REVIEW: Fairest by Marissa Meyer

Pub. Date: January 27th 2015
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pages: 222
Readership: Young adult
Genres: sci-fi

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. 

Marissa Meyer spins yet another unforgettable tale about love and war, deceit and death. This extraordinary book includes full-color art and an excerpt from Winter, the next book in the Lunar Chronicles series.

Wow. I admit, at first I was a little pressed that Winter wasn’t going to come out until Fall 2015 instead of, well, winter. However, then the news of Fairest was released and I admit, I was intrigued. A Levana origin story… I love me a good villain origin story. I was sure that Fairest would make the wait for winter worth it. 

And it did!

I have always loved Levana in the way that I loved Maleficent and Te Red Queen: they were great, creepy, fantastic villains. They may be bad but damn, they do it so well. 

I love that we got to see Channary. I love that we got to see how Levana was more than just a product of her upbringing. It was chemical. It was both. I loved that we got more of Winter and Cinder’s upbringing and past. 

Marissa was brilliant in that she weaved in what could have potentially been difficult into Levana’s origin: understanding. Not acceptance of the horrible things that Levana was done but an understanding as to why she did what she did and why she is doing what she’s doing. That is not something that is easy to do but Marissa did it perfectly. 

She was also able to make the dislike and resentment of Levana grow more than ever before. Because Evret. Oh, poor sweet Evret the world did you wrong. I loved learning about him and seeing his life unfold, even through the bad. 

Levana became more of a monster than she ever had been and I loved it. It definitely made the wait 

for Winter worth it.

★★★★★ 

I LOVED IT 

*Thank you to Raincoast Books for providing an copy for review!!! Follow @raincoastbooks on twitter and HarperCollinsCanada on Facebook!* 

PURCHASE 

(amazon) (amazon kindle) (the book depository) (chapters/indigo)

(2 GIVEAWAYS!) Marrisa Meyer Signing in Toronto 2.24

Guys! Yesterday I attended the Marssia Meyer event in Toronto and I had a great time. I had planned to get there around 1 or 2 in the afternoon but I was able to snag an early ride and ended up there at 11am instead. So I ended up first in line. Indigo was so impressed Indigo Green Room tweeted a pic of me. Which was pretty cool.

I was pretty bored waiting around for more people to show up so I read a bit and took lots of random pictures.

At around 1 people started showing up, including my girls so I finally had some company! The event was still six hours away but the time honestly flew by. It didn't feel like I had waited for 8 hours at all.

Around 4 o'clock, Marissa showed up! I was chatting with fellow book blogger Siobhan of Coversations of a Reading Addict when she and her husband appeared seemingly out of nowhere. I had a "wait.. what... is it???? IT IS!" moment so for a few seconds I was just gaping. Oops. She brought everyone in line buttons and then she asked who was first in line and I meekly mumbled "me". (Sidenote I get really awkward around people at first. Awkward, quiet and rambly, oh boy.) Then she asked me since when so naturally I said 11 and she was shocked. THEN she handed me an ARC of Cress that had been her husbands! I had no idea what to say so I just meep'd a thanks and then she asked me if I wanted it personalized. At that point I was like "oh boy oh boy, she's talking to me! This author I admire is talking to me!!!" So of course being me I totally rambled and was all "I.. well.. I ... have one?! I do giveaway on blog!?" and she chuckled and was all "aw sweet!". So that's a thing that happened and smh, I need to work on my social skills.

I was really bummed because I was going to show her my Little Red Riding Hood tattoo that I have but I forgot in the moment. (It's not Scarlet based, but it is Grimm original tale based and I thought she would like it.) I said to myself "Ok, I'll do it at the signing!"

When there was about an hour to go before the signing, we were all moved from a line to the seats in front of the stage. Then some cosplayers showed up! I believe the Cress works for Raincoast but I'm not very sure and I didn't see anyone to ask. Anywho! The Cress was fab and the Scarlet was fab.

Right after that, the Indigo peeps played some games with the crowd to get us all warmed up. Like a dumbass, I volunteered to go up there before they told us what we would be volunteering for and I ended up having to dance in front of everyone. God I hope that doesn't end up on YouTube I am like Chandler Bing.

Finally it was time for the event to start!! Marissa was adorable as always. She opened with the story of how she was published and then she talked about fairytales and told us all the Grimm version of Rapunzel. I recorded that and the video should be uploaded to YouTube soon. I'll update the post with the link when it's ready.

As you can see, I took quite a few pictures! I got a new camera and was a bit trigger happy.

Weirdest face ever, I wasn't prepared for the pic yet so my face is half smile, half "oh what??????"

I got even more photos than this but I don't want to spam the post! And here's a cameo by Siobhan getting some books signed.

But now to the good stuff. Giveaways!! Since I do already have an Cress ARC, first up is the ONE OF A KIND ( ;) ) signed copy that was once Marissa's husband's. 

Both giveaways are INTERNATIONAL!

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And now I have signed hardcover copies of Cinder, Scarlet and Cress up for grabs!! I was a part of the wonderful Lunar Chronicles Street Team these past few months thanks to MacTeen and as a thanks, they sent me signed copies! But, as I had attended Marissa's past event in Toronto, I already have copies of each signed. I thought it wouldn't be fair or nice to hold on to and hoard these copies so I want to share them!

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