So Fairest, where do I start? Well, first and foremost Fairest is the fourth book in the Lunar chronicles. Also, fans of the series are called the Lunartics. This story is all about Levanna and why she turned out to be the “evil queen/stepmother” she is today. So when we flip the pages at the very first part we read about her dream featuring her older sister, Channary. The timeline of this dream is when she is already a queen. Anyways, moving on. The story was amazingly wholesome. I have never loved an evil main character as ever before. Chill anyways… I do have to say that Marissa Meyer is an amazing and talented writer. Anyways, lets go serious. Fairest is a bonus book in The Lunar Chronicles, specifically #3.5, and was released just before Winter, the grand finale. I have yet to read Winter but wanted to whet my appetite with this short novel, a backstory on Queen Levana – the series’ nemesis. The Lunar Chronicles is a young adult science-fiction series and a retelling of several fairy tales; it also includes a very specific Stars Wars character clone.In Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress we’re regaled with three different fairytale-inspired women who come together against all odds in a futuristic empire of androids, robots, inter-planetary politics, and war. Cinder is based on Cinderella, but in this story she’s an android, half human and half robot. She left her whole robotic leg on the palace steps after running from the royal ball. Scarlet is based on Red Riding Hood, and there’s a genetically engineered wolf-boy out there who has turned against the evil queen to pursue his love interest. Cress is based on Rapunzel and for years she was trapped inside an orbiting satellite, forced to work as a hacker spy for the evil queen, until a Han Solo-type rescues her in his mighty ship.In Fairest, Marissa Meyer creates the story of Queen Levana in an ingenious way. It’s hard to hate her – she is that pitiful, but only at first. Queen Levana emerges as a diffident young princess but rises to become a completely unexpected juggernaut.The Lunars were originally colonists on the moon but something in the atmosphere gave them unearthly powers over time. They have the paranormal ability to cloak themselves in beautiful apparitions with perfect skin, hair, and facial attributes – changeable at will. The most powerful Lunars can also exert mental influence over their subjects. Those who are not born with the powers of ‘glamour’ are immediately taken for testing and extermination.Because this glamour does not work on cameras or mirrors, Queen Levana forbids both in her presence. But this only pertains to her on a personal level. In Fairest we find out why. The reader also finds out why she tried to have Princess Selene killed (the daughter of her older sister), the details of her climb to power and her rule, about the disease ravaging Earth, and why ‘shells’ – those born without power the power of glamour – are destroyed. Queen Levana exhibits more cunning than cruelty, more acts of kindness when she could have been deadly, and above all wishes to protect her world and with that priority, she makes major sacrifices. As a royal child she was coddled in luxury, but lacked the empathy normally provided by interpersonal relationships, connections she never experienced. Because of this, she makes enormous mistakes – but ones that sometimes endear the reader because of the pity they create. On the other hand, Queen Levana knowingly commits several unforgivable atrocities such as mass murder, and no matter how much pity you feel for this character, there is no room for absolution.
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