!

Scarlet was not what I expected, she was such a badass and again such a strong character who won’t give up on anything or anyone. From the first chapter we see her not only defending Cinder but causing a fight, which I wasn’t expecting but loved.

“I don’t see that her being cyborg is relevant.”

Cinders back and she’s kicking ass again! Cinder herself went through so much development and I really was able to connect with her while I wasn’t able to before. I do have to admit, I preferred to read Cinders chapters but I did find Scarlets chapters equally action packed and engaging! I have to love a book that gives me, not one, but two strong heroines.

Now time for the men! Wolf was again perfect, he has that mysterious dark side to him as well as that loveable puppy side! From what we learn he will be more involved with Cinder and Scarlet which I am looking forward to.

Captain ‘Marry Me’ Thorne is just perfect, and has easily gained a spot on my top five fictional boyfriends list! He’s just arrogant, touchy but also so much fun and I can’t wait to see and learn more about him in ‘Cress’. The banter between him and Cinder was also really enjoyable and sassy! I did feel bad for him at times when he was left in the dark about Cinder being the princess when sometimes it was really obvious!

Kia I thought was quite distant, while he was in some scenes, he was pretty much absent the entire book. Missing Kai made me see how much I really love him. His story is slowly building and I can’t wait to see where it goes.

It was also a lovely surprise to find a chapter from the point of view of Levana which gave us in an insight in to what to expect from her character and her plans in future books!

My only negative, is that I felt like Scarlet and Wolfs relationship wasn’t fully convincing as it was very ‘instant’ love but I hope it develops more and becomes more ‘real’ in the next book. However there were some bits when I did swoon and squeal!

“Wolf, are you asking me to be … your alpha female?”

Did I like it more than ‘Cinder’? Yes, I did. I loved the characters more and i felt like the storyline was more engaging. It was easy to rate this 5/5 stars and I highly recommend you read this series, it’s basically fairytales on steroids; they are brilliant and I can’t wait to pick up Cress soon! Do check out my spoiler free review on Cinder which can be found here.

Cinder – Marissa Meyer

September 26, 2014

Cinderella as a cyborg! Marissa Meyer is a genius, re-imagining of one of the most popular classics-Cinderella. Set in the future, Cinder is now a cyborg (how unique is this?). She’s smart and resourceful; a true modern day Cinderella cyborg.

Set in the distant future in New Beijing, we follow the protagonist Cinder across an mysterious adventure uncovering things from her past and future whilst she tries to stay alive as well as handling a tricky love life. We all know the tale of Cinderella and this novel follows it but with many unexpected twists and turns!

As for the characters, first we have Cinder who’s our typical Cinderella; she’s shy but strong minded and determined. Personally I think she’s perfect and I loved learning more about her! Then we have Iko, the lovable companion who is full of laughter as well as being a perfect friend to Cinder almost like the animals in Cinderella! Of course we can’t forget Prince Kai who plays the role of Cinders love interest. He’s kind and charming! What more could you ask!!

I loved everything about this book from the futuristic concept to the interesting turns to the plot, creating a new fantasy world. There are loads of twists and turns but the down side is they can be slightly predictable. From the very start it’s obvious what the big twist is going to be. However, it’s obvious in a way that makes me think this was the author’s intention.

Overall I loved this book and I am definitely planning to read the whole series! The book is a really nice easy read and even if you’re not a fan of si-fi I recommend you give it a try; you won’t be disappointed! I am happy to give this book 4/5 stars!!