Series: Genre: Publication.Date: January 27, 2015 Pages: 256 (Kindle) Published By: Feiwel & Friends Website: Marissa Meyer Fairest on Goodreads My review copy:
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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.
(Goodreads)
Why couldn't she be anyone? Why could she be the one person she wanted to be?
Perhaps the trouble was that she could never quite figure out who that person was.
"Oh, yes, I'm sick of this one. I'm sick of all of them, actually. Nothing in my whole wardrobe fits anymore, and I kn ow it will just get worse if I end up pregnant again. It will be a full-time job for my seamstress. I've been thinking I might have her feet removed, so that she has nothing better to do." Her eyes sparkled, like it was a joke.
But Levana had seen that sparkle before. She was not so sure that Channary was joking.
The daydreams disgusted her at first - all over an innocent child, with big brown eyes and messy brown hair too frequently left uncombed - but she told herself they were just that, daydreams. There was no harm in imagining some innocent mistake that would lead to the baby dying, and the country mourning, and Levana being crowned queen, now and forever.
Over time, the fantasies became more violent.
Beginning with the funeral of her parents, we meet Levana when she is still just an insecure princess hiding behind her glamour and living under the watchful eye of her sister, Channary, who is cruel just for the sake of being cruel.
Nothing in Fairest is really a surprise. We know Levana becomes queen, marries, and her step-daughter is Winter. We know the she approves to release the disease on Earth and is holding the cure "hostage" for the right time. We know Levana is responsible for the death of Princess Selene. It's watching it all unfold in front of us that is the true story.
While Levana was never truly innocent, it's easy to see her sink deeper and deeper into her evil crazy self we all know and hate. With each hurtful word for Channary and with each moment she influences Evret into her arms she slowly looses that tiny flicker of any good she has within her. I will give her this, she does make a worthy queen - espeically if you're end game is to conquer an entire planet through deceit in a bid to have phenomenal cosmic power. (Wrong fairytale, but you catch the drift.)
Fairest is wonderful insight into what made Levana Levana, but it didn't cause me to feel any sympathy for her. If anything, I'm more excited to see Cinder and crew take her down.
Because it's going to be magical.
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