Spoiler Review: Winter by Marissa Meyer

Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4)
Author:  Marissa Meyer
Publisher:  Feiwel and Friends, 827 pages
Publication Date:  November 10, 2015

From Goodreads:
Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar 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?

Review:

I liked this conclusion to the Lunar Chronicles, but I didn't love it.  Basically, it was my least favorite book of the series.  I loved the series, don't get me wrong, and I thought the book was really good (I rated it 4 stars), but I didn't really like Winter or Jacin and I didn't care about their love story.  I LOVED Cinder and Kai, Scarlet and Wolf, and Cress and Thorne.  I respected Winter and her choice not to use her Lunar abilities, but I never felt that connection to her that I felt with the rest of the group.  And Jacin…I really didn't like him.  That made it hard to love the book.  Maybe part of it was because they weren't the true focus of the book like the couples were in the other books…I don't know.

And even though Cinder and Kai were my favorite couple, once again they aren't together enough.  They're the only couple who doesn't spend a significant amount of time together and I was hoping we would get that in this book, but we didn't.

And I was soooo disappointed with what happened to Wolf.  Why couldn't they reverse his operation?  Why did he have to spend the rest of his life as a beast man?  It was amazing that Scarlet didn't seem to care, but HE did.  He didn't want it, it was his worst fear.  I mean, come on, this is a fairy tale, I would have bought that they could reverse it.  I just thought that was unnecessary to the story and it made me sad.

Finally, the big fight between Cinder and Levana was pretty meh.  And I didn't buy that just having her real face revealed would weaken her so much.  I read somewhere that Marissa Meyer said that she wished she hadn't made the Lunar abilities so strong because it put her in a tough position in the series and I think it shows with how Levana was defeated.  

So I know I've just complained about the book.  I read it pretty much in one sitting (even with it being so long) and I loved the touches of Snow White we got (I like retellings that are REALLY loose) and the cast of characters (at least six of them) were AMAZING.  Thorne and Cress ended up being my favorite couple in the end and their story and what happened with them was the most satisfying for me. Definitely recommend the series, I'm a huge fan, but maybe having eight main characters was too much.  

What did you think of the book?

Posted by:  Pam

Spoiler Discussion: Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

This post is for anyone who has already read Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas and wants to discuss it.  SPOILER ALERT:  DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE BOOK.

This is one of those books where I find it impossible to review it without spoiling it so I thought I would just have a discussion about it instead.  First of all, let me just say that I did love the book, it was amazing.  Epic, in fact.  The plot was interesting, the pacing felt right, and I absolutely could not put it down.  I also loved the bromances between Aeidon and Rowan and Dorian and Chaol.  When Dorian and Chaol are both crying?  LOVE THEM.  I also thought the female friendships were well done and I don't think we see enough of them.  Loved Aelin and Lysandra as friends  and Manon and Asterin as friends.  I also loved the character growth of Manon and the fact that Lysandra was such a complex character and how great a friend she turns out to be.

Now here's what I didn't like.  What happened between Chaol and Celeana/Aelin.  I reread all three books before reading this one and it just doesn't make sense to me.  In Crown of Midnight, Celeana/Aelin tells Chaol that he is home and that she will always choose him.  In Heir of Fire, she never seems to feel anything but platonic feelings for Rowan.  Then it all just changes in Queen of Shadows.  It felt forced to me.  Like the author just fell in love with Rowan and wanted Celeana/Aelin to fall in love with him too.  And then makes Chaol also seem not to care about her so we wouldn't love him as much either (although I still do).  Instead, he just seems resigned to her not loving him or being with him anymore. Honestly, as soon as Chaol was seen with Nesryn in the very beginning of the book and we find out they had a previous relationship, I knew that was it for him and Aelin. And why is Chaol the bad guy because he doesn't instantly accept the fact that she's Fae and is the queen, etc. Uh, let him have time to adapt, ok? Just so frustrating. And then he's left paralyzed! 

I have nothing against Rowan, to be honest. In fact, I love his character. But why why why can't authors ever have a great platonic male/female relationship? I was so hoping Maas would keep their relationship platonic. It could have been amazing. And how is it going to work with him? He's hundreds of years old and will live forever. Um…does that mean that the author will somehow make Aelin like that? If that happens, how typical and ridiculous.

And the fact that Aelin moved on so quickly (and seemingly effortlessly) from Chaol really cheapened her relationship with Chaol, like it was just a silly girl thing or something. It's not like years passed or something. I didn't like how that was done. I wish Maas had had her and Chaol not necessarily get back together right away, but work through their problems. It could have taken a couple of books. How great would that have been? Have tension, fighting, etc. But NO. Instead she has to fall in love with the Fae prince. After he was HORRIBLE to her for awhile in Heir of Fire.

I tried not to get too upset about this. Just because the main character doesn't end up with the guy I like shouldn't mean that I hate the book. So it's not about that, it's about the WAY it happened. She still loves Sam and has wonderful feelings about him (which she should, I LOVE SAM). Why is she so unfeeling and cold about Chaol? And as much as the author keeps making the point that Celeana and Aelin are different people, THEY AREN'T. She's known she was Aelin the whole time. She's still the same person. I just feel like the author was trying to make Chaol the bad guy. I mean, what happened to the bromance between Aedion and Chaol that was starting in Heir of Fire? Went completely away.

And WHY DIDN'T CELEANA/AELIN KILL AROBYNN????? That is what we all wanted to see, right?  So anticlimactic.

Aelin and Chaol having their relationship almost destroyed and then fighting their way back through multiple books would have been much more unique. And having her and Rowan have a strong, loving, PLATONIC relationship would have been a breath of fresh air. Maas just joins all of the other writers who can't seem to write strong female/male relationships and can't seem to resist having every guy fall in love with the main character.

Now you may say, Aelin and Dorian have a platonic relationship. Yeah, NOW they do. But they didn't before. And rereading Throne of Glass made me think about how easily she turned off her feelings for Dorian. They were actually getting close and she definitely had romantic feelings for him but then it was like, I'm the champion, we're over. And she never looked back. Poor Dorian! Maybe given that I should have realized how easy it would be for her to turn her back on Chaol. When the going gets tough, she finds another guy.

So I did end up giving the book 4 stars (5 stars at first but then the more I thought about it the more I realized I wasn't happy…not just with the result but with the way it all happened). Certain aspects of it were disappointing, to say the least.

What did you think????

Posted by:  Pam

Spoiler Discussion: The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider

This post is for anyone who has already read The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider and wants to discuss it.  SPOILER ALERT:  DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE BOOK.

Ok, I just have to rant (er, discuss) the last quarter of the book.  Basically, what Cassidy does to Ezra.  Now I would rather have a happily ever after ending, but in this case, I didn't mind that they didn't end up together.  I actually understood that, especially the circumstances, plus the fact that it's not that realistic to end up with your high school love.  But it was the WAY Cassidy treated Ezra that made me absolutely hate her.  She finds out that it was her brother who crashed into Ezra (leading to her brother's death) and what does she do?  Takes the coward's way out and just doesn't contact him at all.  It's the night of the dance and she just disappears.  So Ezra finds her and then what she says to him, that he's basically a loser and she's been using him and it was all really a joke and that, in fact, she has a boyfriend.  What?  Why did she have to be so cruel?  Ezra has done absolutely nothing but be a fantastic guy to her.  He doesn't deserve to be treated that way.  And yes, she was trying to push him away, but that doesn't excuse it.  And then she continues to act mad at him, like he did something wrong.  And he's just reeling, not understanding, and then he goes to her house to make her a snowman (why he feels like he should apologize is beyond me, it's not like he knew her brother was dead).  And again, she acts like a complete bitch to him.  And basically it's her fault his dog dies.  Why did the dog have to die?  I kept wondering what was up with the coyotes, it was obviously going to play some sort of part in the story, but killing the dog...I just hated that.  So I lost whatever sympathy I had for Cassidy with the way she treated Ezra.  And then when they're in the waiting room at the vet, he's still being such a great guy, and the only thing she does that's the least bit good is tell him that she wasn't the reason he changed.  It was all him and would have happened even if he had never met her.  Other than that, she was the worst and I ended up hating her character, hating how she treated Ezra, and hated how all of that happened.  Again, it wasn't the breaking up that made me hate her, it was the way it happened that just made me livid. Ok, I vented.

What did you think?

Posted by:  Pam

Spoiler Discussion: Shadowlands by Kate Brian

This post is for anyone who has already read Shadowlands by Kate Brian and wants to discuss it.  SPOILER ALERT:  DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE BOOK.

Did anyone figure out the ending ahead of time?  Everyone's dead?  What??  I didn't, that's for sure.  I mean, I obviously knew this place was weird.  It made no sense that the FBI would send them to this island that had no phone service, no internet, etc.  Not the smartest move to make it impossible for the people getting chased by a serial killer to not be able to get in touch with the FBI.  

So why was everyone so fascinated with Rory and not her sister?  Is it because they think she has the potential to be a lifer?  Which I'm assuming means she will stay on the island like they do and help people cross over.  Can they get hurt?  They mention that Darcy has blood on her shirt.  But then Rory went windsurfing and wasn't sore the next day.  After I finished the book, there were so many clues about what was going on. 

So I'm assuming she died when they had that car accident and her dad was killed, then her sister, and then she killed Mr. Nell?  I was wondering why that was such a long scene given it was supposedly a dream.  Way to protect, FBI.  

Will you read the next one?  I think this actually works as a stand-alone, but I'm still reading the next one.

Posted by:  Pam

Spoiler Discussion: The Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

We thought it would be fun to have Spoiler Discussions once in awhile to discuss books that we have all read.  Since a lot of people try to keep their reviews (and comments) spoiler-free, it seems as if it keeps everyone from discussing the book in a more substantive way.  Thus, this post is for anyone who has already read The Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare and wants to discuss it.  SPOILER ALERT:  DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE BOOK.

Here are a few topics/questions for discussion but feel free to discuss whatever you would like:
1.     What did you think about the love triangle?  Was it well done?  
2.     Did Tessa turn to Will too quickly after she finds out about Jem?  
3.     The ending.  What did you think?  I was actually quite happy with it, except it was sad to read about Will dying.  Of course, he lived a long and happy life, but still, you just don't want to think about it.  Some people have expressed anger/cop-out type feelings that Tessa gets to have both Will and Jem and you only have one love in your life, etc.  But I didn't feel that way.  She is going to live forever.  If Will is it, then she's alone for eternity.  So I was happy that Jem gets to have his happily ever after too.  And I thought Tessa said it best when she said:  "They say you cannot love two people equally at once.  And perhaps for others that is so.  But you and Will--you are not like two ordinary people, two people who might have been jealous of each other, or who would have imagined my love for one of them diminished by my love of the other.  You merged your souls when you were both children.  I could not have loved Will so much if I had not loved you as well.  And I could not love you as I do if I had not loved Will as I did."  Do you really think she loved them equally at once? 
4.     A question I had about Tessa and Will.  Since Tessa can shape shift and look however she wants to look, why didn't she just grow old looking with Will?  Then after he died, she could have changed back.  
5.    What did you think about Jem becoming a Silent Brother?  And has anyone heard whether Jem will be in City of Heavenly Fire?  Jem says:  "It has been a hard year, a dark year, for Shadowhunters.  But out of the blood and the fire, the loss and the sorrow, there have been born some great new changes."  
6.     What about Tessa leaving her children?  She stayed with Will, and it obviously hurt her to lose him, and then she knows the same thing is going to happen to Jem:  "Jem was mortal now.  He would grow old like Will, and like Will he would die, and she did not know if she could bear it again."

Please post a comment--we would love to hear your thoughts on these questions or anything else! 

Posted by: Pam