Thursday, March 13, 2014

Review: Cress by Marissa Meyer (and Giveaway)

From Inside Jacket: In this third book in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army. Their best hope lies with Cress, who has been trapped on a satellite since childhood with only her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice. When a daring rescue goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing stop her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has. 

My Rating: 4.5 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: After loving both Cinder and Scarlet, I couldn’t wait to see what Marissa Meyer had up her sleeve with Cress. Originally, I found Cress to be a bit slow, but eventually the plot picked up and I ended up drawn into the story.

Unlike Cinder and Scarlet who were strong heroines right off the bat, Cress starts off very much as a damsel in distress. Having been socially isolated for years, she also made me laugh at her naivete. I found it so cute how she built up this fantasy of Thorne in her head and decided she was in love with him even before meeting him.

I thought Thorne therefore was the perfect romantic interest for Cress because of how he complemented her. Whereas Cress is socially awkward, Thorne is charming and was able to deal with Cress’ crush without coming off like a jerk. In this manner, Meyer also successfully avoided a case of insta-love, which was awesome.

Of course, Cinder's and Scarlet’s storylines are marvelously interwoven; and it’s obvious that the world and characters that Meyer has created aren’t too big for her to handle. Aside from being reunited with everybody, readers will also meet the very intriguing Jacin and get a glimpse into the complex mind of Winter.

With the way things ended in Cress, Winter definitely tops my list of must-reads for 2015!

Cress was released by Feiwel & Friends in February 2014. 

Comments About the Cover: I love that the cover matches that of the other books in the series and clearly tells you that Cress is a retelling of Rapunzel.
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Marissa makes an appearance
While I wasn't able to meet Marissa last year, I was lucky enough to meet her this year when she decided to come to Toronto in February as part of her Cress Tour. While waiting for Marissa to arrive at Chapters Yorkdale, I hung out with Aylee from Recovering Potter Addict and Shelly from Read. Sleep. Repeat. and got a chance to chat with Liz from Midnight Bloom Reads

Marissa talking about something
The event started at 7:00 PM, with Marissa talking about how she came up with the idea of Cinder and telling us the Grimm Brothers' version of Rapunzel. She then answered some questions - which I no longer remember, sorry! - and signed books.

Since I bought a paperback copy of Scarlet, I decided to get my ARC of it signed for a giveaway. So, if you're living in the US or Canada and are over the age of 13, feel free to enter below. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

11 comments:

  1. Glad you liked this one! I'm going to save it for my Spring Break so I can enjoy it without any interruptions. Thorn was adorable in Scarlet and I can't wait to meet the characters again.

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  2. I realize I'm the odd one out here, but this series just never worked for me. I'm not a fan of retellings at all. In fact, I have yet to find one I actually like.
    However, so many of my friends are enjoying it, I should probably give it another chance.
    Lovely review!

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  3. I am sold on the romance with Cress and Thorne and haven't even read the book yet-they sound soooo cute! Plus I was worried the stories wouldn't mesh well but it's great to hear that's not the case!

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  4. YAY!!! I'm so glad you loved this one Z!!! I agree, it started a touch slow for me as well, and while I didn't love Cress perhaps as much as I do Cinder and Scarlet, I still couldn't get enough of this book. And Winter? She was fascinating. I want more!

    So happy you finally got to meet Marissa too!

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  5. It was such a great book! I'm glad you loved it too!! :) Thanks for stopping by!

    Tressa @ Tressa's Wishful Endings

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  6. This book sounds like something I would really like. Its funny because recently many of the books I have been reading have started off slowly. A few I had to stop reading and go back to multiple times. But after doing so it is almost always 100 % worth it.

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  7. I loved Cress so much. I have the biggest crush on Thorne. I agree, he was perfect for Cress. His attitude and the way he was able to respond to her was great. I am SO excited for Winter. The little bit of her that we got to see was great. She's going to be an interesting protagonist.

    Thanks for the review!

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  8. I love how Cress started out damsel-in-distress-y! It was such a great contrast to our other two ladies (the character interplay is my favorite part of these books, thy all play off each other really well).
    I'm mega-excited/impatient for Winter too :)

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  9. Wooo yeah I loved how Cress and Thorne complemented each other! You are so right about Meyer, as well. She is so talented and I really cannot wait for Winter from the glimpse we got of Winter and Jacin!! It was fun hanging out with you, maybe we could do it again for the Laini Taylor signing?

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  10. Can't wait to start this book. I haven't started this series yet but I think I'm really going to like it.

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  11. I absolutely loved Cress! I swooning over Prince Kai the whole time especially during the last few chapters. It was definitely my favourite so far. Great review!

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