Popcorn Reviews: Winter // The Lunar Chronicles

Do you  know how difficult it is to find popcorn gifs on pinterest? This one is hilarious. I mean, it's a cat. What's not funny about felines? I have half a mind to use it all the time.

I gave an official review on Goodreads so here I'll sum up what I think is most important. Oh, and I'll probably throw quotes at you.

Mostly, throw quotes at you.

"You are the capital U of Unhelpful."

Winter, as the final book in the Lunar Chronicles, was a really good way to end the series.  The Lunar Chronicles is a retelling of intertwining fairytales with a sci-fi, dystopian spin. The main story is Cinderella, but it also involves Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Snow White. Also, I've always felt some Beauty and the Beast undertones from a certain OTP. *cough* 

Anyhow, Winter is the last book in the series therefore we have THE EPIC BATTLE. Because that's how book series work. That's all I'm going to say about the single book, because if you've not read the rest of the series I don't want to spoil anything.

So, you really ought to read The Lunar Chronicles (*hint* the first book is Cinder). It's fantastic and hilarious! 

 You will now head to library and borrow Cinder.

If, on the other hand, you have read the series but have doubts because this is the last book. I had my doubts too, but have no fear. You will love it.

"I can't believe nothing went wrong."

"I would wait until you're sitting on a throne before making statements like that."

The Lunar Chronicles has so many characters. Meyer juggles various POV characters and yet it's never confusing. What's even better is that they're each complex individuals. They have their own character arcs and personalities. I don't know how she does it. They all are so real.

Can I mention funny? They are hilarious! The sarcasm. The downright funny. The comebacks. These characters just have such a dynamic. The friendships are strong with this one.

"Your mouth uses up a lot of energy."

Meyer also has a handful of couples and none of the couples are similar. How can you have such a huge cast and not have one character skeleton? JUST SOMEBODY TELL ME HER SECRET, OKAY?! I admire how real and yet individually diverse her characters are.

The retelling parts are just superb, okay? It's this dystopian, sci-fi, loads of action kind of twist that just works.

She was no expert, but it seemed problematic to carry on a relationship on two different planets--

Er, a planet and a moon.

Or whatever.

I'm  not that big into romance. Most of the time I'm thinking, "They're shooting at you! Why the kissing now? Just because the enemy has stinky aim doesn't mean you ought to forget your brain."  There is a nice dose of romance in Meyer's books. They are fairytale retellings and those tend to involve one's true love, tra, la lala. . . you know the stories.

"It's not proper for seventeen-year-old princesses to be alone with young men who have questionable intentions."

"And what about young men who she's been best friends with since before she could walk?"

"Those are the worst."

Maybe it's how well the characters are written. Maybe it's because it's a fairytale retelling. Or maybe it's-- I don't know! This series is the only time I can get my girly girl on and full out cheer for every single romance scene. When it comes to love, not all of the characters are fluffy strawberry sponge cakes (with extra whipped topping). Having said that, some of them are (muchly so). They balance each other out. 

"Hello friend."

"Hello crazy."

(Scar and Winter's friendship in four words.)

This series is also about friendships. Especially the unlikely ones. Like Scarlet and Winter. Cinder and Thorne. Wolf and Cress. Big brother Kai, little sister Cress. Jacin and, uh. . . well, he and Scarlet have mutual respect because of Winter. 

Cinder and IKO! Iko is hilarious.

 Should I maybe give a short descript of the characters?

Cinder:

 our fearful, sarcastic leader, who also happens to be a mechanic and a cyborg, prefers socializing with androids than people, and gosh, she so selfless and empathizes with people

Kai:

 our sarcastic emperor who tries to be sensible but generally fails at logic, he has such a heart for his people, and I rather think he's brave because he's one of the few of characters who is continually face to face with Levana, his good intentions and adorableness hopefully make up for his real stupid decisions 

"You mean she doesn't intend to blow me up before the ceremony? How disappointing."

Levana:

our evil, psychotic queen, the villain you love to hate (I do at least), manipulative to the core, perhaps her own views and priorities are skewed, perhaps she's been taught that way, perhaps she paranoid to the point of insanity

Iko:
our droid with a very humane malfunction called emotions, the fangirl of fangirls (yes, the droid is the gooey shipper in this story), Cinder teaches her sarcasm, and she's not too bad at hand to hand fighting

Thorne:
our player, thief, mischief maker, the Han Solo of this fleet (he's even got his own ship, that he might have stolen on his way out of the military. . .), he's got a witty comeback for everything and charm that'll outlast the stars with an ego to match

"They're the first crew I've ever had, and most of them even call me Captain."

Scarlet:
our fierce loyal friend, I really can't think of what other role Scarlet plays than friend, she's Cinder's supportive friend, she's Winter's guardian friend, she's the most distrusting and loyal person in all the galaxy and she'll gun down the French countryside to find her grandmere, she's a bit intense, a bit impulsive with determination and sass to go with

"It's just like the one Scarlet had." He flipped the gun in his palms, running his thumbs along the barrel. "She shot me in the arm once."

This confession was said with as much tenderness as if Scarlet had given him a bouquet of wildflowers rather than a bullet wound.

Wolf:

our conflicted guard dog (have you seen Elliot from Leverage?), a trained weapon, all teeth and short temper unless he decides he likes you, then he's surprisingly gentle and fast loyal, he's energy, nervous energy, excited energy, energy for the sake of energy, and he's been manipulated too many times

Jacin:

our other guard whose got major league trust issues, for good reasons, when he's not masked in a blank stare it's hard candor and sarcasm, regularly he's controlled, but around his best and only friend, he's more like a mischievous school boy

Cress:

our princess hacker, she knows the ins and outs of all things technology, low self confidence, but a sharp and active imagination, she's got fierce timidity and big dreams, and maybe a fangirl crush

Winter:

our true fairytale princess, a little crazy, completely harmless, her intentions are only good and sweet, she's butterfly wings, rainbow chases, and cotton candy fluff, and nearly EVERYBODY is her friend,

 

I do adore Cress' fierce timidity.

And Kai (harmless Kai) gets a knife and nearly stabs. . . I love that part. Mwahaha!

Scarlet is completely my new hero.

I applaud Meyer so much. She's my favorite author (if you've not figured that out).

Oh, and not to be depressing but:

Finally, finally, the small globe in the corner stopped turning and the netscreen brightened, revealing Levana in her sheer white veil.

The future has bad internet connections too.

(PS- I've been sourcing my gifs differently, so if you like any of them, just click on it and it *should* open a new tab into pinterest for you.)

Have you read Winter or any of the Lunar Chronicles? Who's your favorite character/OTP? AND if you've not read it yet, do you have any other favorite fairytale retellings?