The Lunar Chronicles

**potential spoilers ahead**

The Lunar Chronicles, written by Marissa Meyer, is a series that I have been re-reading lately. Before the summary, there is some basic information that one has to know. In this story, people are able to live on the moon and these people are called Lunars and they possess a special ability called glamour which allows them to alter the bio electricity of those around them to make them see something that is not actually there (similar to an illusion). However, some Lunars are born without this skill and are deemed as shells or useless. Shells are often sent away from their families to be killed or become slaves. There is also a deadly plague called letumosis that is known to only affect Earthans. It is later revealed that letumosis was created by the Lunars to weaken Earth so that the Lunars could take it over and that the cure for letumosis was in the blood of the shells. 

The story follows a young girl called Cinder, a cyborg (half machine, half human) as she starts a rebellion against the evil Lunar queen, Levana, deals with her wicked stepmother, and struggles with her feelings for a handsome prince, Kai. As her story unfolds, Cinder forms an alliance with Scarlet, a pilot who wants to uncover the secret of her dead grandmother - with her lover, Wolf, a biologically engineered man that has the abilities of a wolf; Cress, a talented and romance-obsessed hacker who is trapped by the Lunar, and finally, Winter, the stepdaughter of Queen Levana who is in love with her guard and is mocked by the royal court. This ragtag team of teenage girls alongside some other characters must save the world from Queen Levana's horrendous plans before it is too late. 

In my opinion, I thought The Lunar Chronicles was a well-written series with a good pacing and lots of interesting action. Marissa Meyer is an author that I personally like a lot (I would recommend reading some of her other books like Heartless) and like many of her other books, this series was something I enjoyed. Marissa Meyer tends to write a lot of books in the genre of twisted fairy tales and The Lunar Chronicles was no exception. Each character was based off a well-known fairy-tale character (i.e. Cinder represented Cinderella while Scarlet was Red Riding Hood) and Marissa Meyer changed each character to match the plot of the story. While comparing the characters to the original fairy-tale persons, the story became a lot more interesting when I was reading it. 

The romance in this series was also quite satisfying. Unlike other books that I have read before, the romance in The Lunar Chronicles was neither overwhelming or lacking. There were a total of four couples that the plot followed and each one faced its own hardships. For example, Scarlet and Wolf's pairing is one of my personal favorites. Each of them had headstrong personalities which made the dynamic between the two both frustrating and amusing to read. However, this team was split up when Scarlet was captured and imprisoned on Lunar, leaving both her and Wolf tortured by the absence their significant other. The author did a good job of making the relationships sweet but also adding a hint of sadness so that it would not be too cliche. 

Overall, I would recommend this series to anyone who likes science fiction that is intertwined with hints of mystery, action, and romance. 

Sarah Guo