Book Review: Winter (The Lunar Chronicles, #4)

I really enjoyed Marissa Meyer’s Winter (The Lunar Chronicles, #4). I think it was a solid finale to the series and was full of the signature wit that has been so prevalent throughout all of the books.

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? Fans will not want to miss this thrilling conclusion to Marissa Meyer’s national bestselling Lunar Chronicles series.

The Good

• SOOOO Funny! – Seriously, all of the witty and snarky comments that are scattered throughout this book give me life. I live for the interactions between all of the characters, especially when Scarlet is involved. (She’s my fave!). Oh, and Thorne? Never change, buddy.
• REUNION!!!! – I finally got my reunion moment between Scarlet and Wolf and I was not disappointed. It was beautiful and amazing and perfect and all of the things that those two embody. Honestly, out of all of the couples in this series, these two are definitely my favorite. They’re both fighters and would do anything to protect each other. I mean I know everyone likes Cress and Thorne the most, but they just don’t evoke the kind of feelings from me that Scarlet and Wolf do. I honestly just want a spinoff of with those two. GIVE ME ALL THE FEELS!
• Great Final Battle – I finally got the epic battle scene that I’ve been craving this entire series. It was intense and I actually felt like all of the characters were in real danger, which was something that I think was really lacking in the previous books. For a minute there, I thought we might actually lose someone. (I knew better but I at least felt that way!)
• More Winter – We finally got to really meet Winter in this book (obvs because the title is Winter…), and I liked her character. She brought a different nuance to the group as a whole. Her madness from the Lunar sickness really created a dynamic that was interesting. She lacked the inhibitions that everyone else had which drove the plot in new ways. I wish we had gotten to know her more in the previous books. I loved the relationship between her and Jacin, but also her friendship with Scarlet. I thought those two played off of each other really well.

The Bad

• Bloated Length – This book really could’ve cut out at least 50 pages and we would’ve been left with the exact same story. I felt like there were a few chapters that just didn’t add anything new or drive the plot, only adding to the excessive length of the story. The first half of the book suffered from this more so than the second half did.
• Too Perfect? –  I think this is more of a pet peeve of mine, than it’s an actual issue with the book. I really like happy endings, I promise! However, sometimes endings in YA books tend to go the perfect route where everyone survives and lives happily ever together. And for me, I get kind of tired of that. Sometimes I really do want my characters to suffer and maybe not everyone makes it at the end. Again, just a personal preference of mine…

Overall this was a really enjoyable series and I thought Winter did a great job of bringing the story to an end. I do think that the length of the novel was a bit excessive but it wasn’t a big enough issue that it took away from my enjoyment. I definitely recommend this series if you enjoy fairytale retellings and loveable characters.

Final Verdict: 4/5 Stars

Have you read Winter? If so, what did you think of it? Which book in the series was your favorite? Do you like fairytale retellings?