Winter (Lunar )

Overall, I thought this was a strong end to the series. Meyer managed to give Winter her due while ensuring the other characters got their screen time, too. It's a big book, and she uses her pages well, covering the conflict with Levana and not skimping over the brutality that would inevitably follow. She also properly resolves the conflict and all our characters and relationships without tying up everything in a too neat bow. Definitely one of the better endings to a YA series I've read. So why the four stars?SPOILERS follow [Pertains to One Issue about Cinder and Kai]Okay, part of me understands why Cinder would want to make Luna a republic. However, I'm a little tired of this trend in YA where the heroine abandons or ignores her destiny/powers/what she might be capable of doing because of xyz. Only in this case, Cinder's not planning to hide in a corner and be ordinary – she'll eventually be Kai's empress. This is great, because I want the two together, but Kai keeps his empire and Cinder can't keep hers? She claims that eventually Luna might have another horrible ruler like Levana, but one of Kai's descendants could also be crazy and/or horrible using that logic. I know the situations of the two thrones/people aren't comparable, but it still seems to me a bad message that the female ruler gives up her throne, yet has no problem eventually becoming the consort of another one. I would have preferred if maybe she and Kai both tried to form republics, or better yet both try to make their reigns good and hope for a better future. I was hoping Cinder would embrace herself as the Luna queen. If she feels so awkward having people bow to her on Luna, what does she think will happen as empress? But it's okay because she won't have to make any decisions because she'll only be the consort? This literally doesn't come up until the end, so my joy was only diminished for a few pages, but it left such an uncomfortable taste in my mouth that I had to deduct a star because I felt it seriously damaged Cinder's journey over these books.My other issue is that I felt Luna as a society and people were given the shift. Yes, we know what they're capable of, have done, and with Levana as a ruler…but every society has its good and bad points. I suppose this ties into my issue with Cinder, but I would've liked to see Luna become more than it's been, for Cinder not to give up her throne because she worries her people will get brainwashed and they need more checks and balances (yet Earth doesn't – not sure what that says about Lunars and humans). I'm not sure what I wanted here, but something more.Still, I do think this was pretty satisfying ending, although I hope Sarah J. Maas doesn't pull any of this reliquish the throne with Aelin :) I've eagerly awaited this book for a LONG time, and it hasn't wavered from the amazingness :) I've come to expect of this series. I love how strong the female heroes are as characters, and the humor added in. Thorne and Iko, and the overall sarcasm never fails to make me laugh. The writing grabs me every time and I find myself unable to put the book down. Meyer has wonderful suspense and action that keeps me constantly on the edge of my seat. This is truly one of my favorite books - ever.Edit:Thoughts: I'm going to start by saying that there are a truckload of things to love about this book. The characters, the strong female protagonists, the story, the incorporated fairy tales, the romance, the writing... I could go on and on. However, there were a few things that I found that disappointed me a little... just a little. For one, Winter's character. I loved Winter, I just didn't feel her as much as I did the other three female protagonists. This was probably the only major negative I had with this book - the fact that I didn't feel connected with Winter made me feel like this book didn't follow her story nearly as much as... say, Cress and Thorne. This isn't huge, just a little problem that I felt could have been easily fixed with a few more powerful scenes. The other problem I had was that this book, due to being so long, didn't follow the story of Snow White as much as the other books did with Cinderella, or Red Riding Hood, or Rapunzel. That was a bit of a disappointment, because Snow White is one of my favorite fairy tales. Again, it wasn't huge, it just degraded my reading experience a little more.Having said all that, the multitude of things to love about this book definitely overpowered my slight issues with it, and I feel like this was a strong, meaningful, satisfying ending to the Lunar Chronicles. I'm sad to say that I was not left wanting more, because as I've said, this book was very long and took a while to get into the story. But once I was hooked, there was no putting this book down (hence the sleepy shadows under my eyes :). What I loved most, as far as characters went, was Cress and Thorne's connection. It helped build the story and I cannot begin to tell you how much I've been waiting for their happy ending together. Cinder was amazing to watch, and the action scenes, although the injuries were a little too abundant, were incredible. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the page even if I wanted to. The writing was beautiful yet simple and really connects with the reader. Meyer certainly is an expert at drawing unsuspecting readers into her brilliant stories and leaving them in suspense. I honestly could go on and on about this book, but as this is already the longest review I've ever written (besides for Brown Girl Dreaming) I'll just let you sit back (or, more likely, on the edge of your seat) and read this incredible story.​ Whew. That rant felt good :)Also see this review @ http://www.kidbookreviewer.weebly.comReviewed by an 11 year old girl I cannot believe that this series over. I am in serious denial. This may be the worst book hangover to date.This was the BEST, MOST AMAZING finale I have ever read. I am a fast reader and I tried really, REALLY hard to slow my reading down on this one. I wanted to savor every single word. But I had a problem: I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN.Even though I read Cress just a few months ago, it still took me a minute to remember how everything ended. Thorne was still blind, Kai had been "kidnapped" by Cinder and her crew, and everyone was devastated when Levana took Scarlet prisoner. And then there was Winter. If I could change one thing about this book, it would be to have more of Winter! I did not realize that her tale would basically be a retelling of Snow White and it was epic. Her guard, Jacin, grew up with her and was in love with her. There was one scene where they had this epic kiss. And I mean it when I say it was HOT. The scene itself kind of broke my heart. Winter was suffering from Lunar sickness she refused to use her gift. I loved her character as much as I loved the others. I loved seeing all the couples and all of the friendships again. This little group had the best bond that no one, even evil Queen Levana, could break.Another thing that I loved about this book was that the entire thing took place on Luna. Marissa Meyer gets an A+ with world building. I was fascinated to read about the extravagant palace and the lower class citizens in the outsectors and we learned a lot more about how Luna politics worked.The first few chapters moved a little on the slow side. Not much was happening, except that Marissa Meyer was kind of easing us back into her world and reintroducing us to all of the characters and where everyone was. But after the first few chapters, there was NONSTOP ACTION. This book was over 800 pages and I would not change a single one. Marissa Meyer did not let me breathe at all. There were so many twists and turns that I was getting whiplash. Everyone kept getting separated and then reunited and then separated again. Every single character was in mortal danger at some point (duh) and I really hoped that Meyer was not going to break my heart with one of my favorite characters. There was not just action though. There was also some romance. Can I just say that I was obsessed with Cress and Thorne? They were my favorite couple by far and I just wanted them to admit how much they loved each other. There was so much happening in this book and I was so afraid about the resolution. There were so many times when it seemed like Levana had won. But this finale had the most satisfying endings I have ever read. And the fight at the climax of the book where everything came to a boiling point was EPIC. Best fight ever.I was so sad when I finished this book because I just did not want to let go of any of these characters. Thankfully, Marissa Meyer has a short story collection with some of these characters coming out next year. I will be first in line to buy that one! In the meantime, I have to go recover from the intense roller coaster that this book put me on. I don't know where to begin. I have waited so many years for this book. And it was everything I wanted it to be and more. I'm just sad that it is over. Sniffs. But, there will be Stars Above. And it will have short stories. And an epilogue. And I am dying for it to come out. Eeek. I need this epilogue. So excited for it.Winter is so long. Over eight hundred pages. The pages are thin and the book is heavy. I love it. It looks so stunning. It took me a while to read this precious, but I don't mind. I love how long it was. I even wish it was even longer. Because it was perfection. It was everything I wanted. And it was heartbreaking. So good.How do I even talk about this book without mentioning all the spoilers.. Ahh. I am not sure. But I shall try my best. Some things you probably knows already that would happen, so I don't count that as spoiling things. I shall just talk a bit about all the things that I loved about this precious book. Which is a lot. Because this book was perfect from the very first page until the end. I loved it so, so much. Best book. I'm so happy with how good this series have been. How perfect these books are. And how much I love them all. Ack. Marissa Meyer is my favorite author. I adore her the most. And I cannot wait to read even more amazing books by her. I can't describe how much I love these books. I do think these books are my favorite series. Sigh.There is so much happening in this book. The plot is all kinds of amazing. And so much happens. And ahh. I was so nervous at all times. Because everything goes wrong with all the plans. And it was so heartbreaking to read about. Yet so amazing too, because I loved it as well. Most of this book takes place on Luna. With Cinder trying to get rid of Levana, trying to get the people to support her. It is a lot of work. And it was so interesting to read about. I loved getting to see Luna more. It seemed awesome."I have lived in fear of her my entire life," she continued. "If this is the only chance I'm given to stand against her, then I have to take it. I don't want to hide. I don't want to be afraid. And I don't want to be separated from you, ever again."I love how this book is told from a lot of different point of views. It is never once annoying. And I loved all the different voices. These characters are amazing. Getting to know Winter more was so great. She is incredible. Yet so broken too, because she does not use her Lunar gifts. So she's a bit crazy. Well, a lot of crazy. But she's still herself. And she is adorable. And I loved her so much. And I just wanted the very best for her. Ack. So much heartbreak. Anyway. I adored Winter. And every single thing about her.There was also a love interest for Winter. The very awesome Jacin. Whom we have sort of seen in all the books. Sometimes he annoyed me a little bit. But he was all kinds of swoony too. I loved how much he cared for Winter. How much he wanted to protect her. How complicated their relationship was. It was stunning to read about. They are way too adorable together. Ack. So cute. The relationship between Winter and Levana is not good. And it was so interesting to read about. Shudders. It was scary too.There is a lot of stunning relationships in this book. A lot of amazing friendships. And I loved reading about them all so much. I love how close these characters have gotten. Sniffs. And then there are all the different romances. And oh my. Those are perfection. And stunning. And swoony. And I cannot. Marissa wrote them all so well. I loved every moment. Every stolen kiss. I still ship Cinder and Kai the most. But I adore everyone. So much. Winter and Jacin are all kinds of adorable. I loved reading about them both."Jacin," she said, with a shaky smile. "You must know. I cannot remember a time when I didn't love you. I don't think such a time ever existed."I cannot tell you how much I adore all the characters in this book. Cinder and Kai are my favorites. Because they are both all kinds of amazing. I cannot explain it better than that. I just adore them the most. But I also love Scarlet and Wolf to pieces too. So much bad happens with them in this book. I cannot. Heartbreak. It wasn't fair to Wolf. And it still hurts me. Yet it was so perfect and horrifying and I loved every moment. Despite my broken heart. Wolf's story is incredible. I loved reading it the most.But I also love Thorne and Cress to pieces as well. I ship them so hard. And reading about them together is so much fun, as there is a little bit of drama there too. Loved it. They are just so cute. I loved how much Cress grew in this book. She's much more brave and awesome. I just. I adored every single character in this book. And I just don't want their stories to be over. Sniffs. I want more. I need more. The ending is amazing. And that's all I will say about it. But I want more, lol. I will always want more.I'm so happy with how much I adored this final book. I haven't been able to say much in this review of mine. Because I'm a bit speechless with how much I adored this book. Which was a lot. The book is so long. Yet I don't have much to say. Most is spoilery, lol. I just. I loved every thing about this book. I loved how much fighting there was. I was heartbroken about some deaths. I loved how everything ended. Yet I still cannot fully believe that this story is done with. Now just dying for Stars Above to come in February.I shall not say much more. I loved Winter the very most. The characters are the best. The writing is perfection. The story is heartbreaking and exciting and I loved every moment. I couldn't have asked for more in this final book. Winter was everything that I wanted it to be. The most perfect final book to a series. Also the most heartbreaking one, in a way. I loved it. So much. You must all read this book, right away. You will not regret it. I cannot wait to read this book again and again. Which I know I will do a lot. I guess I'm in the minority, but have to agree with some of the less glowing reviews here. The writing/editing of this book were just not up to par with the first 3; biggest part of the problem was the length. It was needlessly long, to the point I almost started skimming. There could have easily been 25% cut without losing anything worthwhile. Also, when I FINALLY got to the end, I didn't have that euphoric mix of both happiness and sadness when an amazing book/series is over. That said, I still liked all the characters enough to be interested and keep going. The various couples' storylines wrapped up well enough, I guess. It just wasn't even close to a 5 star book, which in my opinion: you can't put down, you think about even when you aren't reading, and you grieve for your time with it coming to a close. ~~~~~4.5 Stars~~~~~Whoooo...where to begin? Winter seemed to be a REALLY big undertaking. There were many diverging storylines with their own protagonists and antagonists. Yes, Queen Levana was a Big Bad Bully in all the books but for the most part, each installment in The Lunar Chronicles had their own problems/trials to overcome/obstacles and merit. This last installment, WINTER, was a behemoth of an undertaking. It had to incorporate each book's plotline, love interests, how they themselves related to the main characters Cinder and Levana (which was not only achieved but executed seamlessly). Winter was massive, yes, but after the first chapter the pages just flew by. There are friendships forged, friendships tested, unbelievable alliances made and the impossible was not only dared to be dreamed but actually achieved. Thankfully the saccharine sweet ending levels remained on the low side. Even with our happy endings it did not turn out to be "best case scenario" sweet for all major players. Yes, there are happy endings but no one gets away Scott free and the final battle takes its toll on each and every character involved, irrevocably changing them in ways not easily foreseen. I wanted to give this book more stars, truly I did. If for nothing more than the expert navigation of all the converging plotlines. What I found even more impressive yet was how grounded and believable the ending seemed while still managing to be Fairytale-like. I especially enjoyed the little nuances from the original tellings of the separate Fairytales being included, albeit deconstructed a bit. There were the glass viewing case for winter (suspension tube for healing) the 7 people that sacrificed for her (her 7 dwarfs) as well as true love's kiss (which I won't spoil). Cinder had a few too but none as noticeable as Emperor Kaito carrying around her old prosthetic foot to make sure it was indeed her he wished to marry. Each story carried many elements from their original tales and it was a delight finding these little easter eggs. The best part of this series is undeniably the Characters!! Mrs. Meyer can spin a yarn so full of unique, complex, beautifully-humanly faulty, and inexplicably robust characters that not only speak to each and every one of us but they SCREAM "LOOK AT ME...LOVE ME...HATE ME...BUT FEEL SOMETHING/ANYTHING!!" this quality that Mrs Meyer infuses each character with was in no way lacking for this last installment. Winter, it does not disappoint!! You're going to Love/cheer for/and get emotionally invested in your favs, detest/ scream at/ pray for the demise of the archetypical Bad Guys and even find some new favorites to love/hate..I assure you. I really enjoyed every single second I spent immersed in Marissa's fantastical world! Her re-imagininngs/ deconstructions of well worn, well loved, centuries old fables are impeccable and I highly recommend this book and more importantly each and every book in the series because Winter is GREAT but The Lunar Chronicles as a whole are AWESOME!!! While I've liked all of the books in the series, this is probably my least favorite. The book seemed twice as long as it needed to be with every plot point drug out to the last detail. Cinder was not as interesting, she seemed more two dimensional than she had. I did enjoy Winter's character and Jacin. Definitely left with an unsatisfied feeling though. There are going to be spoilers in this. Just so you know.Where to begin.It was perfect. "Kind of, you know, on a good day". Winter was one of the best books I have ever read. Marissa Meyer seamlessly weaves all of the previous books and characters into a stunning grand finale. Her representations of the characters make them feel incredibly real. Their emotions are truly tangible and raw. Meyer's talent shines through as she makes all of her characters seem relatable in some way - even Levana, which is not an easy feat. This book was so well-written that I felt the emotions of the characters with them; I cried when they cried, laughed when they laughed, and felt each and every moment, whether it be heartwrenching or happy. While there are a few small gimmicks in the book, it in no way distracts from the greatness of this book.First, I will address what few things I did not like. Another reviewer mentioned that while Cinder decides to turn Luna into a republic and give up her kingdom, Kai does not. I agree that this is slightly off, especially since she accepts Kai's invitation to eventually be his empress. Although, I understand that this was included in the book to show Kai's total acceptance of Cinder and her decisions, and his love for her anyway. I would have liked to have seen more of Cress at the end of the book, namely when she is arrested in the broadcast room of the palace. The book never explains how she got away from the guards, and in her next scene, she enters the throne room during the final showdown between Cinder and Levana. Those are the only things I did not like with this book. Now, onto the good stuff.I thought the plot was wonderful. Cinder (Selene) finally makes her way to her home, the glamorous city of Artemisia on Luna. Of course, Luna is ruled by the captivatingly cruel Queen Levana, who is going to marry Cinder's love interest, the emperor of the Eastern Commonwealth, Kai. The crew separates into groups, sometimes unwillingly, and forms some unlikely allies. The miners in Sector RM-9 and 100+ mutant wolf soldiers are a few. The book is filled with twists and turns, and will keep you hooked from the first page.The characters, as I've said, are all well developed, and Meyer skilfully uses flashbacks and memories to shape their personalities, choices, and intentions. Throughout this book, there are allusions to another time or place that deepens the story. Characters are also developed through the thoughts of others toward them. This book is written in the third person omniscient, and the ability to "hear" all the thoughts of the characters is valuable.This book taught a multitude of life lessons that were subtly laced into the pages of this book.Cinder teaches readers to never give up, no matter how ridiculous the goal. Her goal was to defeat Levana and her army of thaumaturges, wolf soldiers, and trained guards with eight people, and to recruit her own army along the way. That seems pretty near impossible, yet she did. Cinder also teaches that anyone can be anything they want. At the end of the book, Kai returns her eleven-year old cyborg foot, and she is reminded of all it symbolized to her growing up- the fear, the hopelessness, and most importantly, the idea that she was only a worthless cyborg, incapable of being who she wanted to be. Cinder never stops fighting for what is right, even when she realizes that she would prefer not to be queen. She is honorable and brave in every situation, and unwilling to ever bend to Levana's twisted will. Winter shows that you are only crazy if you let yourself believe it, and sink into despair. Wolf teaches that nothing can overpower love, no matter how fancy the high tech modifications to brain and body become. These are only a few of the things that makes Winter such a wonderful read.Winter is powerful. It is sweet and sad and lost and hopeful and beautiful all at the same time. I loved it and I recommend this book to everyone who is willing to read a story about love and sacrifice, and the bridge between them that must always be crossed. Meyer has a way of dragging out the most minute of details until the storyline is so dredged and prodding, it borderlines boring. On the other side of the coin, her characters are strong, resolute, and their personalities are wondrous to explore between chapters. The amount of suspense, however, felt more tooth-pulling. The characters practically carry all of the story on their backs alone. Long, bordering too long, but a decent read, all the same. I enjoyed it, just wish it wasn't so drawn out. Overall Series – 3.75 StarsCinder - 5 starsScarlet - 6 stars (cuz I love Wolf and Scarlet)Cress – 4.5 starsFairest - 4 creepy weird feeling starsWinter – 2.5 maybe 3 Stars✺✺✺Non – Spoiler Section of Review✺✺✺I have LOVED all of the books in the Lunar Chronicle series so much until this one. The thing is that it isn't that this book was awful, I really enjoyed about 75-80% of it and fangirl squeed for at least 20-30%. Actually the first half of the book I couldn't put it down at all. Meyer got me with all the cute couple moments, I totally live for those in stories like these (quotes in spoiler section), and I was enjoying Winter who is a little on the cray-cray side of life. She also pulled me into Cinder's journey to find her people to unite them into an army to fight for her and join her revolution. I was "YEAH, viva la resistance" right there with the characters in the book.But THEN….It began to get really repetitive. Winter is super beautiful and even though she is scarred and crazy the people love her so much. I can't even count how many times we are told how B-E-A-U-tiful and beloved Winter is. I get it fairest in the land so quit hitting me over the head with it. I actually like that Jacin would sell out anyone and everyone to be with Winter. She is the only thing he cares about and he will sacrifice anything and everything for her. Every member of the team gets separated from the group and abducted, captured, tortured in mortal peril sometimes more than once. Couples I longed to see find each other after being apart for so long find each other to have a tender moment just to be separated AGAIN. Then get into and altercation with Levana or her head thaumaturge and mind control everywhere using people like puppets against each other. There was just too much of it.We all knew going into this that Levana is un-redeemable and has to die. But IT TOOK FOREVER and just when I thought she'd done the most despicable thing ever she sinks to a new low. I have hated her since Cinder and honestly I probably would have ended up hating her more than Sadaes (from the Stormlight Archives) except fighting her just kept going and going and going like the energizer bunny. I was so done with all the mind control and using people against each other in new and horrible ways. Seriously could Iko or Cress just shoot the beast and be done with it.This book wouldn't have suffered from a little plot line reduction and about 200 pages of extra running around/abduction/mind control cut out.✺✺✺Spoiler Section of Review✺✺✺Things I Loved and Made Me *SQUEE*:Meyer like in the prior books did a great job of taking some of the events from the original fairytale and incorporating them in a new and unique way. I especially give a big bravo to how the apple and 'poison' was delivered to Winter also how the Hunter sent to kill her was re-imagined. Both of those were really fantastic *bows to Meyer's ingenuity*If you know me at all, you know that I'm a sucker for the romantic love interests. I loved ALL the couples in this and every single one of them got a great kiss scene. Some a little hotter than others. Those big emotional moments when written right are sometimes what I live for in books. Meyer did these up right and I totally swooned at a few (spoilers for the kissing moments)[***Suddenly, she felt daring. "Jacin," she said, with a shaky smile. "You must know. I cannot remember a time when I didn't love you. I don't think such a time ever existed."His eyes filled with a thousand emotions. But before he could say whatever he would say, before he could kill her, Winter grabbed the front of his shirt with both hands and kissed him.He thawed much quicker than she'd expected. Almost instantly, like he'd been waiting for this moment…***I just met them and I was waiting for it.***"I'm sorry," said Scarlet, her voice teetering with exhaustion. "It's just … I smell so awful, I can hardly stand to be around myself right now, so I can't even imagine what it's like for you and your sense of sm—"Batting her hand away, Wolf dug his fingers into Scarlet's hair and crushed his mouth against hers. Her protests died with a muffled gasp. This time, she did collapse, her legs unable to hold her a second longer. Wolf fell with her, dropping to his knees to break Scarlet's fall and cradling her body against his. He was here. He was here.****sobs* it has been so long and I missed you guys together so much *takes canned tomatoes away from Wolf****Three, four steps. The backs of her thighs hit one of the desks."What—?"In one movement, Thorne lifted her onto the desk and pressed her back against an enormous potted fern and—oh. Cress had built a thousand fantasies around their rooftop kiss, but this kiss was something new. Where before, the kiss had been gentle and protective, now there was something passionate. Determined. Cress's body dissolved into nothing but sensation. His hands burned her waist through the skirt's thin fabric. Her knees pressed against his hips, and he pulled her closer, closer, like he couldn't get her close enough. A whimper escaped her mouth, only to be swallowed by his. She heard a moan, but it could have come from either of them.***Totally HOT!!!There are other moments that are really great and I loved them. Cinder's Speech declaring herself the rightful ruler or Luna was inspiring. Scarlet and Winter's banter with one another was completely cute and I loved the way that Scarlet never coddled Winter. IKO she is totally adorable and I want to take her home with me.***He gave Cress a quick farewell embrace, then pulled Iko into a hug.Iko squeaked, frozen. When Kai pulled away, Iko looked from him, to Cinder, then back. Her eyes suddenly rolled up into her head and she collapsed onto the floor.Kai jumped back. "What happened? Did I hit her power button or something?"Frowning, Cinder took a step closer. "Iko, what are you doing?""Kai hugged me," said Iko, eyes still closed. "So I fainted."***So let's just get it straight that I LOVE all the characters and their interactions with one another. Most of my highlights and notes are from scenes like this.I also absolutely loved most of the wrap up at the end. I really wanted an epilogue of sorts but have no fear there is a compilation of Novella's set in this world coming in a few months and it will have a story with a wedding that is set a few years after the events in Winter. I'm calling it right now that the wedding couple IS…[Iko and Kenny the guard. I have no idea if that is true but I think it would be a bit awesome since Iko is a bit like Pinocchio in that she wants to be a real girl. I would totally love to see Scarlet with a little wolfling since he would be the cutest dad ever. But only a few years after and they are young so maybe that won't happen. (hide spoiler)]^^^^^Things That Made Me Drop My Head In Disappointment^^^^^This entire section is spoileryWe have four couples…and I know this isn't a book about couples but it also IS a book about couples because it is fairytales reimagined. That said the couple I love the most is Scarlet and Wolf… I love them and want them to have a pack of little Wolflings. In Cress they are torn apart and I waited forever to see them find each other again. YAY it finally happened and it was beautiful and I actually cried a tear because I was so happy. But then Wolf is captured 10% later and they are separated AGAIN….arrggggI'm upset, but I take it, because Levana genetically modifies him some more and while I'm upset for Wolf. It built this great tension. How will Scarlet ever save him and what will she do when she sees the new modifications how will they break this new spell? Except there is all this build up but then nothing pretty much he sees Scarlet and he is the same old Wolf just trying to protect her. *sigh* So my favorite couple was separated pretty much for nothing than a 'there love is deeper than his looks' thing.Every couple at some point in time was separated from the other person and thought possibly dead. It got really old and didn't serve to convey any more drama to the situation because hey I just went through that with Cress and Thorn/ Cinder and Kai or Jacin and Winter. It really lost any potency along the way.There are also a ton of extra's happening that add up to two big showdowns with Levana. One of the showdowns seemed to last over a hundred pages. I totally got bored. Try to kill Levana…she uses mind control and someone gets seriously injured. Try to kill Levana and she uses mind control and someone else gets really seriously injured….over and over and over. Also hey Levana can use mind control on us and Cinder went to fight her, maybe we should go help so Levana has another friend to mind control to use against her. Why wasn't the plan for Cinder, Cress and Iko to just shoot the bitch. I'm not even going to go into how they used her real image of her hideousness to break her spirit and her mental control.Some plot lines got way too much attention and others are sorta just thrown in there willy nilly. It comes out that Iko got some software updates from the man that went to adopt Cinder…and hey without even verifying that they are in there for sure and actually make sense Cinder announces that they are there and Earth can produce the bioelectrical protection device for the masses. As soon at the software updates were mentioned I knew what it was…but still this is just one example of extra's just thrown in and not really developed.New characters are introduced just to die one or two chapters later and while a few of the deaths hit me hard many just seemed like fodder. And some other reviewers have mentioned how it is set up a little like districts in Hunger Games so I won't delve into that farther that it was a bit Panamesk toward the end.✺✺✺Overall✺✺✺I'm just going to say that while there were a lot of unnecessary things that seemed to spin a little out of control in Winter, I'm really happy that I read the entire series and I enjoyed so many things that overall I think it is still totally worth reading. That is not the way I felt after reading Allegiant in the Divergent series or Requiem of the Delerium Series.I loved all of the re-imaginings and Easter eggs from fairytales placed throughout and there are some great couple moments without going overboard on the longing. The characters are diverse and not cookie cutter and I really liked how their stories ended/began.
Read More Here