Meisha and I are back with the book discussion for Cress, book two of The Lunar Chronicles series. We had previously Cinder and Scarlet, and as we finish up this wonderful series, we are on the lookout for what we will read next. Cress was a stressful-packed-with-tension follow up to Scarlet and, like the other books in the series so far, we could not put it down. Take a look at the synopsis below before we dive into the discussion.
In this third book in the Lunar Chronicles, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army.
Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl imprisoned on a satellite since childhood who’s only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.
When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a higher price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.
Content Notes: Depictions of torture, death, blindness, losing a child.
Cress
The Reading Discussion
Of all The Lunar Chronicles so far, Cress is my favorite and going from Scarlet into it made a lot of sense. What did you think of the book as we continue the journey, Meisha?
I wholeheartedly agree. With each book, I like the next one even better than the previous one. Scarlet, herself, is still my favorite character, but Cress as a book is now my new favorite!
I love Scarlet! I think of all the fairy-tale inspired characters so far, she has a certain spunk. That’s not to say that Cinder’s heroism and Cress’ intelligence are not making them well rounded characters, but Scarlet has something special. I am having a hard time with words haha.
I think part of her appeal for me is that she is very different from myself. I probably am most similar to Cress (shy, nervous with attention, hasn’t really gone out of her bubble), but I’m always most drawn to characters that have traits I want. In this case, Scarlet is tough, spunky, and compassionate, all at once! Cress broke my heart though in terms of what happens to Scarlet. I think she had it worse than anyone! I would almost say Thorne had it worse, but it seems like his situation might be changing.
Yes, I agree. I had not imagined her to be put into such a rough situation, and something that isn’t completely resolved by the end of the book. I think that’s where we feel things will get better for Thorne because with him, we know how it ends up being. There is no uncertainty there.
I think Cinder developed a lot as a character Cress. She finally had full context to what was going on, her history and her choices along with a supportive group of people, she finally had the time to figure out what she wants to do. I am glad that she and Kai had some honest conversations even though it was quite dangerous to make that happen!
I am so, so glad they finally got their act together. The far-away pining was killing me! Now we have to see what happens with poor Cress’ pining… I want to knock her and Thorne’s heads together. I was beginning to think that Scarlet and Wolf were the ones who could actually make a decision!
Yes, that was hard to watch.
The hint we get at the end of Cress about the queen’s stepdaughter, Winter, has me so intrigued for her book next. She seems completely different from Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, which continues to make me amazed at Meyer’s ability to craft unique, distinct characters.
Yes, I am excited to meet Winter and learn more about her and Luna. She doesn’t exactly come across as a sane person in what we read in Cress. What happened to her? The glimpses for Snow White are already there with her being the stepdaughter and with a mark on her face (wasn’t it a bear in the original story?).
Ahhhhh, that explains the mark. I’m probably the least familiar with the original version of Snow White out of all the fairytales. Most of my fairytale knowledge comes from the musical Into the Woods and out of the four ladies we have in this series, Snow White is the only one not in the musical LOL.
That’s hilarious. Most of my knowledge of the stories comes from watching Once Upon A Time. And I know they made interesting connections, beyond the originals but I am heavily influenced by what I remember of the characters there.
I did think it was really interesting that she’s already losing her mind from not using her Lunar gift. Dr. Erland probably went almost the same amount of time without using his regularly, and he seemed in a much better state of mind. Though he did use his occasionally still, and it seems like Winter stopped cold-turkey.
Yes, and I am also curious how not using the Lunar gift and stopping it surgically have such distinct effects. Cinder did not use her gift for the longest time and she seems fine. I wonder if she ever stops using it for some reason, if she will be in the same state as Winter. Could the stopping device build some immunity? (I’m just throwing out ideas!)
That’s a really good question. My best guess is that her brain doesn’t know she can do anything at all whereas Winter’s brain is just being overloaded with unused bioelectrical energy. But I would like to see that better explained in Winter.
Switching gears slightly, I spent the whole novel (Cress) wondering if Thorne had really done all those crimes for good reasons or not. When Cress was describing all the good reasons he’d had, I was like, oh, yes, he’s secretly the best guy ever! But then he shot all those excuses down. I thought maybe he was just trying to keep her at arms’ length and make himself seem bad, but no, it genuinely seemed that he was a not-so-great guy who is trying to reform himself now. I’ll tell you… that whole thing took me on a rollercoaster, trying to figure him out! What did you think of his development in this book?
I think he is learning and maybe Cinder and Iko are having a good effect on him haha. Also, spending time with Cress and protecting her while he is trying to figure out a way back has helped mature him a bit too. It is so evident that he likes her and I am glad that turns out well. Dr Erland’s encounter with him was hilarious though when it came to Cress and how protective he felt for her.
I LOVE that he got Iko an android body she wanted. That was one of my favorite parts of the book. The friendship between Cinder and Iko is also one of my favorite parts of the entire series, so getting more of the two of them conspiring together was icing on the cake. I really hope Iko gets a happy ending in Winter as well.
Me too! 🙂 I love Iko and it was nice to see her in independent action in Cress!
One last thing I’ll add is learning more about Letumosis and its connection to Luna. So much history of the world is being revealed – it’s been so much fun to be on this ride!
Figuring out more about the disease has me on the edge of my seat. And the real-world comparisons right now make the whole thing extra creepy!
Overall, Cress was another wonderful buddy read. It introduced an intelligent young girl who has been stuck in a satellite for too long. Cress’ journey and development were beautifully written and it was impossible not to like her.
** Cress is available in stores along with the rest of The Lunar Chronicles series and short story collections. I am sure you will be able to find them at your local library too. **
Amazon Print
Amazon Kindle
Photo by David McCumskay on Unsplash
I really enjoyed reading your back and forth discussion!
Thank you 🙂 I find them more fun to do than normal book reviews. 😀
For sure!