Winter, by Marissa Meyer, is the fourth and final book in The Lunar Chronicles series. The series started with Cinder, a novel about a young mechanic/cyborg who later discovers that she is, in fact, Princess Selene of Luna. In the next two books, we meet Scarlet, a farmer's granddaughter living in France, and Cress, a hacker who has been exiled to live her life in a spaceship doing bidding for the queen and her head thamaturge. Winter brings us to Luna, where the main character is the step-daughter to Queen Levana.
Winter, the character, is a charming, if quirky, character. She is one of the few lunars who refuses to practice her "gift." She does not use her glamour and as a result she suffers from Lunar madness. This has left others to believe that Princess Winter is truly insane.
At the beginning of the novel, we find Winter, Queen Levana, and a host of other people in the throne room, where a citizen is publicly executed for a "crime" he committed against the crown. Winter is appalled by this and has a "madness" episode that prompts others to make fun of her for her illness. It should come as no surprise that the fun at Winters expense is started by her step-mother.
Throughout the novel, we discover many new things, not the least of which is that Queen Levana wants Winter dead. Without giving too much away, let me say that this book is magical. There are people taken prisoner, people escaping, revolts, death, new friendships forged, a wedding (which I still can't believe), love stories, and betrayals. The stories told throughout this novel weave together seamlessly to create an 800 plus page book that reads like it's much, much shorter.
The plot is well developed and, as with the rest of Marissa Meyer's books, I felt like I was in the story. Even with multiple points of view coming out, the whole book fit together well and I didn't want the story to end. Each character maintained their unique personalities - it was easy as always to tell each character apart, which is no easy feat considering just how many characters there are in this novel.
My only complaint about this book is that we didn't get to see as much of Winter as I would have liked. This is a book I would heartily recommend to anyone who asks - read it now. Marissa Meyer does her job with this book, and she does it well. You won't be disappointed.
