Dazzled by Books

"Cress" by Marissa Meyer was definitely her best book yet. I loving the Lunar Chronicles. Meyer has done a fantastic job and combining sci-fi with fairy tales. Who would have thought this combination would make such a fantastic series. I love all the story lines that Meyer combines and creates in her beloved Lunar Chronicles.

The characters are really what makes these stories. Meyer creates the most unique and fun characters. I am glad that I have gotten to know each one as my journey continues in each book. Meyer takes old fairy tales and brings a whole new light to them, so even knowing how the fairy tales end up, I am still looking forward to what will happen next because Meyer brings her own unique take to the table. Even though each story continues with a new fairy tale, Meyer incorporates the previous fairy tales into the story, so we end up having several different story lines to follow.

Cress is such a fun character. So far Cress has been my favorite. I love how carefree she is and considerate of others. She is a young girl that you don't want to see hurt or have her dreams crushed. She is so easy to love. Cress makes a great female protagonist. She can be naive and anxious but I think I would be too if I was in her situation. Cress has been looking at Earth from the outside and now she is experiencing everything for the first time. I think that is why I like Cress so much. I love her reacts to her experiences.

Cinder is back and still doing a great job at kicking butt. Cinder is a very strong female character. She is a princess. Cinder is learning how to become the princess that needs to lead a nation and she is also having to learn how to control her new-found power. I still have a big respect for Cinder because she grew up in a less than ideal situation and then finds out that she is a princess and now she is trying her best to become a great leader when all she really wants to do is go back to being just her old mechanic self. Cinder knows that isn't an option anymore.

Scarlet isn't in "Cress" as much as I thought she would be. Scarlet ends up taking an interesting adventure on her own. I hope that we get to hear more from Scarlet in "Winter." Wolf also isn't in the story as much as I tought he would be either. Kai is still trying to run a nation and get ready for his upcoming wedding. Something I wonder what this man is thinking because I feel like he is making a lot of poor decisions regarding his country. The readers really get to know Captain Thorne is this book. I really liked getting to know his character more and find out who he really is.

The plot moves pretty fast through "Cress" and it is oh so addicting. I liked how towards the end the reader was able to get a glimpse to see how book four "Winter" is going to be. I like how Meyer writers her characters because she makes the real and genuine. She doesn't just write these fluffy characters instead she puts her characters through so much conflict and angst. I feel like the characters have to seriously fight to stay on the pages of the book. That I think makes a great story.

On to the narration of the story. I did listen to the audiobook along with following the hardcover copy of the book. Rebecca Soler is a great narrator. I just love her. Soler is so entertaining and fun. I love how she does the voices for the story and reading it out loud. I really hope I get to listen to more books that Soler narrates because she does a great job. I think Soler is able to keep the reader/listeners attention with how energetic she is and able to make the story fun. I really enjoyed listening to "Cress" while in the car because Soler was able to make the drive seem so short for me.

I definitely recommend both the book and the audio book for "Cress." I think any reader will enjoy listening to Rebecca Soler read to you.