Granted, they get WAY better in Winter, but still, in my opinion, they’re the weakest Lunar Chronicles couple. And again, they’re not bad, they’re just… not amazing to me. She’s given us couples like Cath and Jest (Heartless), Scarlet and Wolf, Cinder and Kai, and Winter and Jacin, so I guess I just expected to ship Cresswell more than I did.

In fact, they’re really good for YA, but not so great (again, my opinion) for Marissa Meyer.

The Bad: Let me just say that Cress and Thorne are by no means one of the worst couples I’ve ever read. It catapults straight into Winter at the end, (though I recommend reading Fairest between these two) and keeps the momentum going throughout Winter. Cinder and Scarlet feel like buildup, and this one is the launch. The plot of this one was also better than the first two, (though those are perfect too :) in my opinion this is the book where the plot really kicks off from. I liked them in Cinder, but I LOVE them in Cress. Another thing to note, and this may or may not be a spoiler, but Cinder and Kai’s reunion is PERFECTION. (Plus, who doesn’t love the idea of a super-smart hacker version of Rapunzel?) The way Marissa Meyer portrayed her as a insecure, out-of-her-element character really made more sense than Disney’s version of the fairy tale. She doesn’t go overboard with her descriptions, (in fact, she maybe only uses one or two words to describe each thing, but she chooses her words so well it comes to life off the page.) so that’s really great, but it’s written so well that you could probably listen to her describe a sandwich all day and still be entertained :) Cress is a naive, swoony heroine, super different from Cinder’s sassiness and Scarlet’s reckless bravery, but she’s more relatable in that way.

Whenever she describes something, you can picture yourself there instantly, and she does it without taking pages to do so. Marissa Meyer did a great job of including clothes, food, and landscapes from all of the different cultures she incorporated into this series. Cinder is set in the Eastern Commonwealth, so it has Asian undertones and culture, while Scarlet is set in France, so it has those vibes to it, and Cress follows suite by being (mostly!) set in Africa. But I’ll get to that later… The Good: I love how each book has a different feel to it culture-wise. (Plus, who doesn’t love a YA series that actually has humor? I mean, sure, other authors try, but Marissa Meyer is genuinely funny when she writes a joke.) Second things second: I also am not the biggest fan of the main couple in this specific book. Marissa Meyer’s wonderfully descriptive, action-packed, romantic style elevates these books above many, many YA reads that I’ve tried out over the last couple of years. First things first: I LOVE the Lunar Chronicles.

Cress novel