I’ve wanted to do a reread of The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer since before compiling a list of my favorite books to reread and those I wish I would.
This series consists of four books each featuring a different fairytale retelling, from Cinderella to Snow White. The stories have a sci-fi twist to them. They’re set on a future version of Earth where cyborgs exist and a species similar to humans inhabit the moon. One unlikely cyborg girl named Cinder finds herself in the middle of the political war brewing between Earthens and Lunars.
The first time I checked out this quartet was in the fall of 2015 right before the final book, Winter, came out. I read the first book, Cinder, as a selection for our IRL book club. That book was a little slow for me but luckily I stuck with the series because Scarlet, a retelling of Red Riding Hood, was amazing! It had me racing to get my hands on the third book, Cress, which echos elements of Rapunzel.
When Winter finally came out I inhaled the conclusion to the series – even though it was over 800 pages and I was traveling through Vietnam at the time. I was so eager to find out what happened to these characters I’d fallen in love with. It was one of the most satisfying conclusions to a series I’ve ever read!
My Reread of The Lunar Chronicles
This past month I was ready for a little comfort reading so I decided to finally tackle my reread of this series. It was a joy to revisit this world and these beloved characters! I checked out the audio version of Cinder this time since it was my least favorite book originally and wound up sticking with that format the whole time.
Rebecca Soler is the narrator for the all the audiobooks. It was wonderful to get to listen to the same voice, tone, and character interpretations all the way through the series. She narrates all of the audio versions of Marissa Meyer’s books along with Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart and Stephanie Garber’s Caraval series.
The reread had me enjoying Cinder a lot more this time around. Knowing where the story was going helped me be patient with the necessary world building and plot development for the whole saga. Plus it was fun to revisit Iko’s origins. Her sense of humor and sass makes her one of my favorite characters.
Scarlet and Cress were just as amazing and enthralling as before. The story really picks up with the second novel and the introduction of so many important secondary characters. The middle books feature my two favorite couples also although some relationships don’t escalate until the last book.
My reread of Winter was a little bit of a surprise. I didn’t enjoy it as much as I remembered. I think that may have been due to the audio format. It is a long book – 24 hours on audio! That might just be too long for me with the audio experience. There are also so many details, quirky interactions, and pivotal scenes that take place. If a physical book or ebook is an option, I think that might be a better reading experience for the conclusion.
My verdict on the series stays mostly the same. Cinder moves up half a star in rating to 3.5. The other three books remain 5 star reads!
One perk of the Winter audiobook was a really fun author interview featured at the end. That alone makes it worth checking out! I also recently discovered that Marissa Meyer has her own podcast called The Happy Writer Podcast, which I can’t wait to add to my podcast list.
Beautiful Covers
I adore the original covers for this series (pictured above) but these new ones that were released in 2020 are amazing works of art!
Extensions of The Lunar Chronicles Universe
In addition to the original series, there’s a collection of short stories called Stars Above that are set in this universe. It features nine stories. Some tie in as prequels to the novels and some expand on beloved characters’ backstories. There’s also an epilogue to Winter, where everyone is back together for the wedding of the century.
A shorter novel, Fairest, came out during the wait between Cress and Winter. It tells Levana’s story before she became an evil queen.
My favorite extension of this universe is the Wires and Nerve graphic novels. There are two volumes that continue Iko’s story after the revolution on Luna. I adored these and definitely recommend fans checking them out!
I loved catching up with all these beloved characters! As I said earlier Iko is a favorite of mine so it was awesome to see her get her own story. I also appreciate it paying off a hinted love-hate attraction from the original series.
Though I haven’t heard anything to get my hopes up, I believe this series would be an amazing one to adapt for television!
Other Books by Marissa Meyer
The quartet remains my favorite fairytale retellings. This time a year ago, I was also reading Marissa Meyer’s Renegades series. That trilogy was interesting but nowhere near as good as The Lunar Chronicles. It didn’t fill the hole I was looking to cover left from this series.
I do sometimes wish Meyer would develop the history of these future worlds more. I want to know how the countries and people of Earth got into these situations. That was something that felt noticeable lacking in the Renegades series.
Marissa Meyer is an author who I can’t wait to read more of. I have to pace myself so I can enjoy these imaginative gems when I really need an escape.
Heartless, another retelling from the Queen of Hearts perspective from Alice in Wonderland, seems like a good place to start with future reads. One the other hand her newest release, Instant Karma, seems perfect for summer! It sounds like a quirky young adult romance set in a coastal town, where one of the main characters volunteers at a sea life rescue center.
What are some of your favorite fairytale retellings? Have you read The Lunar Chronicles or anything else by Marissa Meyer?
2 responses to “A Reread of The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer”
I’ve been thinking about re-reading these lately too. I did not remember that Winter was so long! I guess I was so eager to find out what happened that it sped by!
Same! It did not seem that long the first time around. Let me know if you pick them up again!