I am the worst at reviewing the final book in a series. It’s just so hard for me to do without giving too much away! In 2015 I made it a goal to finish a different series each month. This means I have a backlog of final books to review. I decided to do a set of mini reviews to highlight some of my favorites!
Ignite Me:
With Omega Point destroyed, Juliette doesn’t know if the rebels, her friends, or even Adam are alive. But that won’t keep her from trying to take down The Reestablishment once and for all. Now she must rely on Warner, the handsome commander of Sector 45. The one person she never thought she could trust. The same person who saved her life. He promises to help Juliette master her powers and save their dying world . . . but that’s not all he wants with her.
* Shatter Me * Unravel Me *
Shatter Me totally surprised me and then Unravel Me blew me away. I’m not sure why I waited so long to read Ignite Me! I think I was a bit nervous as to how it would all end. I knew it would be amazing (I just love Tahereh Mafi’s writing style!) but I just didn’t know what I wanted to happen or if I could handle it if it didn’t end in a way I could live with. I’m weird, I know! Thankfully, I need not have worried. I’m pretty amazed by how much my thoughts on different characters and events changed. I loved this book in all it’s twisty-turny glory!
Champion:
June and Day have sacrificed so much for the people of the Republic—and each other—and now their country is on the brink of a new existence. June is back in the good graces of the Republic, working within the government’s elite circles as Princeps-Elect, while Day has been assigned a high-level military position.
But neither could have predicted the circumstances that will reunite them: just when a peace treaty is imminent, a plague outbreak causes panic in the Colonies, and war threatens the Republic’s border cities. This new strain of plague is deadlier than ever, and June is the only one who knows the key to her country’s defense. But saving the lives of thousands will mean asking the one she loves to give up everything.
This was another series ender I put off reading because I wasn’t sure I could handle it. And I was kind of right! Don’t get me wrong, I super loved it. Still, some of the events broke me a little bit! There were a number of things that went down that I totally was not okay with on a personal level. However, they made so much sense in the story. These events made the whole series stronger and, in the end, made me care even more about the characters. Still, I’m pretty sure my coworkers have wanted to yell at me for choosing this series as our featured books this year! So. Many. Feels.
Manners & Mutiny:
If one must flirt…flirt with danger.
Lessons in the art of espionage aboard Mademoiselle Geraldine’s floating dirigible have become tedious without Sophronia’s sweet sootie Soap nearby. She would much rather be using her skills to thwart the dastardly Picklemen, yet her concerns about their wicked intentions are ignored, and now she’s not sure whom to trust. What does the brusque werewolf dewan know? On whose side is the ever-stylish vampire Lord Akeldama? Only one thing is certain: a large-scale plot is under way, and when it comes to fruition, Sophronia must be ready to save her friends, her school, and all of London from disaster—in decidedly dramatic fashion, of course.
* Etiquette & Espionage * Curtsies & Conspiracies * Waistcoats & Weaponry *
I love, love, love this series! I mean, steampunk! Spy school for girls! Victorian London! Vampires! Werewolves! So many amazing and fun things! Plus, the author totally deals with issues of gender and race. Seriously. It’s just amazing. And, as a series ender, Manners & Mutiny is excellent. It hit all the highs of the previous books and wrapped up loose ends while still being a story in and of itself. I cannot wait to read the other books (not YA) set in this world!
As an aside, I listened to most of these on audiobook and they are simply amazing.
Winter:
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?
* Cinder * Scarlet * Cress * Fairest *
I still don’t really know what to say about this one. I simply adore every book in this series. I love how each one introduces/focuses on new characters yet adds so much to the series arc. I have to admit, I was a little intimidated by this one. It’s long!!! I listened to parts of it and read other parts. Basically I immersed myself in this book until I was done. I was so impressed that I didn’t get bored or skim parts even once in 800+ pages! Winter does such a great job of bring all my favorite parts of the previous books together and wrapping it all up.
As an aside, I highly recommend reading Fairest first. You don’t have to but I feel like you get more out of the story if you do.
Their Fractured Light:
Gideon Marchant is an underworld hacker known as the Knave of Hearts, ready to climb and abseil his way past the best security measures on the planet to expose LRI’s atrocities. Sofia Quinn, charming con artist, can work her way into any stronghold without missing a beat. When a foiled attempt to infiltrate LRI Headquarters forces them into a fragile alliance, it’s impossible to know who’s playing whom–and whether they can ever learn to trust each other.With their lives, loves, and loyalties at stake, only by joining forces with the Icarus survivors and Avon’s protectors do they stand a chance of taking down the most powerful corporation in the galaxy—before LRI’s secrets destroy them all.
Audrey Greathouse
Wow! What a book dump! I have to admit, I’m halfway through the Lunar Chronicles series and put it down a while back…I need to pick it up again now that the end is in sight! It has been too long since I read Marissa Meyer!
Although, of course, after seeing this post, I kind of want to finish (or start) EVERYTHING. 🙂