Review: Winter by Marissa Meyer

Goodreads Overview:

Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mark her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.

Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won't approve of her feelings for her childhood friend--the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn't as weak as Levana believes her to be and she's been undermining her stepmother's wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that's been raging for far too long.

Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters? 

Review:

This was a very long book...827 pages, but it didn't feel anywhere near as long as it actually was. With each installment in this series a new major character was introduced and an additional story line was woven into the original tale.  Cinder and her crew must now defeat Levana once and for all to save Earth and Luna.  As if that isn't enough, time is running out for Emperor Kai. If they don't act quickly, he will have to marry Levana and make her Empress of the Commonwealth as part of their peace negotiations.

Each of the books was based upon a different fairy tale.  You probably guessed from the apple on the cover that Winter's tale is based upon Sleeping Beauty.  Winter is a Lunar princess (Queen Levana's step-daughter) who has refused to use her gift for so long she has "lunar sickness", which makes her see and hear things that aren't really there.  People think she is crazy, but she is very compassionate and loved by everyone, unlike her step-mother.  Prince Charming, AKA her guard Jacin, was actually an instrumental character in Cress.  He has secretly been aiding Cinder and her team in the hopes of being able to help Winter overcome her lunar sickness.

There were some epic battles throughout the book and very few were left unscathed. I was happy with how everything turned out for all of the characters, but it felt like each of their fates were wrapped up far too quickly.  I'm not sure if Meyer is planning a companion novel or a short story to expand upon their futures, but it would be nice to know how things worked out for everyone beyond the conclusion of Winter.  I guess fairy tales often do end with a simple, "And they all lived happily ever after", but that felt a bit abrupt after 4 lengthy novels.  

Overall, this was a very entertaining and clever series that I would definitely recommend.  It never ceased to amaze me how Meyer was able to incorporate so many elements from each of the classic fairy tales into a modern day story that should appeal to readers of all ages. 

I'm participating in the Year of Epic Reads Challenge.  This book qualified for the "Fairy Tale Retellings Challenge."