Review: Fairest by Marissa Meyer || END OF THE MASSIVE HIATUS

In this stunning bridge book between Cress and Winter in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles, Queen Levana’s story is finally told.

Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is the fairest of them all?

Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story – a story that has never been told . . . until now. 

The best villains are the ones you understand.

Before reading Fairest, Queen Levana was just another villain. Sure, she was fearsome, twisted, and powerful. But she had little to no character development or backstory (even though she's SUPER intriguing). I could never think of her as a vulnerable young girl, lonely and terrified, but in Fairest, that is exactly what she is, and that makes it worse (or better. it depends) because you feel sympathetic towards her. Seeing her change into the person she becomes is a slow and painful process.

This is where I take a moment to applaud Marissa Meyer because A) she took the time to write this amazing book and B) she is incredibly skilled. 

Keep in my mind that this is the person who wrote Cinder and Scarlet and Cress. Cress. Innocent, vulnerable Cress. And now she has written an actual psychopath and it's just-- *flails*

This book felt so raw and powerful! Each sentence packed a punch, and even though I wanted to hate Levana with everything in me, I couldn't, because in the end I really just pitied her-- twisted mind and all.  

However, understanding why she does horrible things (and questioning yourself because really, how can you understand such horrifying actions?) is not the worst (or best-- again, it depends) part. 

The worst part is seeing Levana talk herself out of feeling guilty each time, because she deserves the good she is going to get/has. The worst part is that the entire time, she just wants to be loved, and she has no idea that what she is doing is not loving or caring. It's obsession and cruelty and torture. 

Fairest lasts over a long period of time. It starts when Levana is 15 years old, with a crush on a guard that she's had for 7 years-- ever since the first time she's seen him. She's lonely. She's scared. But she's hopeful that this person who has shown her kindness can care for her. Love her. Pretty soon, she's convinced herself that he does love her. Despite the fact that he's only feeling sympathy for her, and wanting to be her friend because he sees her loneliness. I'm pretty sure this wins biggest misunderstanding of the year. Or decade.

And even though I just talked about how epically this was written, I'm going to say it again. IT WAS GLORIOUS IN PRETTY MUCH THE MOST AWFUL OF WAYS. 

Also, I'm baaack! Finally. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to keep a steady stream of posts coming, but there will be (hopefully) at least one post per week. It's not much, but I'm just aiming for some structure here.