Cress (The Lunar Chronicles, #3) in The Wide Web of Friends in YA Books

May 26, 2015 Tommy Hancock rated it it was amazing

Favorite book in the series so far, and that's even considering I rated the first two 5-star each. If the series sounds even semi-interesting to you, do yourself a favor and check it out. ...more

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May 03, 2015 Angela Blount rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya, goddaughter-approved-picks, fantasy

I’d have to call this one the best in the series thus far.

Meyer adds yet another cast member to the save-the-world team in this, the third installment of the Lunar Chronicles. Cress is easily the most naïve of the female leads we’ve seen so far, though with good reason—and not without the redemptive trait of ultimately showing the most progress by way of character growth. The story of Rapunzel is retold with more similarities to its original fairytale than seen in the previous books, complete wi
I’d have to call this one the best in the series thus far.

Meyer adds yet another cast member to the save-the-world team in this, the third installment of the Lunar Chronicles. Cress is easily the most naïve of the female leads we’ve seen so far, though with good reason—and not without the redemptive trait of ultimately showing the most progress by way of character growth. The story of Rapunzel is retold with more similarities to its original fairytale than seen in the previous books, complete with Captain Thorne acting as the thief who would be prince. Trade out the isolating tower for an isolating spy satellite, break up the team with a failed rescue attempt, and you have the premise for the primary plot thread in this book.

The author really seems to have her writing feet under her now, and she’s off and running right out of the gate with this book. She continues to juggle other goings on concerning Prince Kai, Lavana, Scarlet, Cinder, and Dr. Erland, weaving the most complex storyline we’ve yet seen. There’s just enough recap on previous events to sufficiently refresh past readers or draw in those who didn’t get a shot at one or both of the previous books.

Thorne is by far the highlight of this story. Rather than remaining the somewhat irritating playboy sidekick we came to know in the second book, the captain comes into his own in terms of heroism and comedy. Thanks to a handicap that tests his over-confidence, he’s forced into a rapid maturation process. And fortunately for all, his off-the-cuff candor and sarcasm is both abundant and endearing.

Note: I love the android character of Iko more with each passing book. She’s not in this one a great deal, but when she does come into full play, it’s well worth the wait.

If you’ve gotten this far into the series, one would presume you’re able to overlook the magical “science” and embrace this as a sci-fi fantasy. If so, this should be an all around fun read. The emotional connection achieves a balance not quite attained in previous books, while the spare, peppy prose maintains a consistently younger YA feel. And a defecting Lunar guard, along with some actual scenes on Luna, finally offers readers a more multi-dimensional look at the villainous side of the plot equation.

While this reader didn’t particularly care for Scarlett, I’m glad I continued on farther into the series. The ending of this one was wide open in preparation for the final book.

Favorite quote:

“Maybe there isn’t such a thing as fate. Maybe it’s just the opportunities we’re given, and what we do with them. I’m beginning to think that maybe great, epic romances don’t just happen. We have to make them ourselves.”
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Jun 16, 2014 M. rated it liked it

I'm disappointed with Cress. It was the least enjoyable book in the series so far mainly because the characterizations of Rapunzel and her "Prince" were very unappealing. I kept wishing that Cress was more similar to Rapunzel from Tangled not the blubbering mess that she was. The constant crying and panic attacks made me loathe her more than sympathize with her. Plus her infatuation with Captain Thorne was more pathetic and child like than cute. This book could very well have been called The Com ...more

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Feb 11, 2016 Kathleen Baldwin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: all-time-favorites

Wow! I can't say enough good things about this book - in fact the whole series. I am blown away with how well Meyer weaves together all the story lines. I was holding my breath to see if she could do it again in Winter. Lo, and behold she did!!!! Color me amazed and impressed ...more

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Oct 18, 2013 Kat rated it it was amazing

Shelves: one-of-the-best, favorite-authors, to-buy, omg-the-feels

Technically I finished this last night at midnight, but I was unable to do anything but collapse on my pillow after finishing this in less than eight hours. But this BOOK, guys. THIS BOOK. Anyone who's read it understands why I say THIS BOOK because those two words convey all the feels.

I'll admit, though, the only parts I didn't particularly enjoy were the Kai parts, and I think that's because of all the characters, he may be my least favorite...On the good guys side, anyway. Thorne and Cress a ...more

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Dec 27, 2013 Ally Bryan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: best-romances-33, book-boyfriends

LOVED IT. Took me forever to read this book because of school, but I have finally finished it and I'm absolutely obsessed!!! Thorne was perfect as usual and him and Cress were amazing!! I loved their scenes together and can't wait to get more of them in Winter (btw how creepy was she???). This book made me start to really like Kai (I have never really had an opinion on him!) and I hope we get more Kai/Cinder scenes in the next book. Cinder's arc is by far the best in the series and I love how mu ...more

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Mar 30, 2012 Carie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

4.5 – I’m still loving this series and this installment was just as good, if not better than the previous two :) I love the characters and the crazy, scary situations they find themselves in. I enjoyed the new characters, Cress and Jacin, as well as ALL of my old favorites--I ADORE them! I love how Ms. Meyer is able to write great story for ALL of these characters and give them unique personalities and challenges--it’s a large cast of characters, but she manages to keep them all in the forefront 4.5 – I’m still loving this series and this installment was just as good, if not better than the previous two :) I love the characters and the crazy, scary situations they find themselves in. I enjoyed the new characters, Cress and Jacin, as well as ALL of my old favorites--I ADORE them! I love how Ms. Meyer is able to write great story for ALL of these characters and give them unique personalities and challenges--it’s a large cast of characters, but she manages to keep them all in the forefront and keep the reader interested and invested in each of them :) I was SO worried for some of them in this book, especially (view spoiler)--oh, I think I was worried for ALL of them at one point or another!!

There were some VERY tense moments in this book, too, where I had NO idea what would happen next or how the characters would handle what was happening to them. Some great nail-biting suspense! I thought it was quite ridiculous that (view spoiler) and I had a hard time believing that (view spoiler) and I was disappointed that (view spoiler), but I absolutely LOVED when (view spoiler) :) Awesome!! I also absolutely adored the banter between the characters (especially whenever Thorne, Cinder, and Iko were involved) and the humor in the book.

I don’t know how I’m going to wait for Winter to come out! Why does it have to be SO long?! I’m interested to find out more about Levana in Fairest, but I really wish we were getting Winter sooner… :(

Here are a few of my hopes for Winter: (view spoiler)! SO excited to find out what happens next!!
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Jan 10, 2013 Mutated Reviewer rated it it was amazing

Goodreads Synopsis: Rapunzel’s tower is a satellite. She can’t let down her hair—or her guard.
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, Goodreads Synopsis: Rapunzel’s tower is a satellite. She can’t let down her hair—or her guard.
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 ones who can.

My review: How awesome was this book. It took me a while to finish it because honestly I didn't want to finish it, I didn't want the story to end. It was that awesome. And then, at the end, I find out that there's another book coming out?! I'm so excited. How awesome. Awesome. How about I say awesome a couple more times. ANYWAYS, onto the review part of this thing. Cinder and her gang are in a spaceship. They're floating around in space. We meet a new character, named Cress, who was in the first book, but I didn't remember that. She's basically Rapunzel, only she's a shell, a Lunar with no powers, and she's an insane hacker. She's locked up in her tower, a satalite orbiting the earth, and being forced to hack into earthen things by Sybil. Who knew she was up there? The queen definitely did. She'd been stuck there since she was seven, her only company little Cress, her own voice recorded to talk back to her on her computer. I'm thinking she was really lonely. Anyways. Scarlet is missing, Wolf is depressed, and Cinder is trying to fight the queen. Iko has a new body, there's tons of action in this book, and I couldn't put it down at all. The ending is surprising, but not too surprising, if you know what I mean. I'm really trying to keep the spoilers to a minimum, and it's insanely hard, haha. Anyways. If you haven't read this series, I highly recommend it, it's amazing. This book is awesome, as I've said many times in this small review. I'm obsessed with this series, and I'm going to be depressed for a while when it comes to an end, which I really hope it doesn't. Have fun!

Thanks for reading! This review is also posted on my blog, where you can see all my other reviews since I started my new blog. (':

radioactivebookreviews.wordpress.com
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Mar 15, 2012 Jessica Gomez rated it really liked it

Shelves: own, third-in-a-series, aliens, series-challenge-2014

First off, for some reason I thought this was the last book in the series. I'm glad it wasn't at the same time I wish it was. I wanted to know what FINALLY happens! ✳

But now we have Cress in the picture. I love her just as much as Scarlet and Cinder. They are all strong charaters. Captain and Cress seem drawn to each other, which is by farmy fav couple right now. But that's just until Cinder and Kai start up again.

There was a lot of action crammed into these pages and you will not want to miss ...more

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Sep 08, 2013 Nat rated it really liked it

Shelves: not-out-soon-enough

Very excited for the final book.

This book was so exciting! I didn't guess any of the plot twists and I actually liked the multiple narrations, because every character is in a different place. It will be interesting to see how Thorne and Cress work out (view spoiler) ...more

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