Winter by Marissa Meyer [Joint Review!]

4 out of 5 Robots!

Winter By Marissa Meyer

Series: Lunar Chronicles #4

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Release: November 15, 2015

Paperback:  824 Pages

Publisher: Fiewel & Friends

My Copy: Library

Reviewer: Julia & Shannon

Book Summary:
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.(Courtesy of Goodreads)

Julia & Shannon - Joint Review! 

1. Winter - What did you think? 

Shannon:  Overall, I really really liked it.  This whole series has been very strong from start to finish.  It was a lot of fun.  The character are all very different, but inventive and unique.  They stick with you for awhile.  But I'm not sure this last book needed to be 800 pages.  There was a lot of stuff going on, but some of it felt like filler to the big showdown...which was a pretty easy showdown, all things considered.

Julia: WINTER is a great story and a fantastic end to a super fun, adventurous series. I did feel like this book is a little longer than necessary, but it is still awesome. So much fun! Going to miss these characters!  

2. Let's talk characters and couples. Is your favorite couple different from your favorite character?

Shannon:  My favorite couple was Scarlet and Wolf.  They felt the most "real" to me, the most "earned".  But I, in general, liked all the couples.  I like Cress and Thorne better in the previous book when it was more focused on them...this time around their romance felt a little squeezed in.  Cinder and Kai were a forgone conclusion from the start, so I liked to see that progression.  And while I liked Jacin and Winter, I felt the least from them.  Probably because I couldn't get a good feel for either.  I think Winter and Thorne are my favorite characters overall.  They bring a lot of humor and interest to the story.  You never really know what they are going to do.

Julia: I enjoyed all the couples, but couldn't stand the Cress and Thorne sappy stuff towards the end of the book. It didn't feel legit... I don't know. But Thorne is probably my favorite character in the entire series. SO yeah my favorite couple is also Wolfe and Scarlet. They're the only ones that made sense to me, felt like I could understand their relationship and saw it "grow." Everyone else was kinda like, instalove? I don't know. 

3. How did you feel about the romances? Did all those romances detract from the storytelling? 

Shannon:  On one hand, I like the romances.  I do.  I liked the swept away feeling and seeing the couples finally come together.  But, I can't deny that it was a lot to work out in the last book.  I think the problem was this: we have 4 couple and only one (Scarlet and Wolf) are established.  But Scarlet and Wolf spend most of the book apart.  Then we have three other couples in varying states of coupledom.  Kai and Cinder are together, as much as they can be...which is not much.  Cress and Thorne are still dancing around their kiss from the previous book and Jacin and Winter have a forbidden romance that is so forbidden that there isn't one for much of the book.  Like I said, that is a lot to work out and still deal with the rest of the plot.

Julia: Don't get me wrong, I enjoy romances, but these overpowered the story sometimes. I didn't need all that. I wanted action (of the fighting kind) and plot twists. Mostly the only couple that distracted from the story and was a little like, really? Now? Could have been Cress/Thorne because stuff goes down with them near the end. There were just too many all at once all apart of the same crew. I loved Jacin and Winter and Wolf/Scarlet. 

4. The plot work for you? What about compared to the previous stories?

Shannon:   Yes, I think so.  I'm pretty satisfied for the most part.  I have a few small quibbles, but that's it.  I think the biggest thing was for all the lead up to the ending, it felt a little easy.  No big sacrifices, only a couple fingers.  I think Scarlet was my favorite out of the four books, and the strongest one too.  But I would definitely recommend this series!

Julia: Yes! Though there are a few things that distracted me from it a bit, I loved the plot itself. And I loved all the character lives intertwining. 

5. That conclusion... 

Shannon: It was a definitely a "Happily Ever After", which is fine and good.  At least it didn't rip my heart out like a Sarah J. Maas book.

Julia: I liked the showdown, the happily ever after is great. This is a fairy tale retelling, after all. Do wish there was a little more sacrifice, I'm satisfied though!

6. Rating? Recommending? Will we read the novellas?

Shannon: I give it 4.5 stars and I would definitely recommend it.  We read Fairest and it was actually really good.  I generally don't like reading novellas, but I will probably read the new one that comes out.

Julia: I give it a 4 out of 5 stars. I highly recommend reading this book and all the other ones in this series. You won't regret it! I don't usually give novellas the time of day, but I miss this world and characters so much that I'm definitely reading the novellas. 

The Lunar Chronicles in the order they should be read:

0.1 Fairest

0.2 Glitches

0.3 The Little Android

1.0 Cinder - Our Review

1.5 The Queen's Army

2.0 Scarlet - Our Review

3.0 Cress - Our Review

3.1 Carswell's Guide to Being Lucky

3.5 The Princess & The Guard

4.0 Winter