The Lunar Chronicles + me= LOVE. I’ve enjoyed engaging in this dystopic sci-fi fantasy play on classic fairy tales, and have sought out each book by Ms. Meyers. With a beautiful blend on story-telling, humor, whimsy and a plot-driven narrative underlying fanciful characters, these are some serious fun reads. But even beyond fun, the books hold a certain backbone of truths to them: the ideas of acceptance, appreciation of oneself, understanding who you are, etc, are all common place in these (not surprising, in light of the fairy tale characters that they’re named for), but the complexity with which the idea of government, politics and character politics are presented is also interesting.
In most of the previous books of the series, the overarching threat to Earth are the Lunars, the strange beings who live on the sun, avoid cameras and are generally kind of creepy. Case in point, Queen Levana, the monarch governing this group of people. And, while the vast majority of Lunars seem to be pretty darn cool with her and her devious ways, not all are. In fact, some dislike/disagree with her so much that they’ve jumped ship, escaping the moon to return to planet Earth, despite the threats to them should they do. When a seemingly incurable epidemic sweeps Earth, killing the vast majority of people on the planet, and leaving the Lunars in a position of power–as, though the humans on Earth don’t know this–the disease sweeping Earth is actually a Lunar-made epidemic. And the point of it? To force the hand of the Earthen monarchy into agreeing to the Lunar demands.
In Fairest, we get a first-hand glimpse at Queen Levana from the inside out. To all on the outside, she’s recognized as a beautiful, mirror-phobe and the heartless ruler of Luna. That, however, is not the only issue. However, in this take on the “evil queen” character, we learn that she’s her own complex individual, too, and in many ways, just as bad–and likely worse–than expected.
What I Liked About This:
1. Ms. Meyer’s writing is rich in character development. She paints her characters as complex individuals, and perhaps none so much so as Levana. We see, in this short installment, Levana’s childhood, adolescence, the factors that impacted her and likely influenced her decision-making with the Earthens. But we also see how her mind is twisted; this is no light-hearted fairy tale story–this is pretty much as dark as it gets.
2. This addendum to the series–the next full installment is due out I believe this fall–adds a layer of complexity to the story. It’s a reminder that, yes, Levana’s the “bad guy,” but even as the “bad guy,” she’s the sum total of her life to date. This is a particularly interesting insight in light of her politicking, suggesting that perhaps more attention should be paid to the lives of people in power, rather than simply what is made readily clear.
3. Contextually in the course of the series as a whole, this is an interesting installment, providing insight on issues not otherwise clear from the main series. Questions like: what is killing everyone? How did it come to earth? Why was it developed? and the like are all addressed in it.
4. We learn about the use of glamours on Luna, one of the big questions I’ve found myself wondering along the way, as we learn more and more about the Lunar people and Levana.
What I Didn’t Love About it:
1. Levana’s a really horrible person. Period.
2. Yet I feel mildly sorry for her, and not in a you’re-an-ok-person-and-just-misunderstood way. I mean it in a gee golly, you’re a terrible person and you’ve had some bad things happen to you, but your horribleness is really self-created.
3. I felt like this book had a different tone to it. While the other books are plot-driven, with a clear story arc and development of the characters, this book felt like it began randomly and ended randomly, with a story that felt more like a retelling of events than an actual plot with an arc. Also, while the others incorporate humor and adventure aspects, this was really just a dark narrative.
4. There were some surprisingly adult/sketchy aspects to Levana and her relationship with her considerably older love interest. I don’t want to ruin the book with too many details, but I was definitely surprised to read about her relationship and the insane way in which she’s depicted as essentially taking him over. At the same time, I felt that it was almost justifiable–she’s lost her parents, dealing with being the court outcast, etc. But really, upon taking a step back? Just really disturbing.
5. Also disturbing? The rampant insecurity that leads her to make any and all of her major decisions, even when they seemingly are arrived at from non-sketchy places. And while I totally understand that insecurity is a major issue/theme for young adults, and especially in young adult literature generally, this didn’t quite work for me.
Overall:
Well, I do think if you’re into the series that it’s worth taking a peek at, as it does provide background/context information that’s worth checking out. However. It was definitely not, in my opinion, of the same caliber as the other books in the series, and was much darker than the other books were, as well. Read at your own risk/edification!
Anyone else out there pick this one up? Have a bit of a squee feeling from it?
The Alpha and the Omega: The Endless Ramblings of a YA Lit Lover 