Welcome to my first recap post for The Lunar Chronicles Readalong hosted by Brittany over at The Book Addict’s Guide! Seriously, whether you’re rereading or reading for the first time, you should come join us. These books are like crack, for real. I finished Cinder entirely too early and my reactions were so hard because I’m not really a rereader. Knowing everything that happens just makes the story that much more crazy the second time around, so I am way too excited to keep going! I’M TELLING YOU NOW: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS AHEAD. IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED CINDER AND DO NOT WANT ANYTHING SPOILED, TURN BACK NOW AND FINISH. THEN COME BACK TO ME.
My first reaction to recap: I hate Adri and Pearl so much that it makes me physically ill sometimes. I mean, yes, they are the classic Cinderella evil stepmother and stepsister, but they’re so supremely horrendous. I want them both to die in a fire. I thought it was interesting that Meyer had Cinder have only one evil stepsister since Peony was such a peach. Why couldn’t have Pearl died of that horrible disease, huh?! Well, I guess I get it, since then we’d really have no reason for Cinder wanting to find a cure.
After reading this after its original release and not picking it up again until now, I’m starting to see all of these obvious things. One of these things is that I found it crazy that Cinder (or I, for that matter) couldn’t figure out she was immune to letumosis when she didn’t get sick after hugging Peony after discovering the marks on her. I mean, duh! With as much as Cinder was all over her, if she weren’t immune, it should have manifested pretty quickly.
Prince Kai, oh boy. I’m not really one for romance and I don’t usually swoon over dudes, but I adore Prince Kai. He disguises himself to drop Nainsi off with Cinder instead of haggling for privacy with palace mechanics, which is so smart of him, since he knows he doesn’t know who to trust. Not only that, but the way he saves Cinder from Levana at the ball was amazing. Reading it the first time, I thought Kai hated Cinder, but knowing what ends up happening, I know he was saving her. Weird how that works, huh? I feel for Kai so much. He has to step up and become emperor at such a young age after losing his father. I think he handles himself so graciously considering he has to deal with Levana and her Lunar goons for most of the book.
Levana…oh goodness. So, I read Fairest, as I’m sure most of you did. And along with all of you, my skin was crawling through the entire book. After I finished it, I had to take a shower because I was so creeped out. If you haven’t read it, GET ON IT, but basically just imagine the creepiest stalker movie you’ve ever seen and multiply it by many thousands. I liked having that insight into Levana then coming back to Cinder. She is insane and there were parts where I almost felt bad for her. (Trust me, I scolded myself for that later).
Letumosis is one of the scariest parts of this book. I have a strange fear of airborne diseases, and that’s what letumosis is! I’m kind of also obsessed with researching The Black Plague, and this disease reminds me of that, too. I love how the world is set up in this book with the Commonwealth and all the other countries living in harmony after a fourth world war. The way the Commonwealth is set up, no wonder everyone is getting sick. I like to imagine that there is little to no room to move around, let alone room to get away from an airborne illness.
Iko remains one of my favorite characters in the whole series. I remember reading this the first time and seeing Iko in pieces in Cinder’s room, and crying. I was SO upset. I love thinking that Iko has a malfunction since she has such a big personality. Since I’m only spoiling Cinder right now, I won’t go much farther, just in case you haven’t finished/read Scarlet!
The Lunars absolutely fascinate me and we saw some cameos from later in the series! We see Jacin at the ball (if you haven’t read, he comes back!) and we see a guest appearance from Cress at the end! I totally forgot that we saw them in this book! I am so fascinated with the Lunars’ ability to manipulate bioelectricity. I also can’t wait to re-live Cinder rediscovering her gift as her block slowly releases it. SO MUCH TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN SCARLET OMG!!!
All in all, this book was as fantastic as I remembered, if not more! It is seriously book crack. I was trying to stick to the reading schedule, but I just COULDN’T. I was up until 4am finishing this because it is just too too good. I hope you enjoyed my crazy, ranty recap and I’ll see you guys for my themed post for Cinder and for my next recap of Scarlet! Happy reading, awesome nerds and thanks, Brittany for hosting! *smoosh*
Just a Broke Bookworm 