AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4)

Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4), by Marissa Meyer
Publish Date: November 10, 2015
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Format: audiobook, purchased
Genre: young adult fantasy/sci-fi romance
To Buy: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Rating: 5 STARS

(Synopsis) Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.

Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend—the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.

Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters?

ALL THE STARS. This book gets all the stars. I don't even think I can tell you how much I loved it in this review. What I can tell you is that Winter was the perfect ending to this sweeping epic tale of love and loss and friendships that will last forever. 

It's impossible to recap everything that happened in this 827-page book. Where things left off at the end of Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3) was with Cinder and all her friends trying to piece together a plan to get to Luna and reclaim the throne for Selene, effectively putting an end to Levana's tyranny. 

With the first three books in this series taking place on Earth, it was so awesome to finally shift the story to Luna. Marissa Meyer paints the moon with a bright and colorful brush. They way she describes the different sectors and how they're organized into industries and how their domes protect them from the atmosphere - it was wondrous and intriguing and so perfectly described. 

Except for a few chapters that were set on Thorne's Rampian spaceship, the entire story is set on Luna. But, from nearly the beginning, the group is split up into different groups, both by choice and by accident. They each have different roles to play in their revolution as they try and rally the beaten down Lunars to their cause. 

Of course, things do not go smoothly. For any of them. There was a part of the book, about 40% in, where it seemed like nothing was going right for anyone, and I had absolutely no idea how any of them would make it out of their various predicaments alive. To quote Tom Hanks in A League of Their Own, "It's the hard that makes it great." The way all the characters dig deep inside themselves to find those unique characteristics to pull them through their trials was so awesome. 

Winter was big on emotion. There was a TON of it - of all sorts. I laughed a lot - mostly at the things that came out of Carswell Thorne's mouth. I shed a few tears. It wasn't hard to do since there were times when things looked really bleak for our heroes. 

And, of course, I swooned. Oh, there was so much swooning. Each of our four couples - Cinder and Kai, Scarlet and Wolf, Cress and Thorne and Winter and Jacin - have these moments where the events swirling around them stop and they have a chance to profess their love for one another. OMG, I loved those parts so much. 

As you might expect from the title, there is a lot of focus on Princess Winter and how she is dealing with the sickness that is a result of her choosing to not use her mind control powers on other people. Her choice to be a good, honest person when everyone else around her is not comes with serious consequences, and she takes them all on. She was amazing, and her relationship with Jacin is both complicated and sweet. 

But, the big event - THE event - is Cinder's revolution. There is a crazy amount of action in Winter. There are little skirmishes that take place between various groups of people throughout the book, but the big battle at the end for all the marbles was everything it needed to be. It was hard. It was deadly. It was nail biting. And not everyone made it through unscathed. In a word - it. Was. PERFECT.

In Winter, you will love. It's impossible not to with heroic hotties Kai, Wolf, Thorne and Jacin taking center stage. In Winter you will hate. You will hate BIG TIME because Levana is one of the evilest villains I have ever encountered in any book ever. In Winter you will be proud. Because Cinder is the best heroine ever. She doesn't always do the right thing, and she admits she's scared and doesn't know if she can be who she needs to be. But, her heart is ALWAYS in the right place. And her heart is big. I promise you will never regret having read Winter.

About the Audio Version
Rebecca Soler should read all books everywhere forever. Hands down, she is my favorite narrator. I can imagine that Winter was a difficult project for her to undertake. First of all, it's hella long. At just over 24 hours in length, it's the longest audio book I've ever tackled. And, secondly, there are so many characters! Besides the eight main heroes, there was also Levana, her right hand man Amery, Cinder's bestie Iko, Kai's advisor Torin, several Earthen delegates (from Australia, the UK, Texas and Africa), and scores of other minor side characters. And, somehow, Rebecca Soler gave them all a unique voice. How does she do that?!

I never got tired of listening to this book. I was constantly looking for extra opportunities to sneak in a chapter. It was incredibly entertaining and masterfully produced. I do own Winter in hardback. But, I chose to purchase the audio version and listen to that instead, as I have all the other books in this series. I've just enjoyed the audio versions so much - I'm sad to see it all ending. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for Rebecca Soler's other narrations, though. 

AUDIOBOOK NARRATOR INTERVIEW & GIVEAWAY: Rebecca Soler

Today is an exciting day for me. You’ve all read my ridiculous fan-girling over The Lunar Chronicles series and how much I absolutely adore the audio versions of these books. I am thrilled to have had the opportunity to interview the narrator of Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and other books – Rebecca Soler.

Rebecca, thank you so much for taking time out of your insanely busy schedule to talk with me!

1.    How did you make the jump from acting on stage to narrating audiobooks?
I am really lucky that I’ve been able to do a lot of animation voice over work in addition to my stage work.  This was key to helping me transition into narration.  For both you create silly voices, but with narration you do ALL the voices.

2.    Was the adjustment difficult?
Sitting in a booth on the first day and reading “Chapter 1” knowing you will not finish speaking until every word is accurately brought to life, sometimes 4 days later, can be daunting.  The more and more I narrate the better I have gotten at trusting my pace, relaxing my mind and giving over to the authors’ worlds.

3.    How do you prepare for the narration of a book? How many times do you read the book before actually recording it?   
WARNING LONG ANSWER! I generally read the entire book twice and the section I am reading the next day once more the night before. During my first read through I take notes of every character that is mentioned and speaks, mining for personality traits, relationships and the author’s descriptions.  Sort of like one big org chart or who’s who.  After that first read, I start mapping out which voices are going to be for which character and begin taking notes in the book’s margins, highlighting characters by color.  I also write in performance guides to myself throughout, especially before dialogue.  If the line was “I told you no!” she hissed.  I’ll write “hiss” to the left of the line.  Also I write things like “Pace” or “Nervous rambling” or “Sarcastic”.  Just little reminders to myself of how I want to attack a certain section.

4.    Cress is over 15-and-a-half hours long in its audio format and 560 pages in its hardcover format. How long does it take to complete the process of recording an audiobook of this size?
Cress took 4 fun-filled-caffeine-fueled days to record!

5.    Do you read directly from the book, or do you have a script that is provided instead?
I get sent a PDF of the book and upload it to my iPad.  I make all my notes in an app called iAnnotate.  This has made my job so easy.  I have a huge variety of colors and text format options. I can also record sound clips of voices I want to use and reference them in the booth – Which is CRITICAL when attacking a Marissa Meyer book since she introduces so many characters and worlds.  I got to meet her in DC a couple of weeks ago during her book tour (squealing ensued).  That evening I read an excerpt from Cress and showed her my script.  I joked that with her books I run out of color options!  (BTW, Cinder is orange, Scarlet is red, Cress is yellow, Kai is blue, Wolf is underlined in red, and the charming Thorne is grey.  IKO is pink – OBVI.)

6.    In the Lunar Chronicles series, you use many different dialects (southern-American, French, German, African, Australian, English, evil-queen-ese), as well as female, male and robotic inflections. Is it difficult for you to switch back and forth so frequently? Does it ever get confusing?
I LOVE getting to do so many accents and dialects.  It actually makes me feel freer to play.  I have more options when voicing characters that I wouldn’t traditionally be cast as in the real world: men, the Queen of England, a Chinese Prime Minister.  Plus it takes me back to my animation roots. 

7.    Do you have certain genres that you prefer to narrate?
I love fiction in any genre, but the fact that I get to narrate my guilty pleasure YA fiction is just the best job a girl could have!

8.    Do you listen to audiobooks for fun? Do you gain inspiration from listening to other books, or do you find yourself critiquing them?
I like listening to audio books during road trips.  Sadly living in Manhattan, I don’t get to drive that often.  I tend to walk a lot and take the subway (where I always have a book in hand).  However if you want to be BLOWN AWAY by someone who can narrate a million different characters with ungodly specificity, listen to Marc Thompson narrate the Star Wars series.  He is so inspirational.

9.    Do you read regular books? What are you reading right now? Do you find yourself doing the voices and such in your head while you read?
I am a voracious reader. You can see the glow from my iPad late into the night because I have to read “just one more chapter.”  If you don’t like to read, then you should never try narration.  You have to really love and respect the written word to read a book 3-4x and speak for 5-7 hours a day.  I am such a fangirl when it comes to writers.  Recently I finished The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt and Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter.  Both were wonderful.

10.    Can we expect to hear your voice on the audio version of Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4)? What projects are you currently working on?
Yes! The best part about my job is that I will get to read Winter before anyone else!!!  (dodges a punch) I can’t wait to get my hot little hands on it! This week I just finished narrating a stunning book called “Troika” by Adam Pelzman.  It is a complete departure from the Lunar Chronicles.  It is a riveting and at times heartbreaking modern love story that intersects the lives of a Cuban stripper, a Siberian Businessman and his paralyzed Upper East Side wife.

Rebecca, thank you again for satisfying my curiosity and telling us all about how the audiobook recording process works. I, personally, can’t wait to listen to other books recorded by you. I wish you nothing but the best of luck in all your future endeavors.

Thank YOU for being interested in my world.  It is so thrilling to know that people like the audiobooks.  Of course I feel like Marissa’s books are so good they do all the work.  Marissa has created such a dynamic and rich world for me to play in.  I am forever grateful to her and continue to pinch myself that I get to voice a series I would be devouring as a fan anyway.  This time I am getting paid to read into the wee hours of morning by iPad light…

Keep scrolling to enter a giveaway for Cress in audio format AND any book in the Lunar Chronicles series in hard copy format. Then, read my 5-million-star review of CRESS here. It's a good one!

About the Narrator

Rebecca grew up in Boston (go Patriots) and credits her mom for enforcing the pronunciation of the letter R at the end of her words. In high school she moved to Sugar Land, TX and met her best friend/future husband while in a riveting production of “Once on this Island”.

Rebecca spends much of her time in a recording booth convincing you to buy stuff, making silly voices and narrating YA novels. Consequently she is an expert in unrequited love, the supernatural, frozen yoghurt, household cleaning products and supernatural teens who eat froyo while cleaning.

She gave up running marathons but trains 4x a week with her ex-marine boot camp instructors...because she WON’T give up cheese.

Learn more about Rebecca --> Website / Twitter

About the Author

CINDER is my first novel, though I have an adorable collection of unfinished ones lying around too.

I now live with my husband and our three cats (Calexandria Josephine, Stormus Enormous, and Blackland Rockwell III), who go in and out, in and out, about eight hundred times a day. My favorite non-bookish things include Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, re-watching episodes of Firefly, and playing all manners of dress-up.

Learn more about Marissa --> Website / Twitter / Facebook

Giveaway

Because I love the audio version of The Lunar Chronicles series so much, and because the fine folks at Macmillian are so very, very generous, I have Cress in audio format (13-CD set) for one lucky winner in the US or Canada. *squeal!* I can't wait for you to experience Rebecca Soler for yourself!

For one international winner, you can pick one of the books in The Lunar Chronicles series, and I'll send it to you from The Book Depository.

So, what are you waiting for? You know what to do!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

REVIEW: Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3)

Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3), by Marissa Meyer
Published February 4, 2014
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Format: audiobook, purchased
Genre:  young adult sci-fi/fantasy
To Buy: Amazon * Barnes & Noble
 
Rating:  5 STARS

(From Goodreads) Rapunzel’s tower is a satellite. She can’t let down her hair—or her guard.

In this third book in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army.

Their best hope lies with Cress, who has been trapped on a satellite since childhood with only 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 goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing stop her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only ones who can.

Can I give Cress 5 MILLION stars? I mean, why not? It's my blog, right? Well, if I were to break my own rules for one book, this would be the one that would make it worth it. I have to tell you, I have never been as captivated by a book series as I am with The Lunar Chronicles. 

Cinder and her band of merry men... and women... and androids have devised a plan to bring the evil Queen Levana down, but to make it work, they need the help of Cress, the lunar shell imprisoned on a satellite by herself. When things go horribly wrong in their rescue attempt, Cress and Thorne have to work together to survive the brutal desert, Cinder and Wolf have to overcome grief and frustration to find the help they need to get back on track, and Scarlet has to fight for her life. Meanwhile. Kai is struggling more than ever before as his wedding day draws near. 

Marissa Meyer's mastery of this incredible story arc continues to amaze me. We are now three books deep in a four-book series - books that have each cleared 500-pages - and, a lot has happened. One would think that with better than 1,600 pages of story and POVs from more than a half-dozen characters that the reader would be confused most of the time. 

Confusion is definitely not something that I'm experiencing. The genius of this story about a cyborg girl who needs to inherit an entire world in order to save another one is astounding. That concept in and of itself is something I would read. But, when you factor in the fractured fairy tale elements from Cinderella, The Little Red Riding Hood and now, Rapunzel, it adds a whole new layer of awesome for the reader to absorb.

Cress is a fantastic character. She's been sheltered her entire life, so her only experiences are limited to what she watched on TV. She's very shy and meek. And, yet, when she is faced with a deadly situation - being stranded in the desert with no shoes and limited water, her strength bubbles to the surface, and you find it is impossible to not only love her but respect her response to the adversity placed before her. 

Captain Thorne - *sigh*. What a character you developed into in Cress. Whereas, in Scarlet, when we first met him, Thorne was painted as a superficial womanizer with little to no redeeming qualities. Cress took us beyond that mask, and the Thorne underneath it is most definitely someone to swoon at. His connection with Cress was adorable at first, and endearing and impressive later. I love Thorne HARD. 

Of course there was a lot of perspective from Cinder as things are heating up for her in her attempts to stop Kai's wedding, thwart Levana's attempts to take over Earth, and reveal her true identity to the people of Luna. All in a day's work for a simple cyborg mechanic, right? Thankfully - THANKFULLY - in Cress, she gets some help from Kai. They finally share some screen time, and oh how sweet that was. 

Once again, I opted to listen to the audio version of Cress, instead of reading the hard copy book. The narrator, Rebecca Soler, once again delivers a stunning performance. I think at least part of my infatuation with The Lunar Chronicles series has to do with her masterful delivery of all the characters. Even if you've already read the books, I recommend you listen the audio version - I think you'll gain a whole new appreciation for the series.

Cress has everything you could possibly want in a book. There's action, mystery, twists, turns, surprises, and epic love. The wait for Winter in early 2015 will be absolutely agonizing. But, that also means that I will have time to re-read the first three installments of this series a few more times. 

REVIEW: Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2)

Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2), by Marissa Meyer
Published February 5, 2013
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Format: audiobook, purchased
Genre:  young adult sci-fi/fantasy
To Buy: Amazon * Barnes & Noble

Rating:  5 STARS

(From Goodreads) Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She's trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.

I am in love. In love with Kai. With Wolf. With Thorne. And especially with Marissa Meyer and this absolutely incredible series she's created.

Scarlet Benoit's grandmother has been kidnapped. With the help of a shady character named Wolf, Scarlet sets out across France to try and find her. Meanwhile Cinder is on the run from both the Earthen Union and the Lunars with the help of another fugitive, the charismatic Captain Thorne. She decides to seek out Michelle Benoit (otherwise known as Scarlet's grandma - see where this is going?), a former European military, and hopefully someone who has the answers she desperately needs about her past. Scarlet's and Cinder's paths are destined to cross as they search for the same person.

First and foremost, I am astounded and delighted at the amazingly creative way that Marissa Meyer bridged the gap between the stories of Cinder and Scarlet. Scarlet is told in third-person, so it's relatively easy to shift from one person's POV to another's. During the course of the book, we get SIX different POVs - Scarlet, Wolf, Cinder, Kai, Thorne and Levana. Crazy, right? Wrong. I don't know how she does it, but Marissa Meyer worked those POVs in seamlessly so that it never crossed my mind that I should be confused or distracted.

And, honestly, it kept things really interesting when the story shifted from Scarlet and Wolf on the ground to Cinder and Thorne in the sky. We never had time to get bored or bogged down in any one character's story or setting. There is so much action and intrigue in Scarlet that the book is never slow and never stalled.

Scarlet and Wolf are new characters on the scene. Eighteen-year-old Scarlet is one tough cookie. She loves her grandma and is determined to get her back from those who took her. She meets Wolf, a hottie with genetically-enhanced wolf-like abilities, is instantly attracted to him, but then finds out he had a hand in the plot to kidnap her grandma. Now Scarlet is confused - should she trust him when he says he wants to help her, or should she drop him like a bad habit and make a go of the rescue plan by herself? You always get the sense that something is going on with Wolf that you don't know about. I loved being confused about his motives and background. Wolf was anything but predictable.

Meanwhile, Cinder and Thorne are hiding from everyone. Levana issues a mandate that Cinder is to be captured and brought in or she will attack Earth. Kai is stuck between a rock and a hard place. He doesn't want a war, but he is sort of glad Cinder busted out and is safe. He doesn't know who to trust either, but he knows for sure he doesn't trust Levana. My heart broke for Kai and his impossible choices. And, at the same time I wanted to shake him and demand that he see the truth - that Cinder never betrayed him or lied to him or mind-screwed him. And that she's so much more than he is aware of.

My only complaint in regards to Scarlet was the distinct lack of shared screen time between Cinder and Kai. I'm dying for them to get face-to-face so that some freaking communication can happen! She has lots of things she needs to come clean to him about. I can't wait for that to happen. Because those two have the true love of fairy tales - even fractured ones.

Of course, things come to a head, the proverbial shit hits the fan and all hell breaks loose toward the end. Finally our two girls meet up and a plan for moving forward is hatched. Which brings us to Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3)... or almost to Cress. Just over a week away, and I'm so excited, I could pee my pants. I can't wait to find out what happens and if this will finally be the book where the world - or at the very least Kai - finds out the big secret that Cinder's been keeping. Goodness, I hope so.

Once again, Rebecca Soler's performance on the audio version of Scarlet was PHENOMENAL. She absolutely made the characters and this wonderful crazy world come to life. Her voices for Scarlet and Cinder are great. Her interpretation of androids and machines is flawless. Her accents for all the world's leaders is impressive. I loved what she did with the audio version so much that I've already pre-ordered the audio version of Cress. Sure, I could get it done a lot faster if I just bought the book. But, then I wouldn't get to subject myself to Rebecca Soler's amazing performance, and that would be a travesty.

If you have yet to experience the Lunar Chronicles series, seriously, what are you waiting for?

REVIEW: Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1)

Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1), by Marissa Meyer
Published January 3, 2012
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Format: audiobook, purchased
Genre:  young adult sci-fi/fantasy
To Buy: Amazon * Barnes & Noble

Rating:  5 STARS

(From Goodreads) Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl.

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Since its release, I must've seen a hundred reviews for Cinder, and each time, I was left to wonder how a story about a robot could be romantic. I need some romance in my books, and the thought of a relationship between a robot and a human is just... well, icky. And yet, I was intrigued. So, when I saw it on sale on Audible, I pulled the trigger.

A crazy thing happened. I realized that Cinder was a story about so much more than a robot who loved a boy. It's so much more than a fractured fairytale. And, it's freaking AWESOME. 

Cinder is a cyborg, with over 30% of her body comprised of non-organic parts. She lives with her awful stepmother and two stepsisters and is practically their slave. Then, one day, she has a run-in with the handsome Prince Kai and from that point on, her life completely changes. In a world where a plague is killing citizens at alarming rates, cyborgs and androids are commonplace, and there's a world of people on the moon who can control your mind, anything is possible - including a cyborg and a prince falling in love. 

I am utterly captivated and amazed at this world built by Marissa Meyer. It takes place in the distant future, but we're not sure exactly when. Just that enough time has passed for four world wars to come and go and the moon to be completely colonized by a race of people who can do serious mojo with their minds. The world is inhabited by androids, and people who have medical emergencies can have parts replaced with synthetic ones, making them cyborgs. Trains are carried along by magnets, cars hover above the ground, and people have ID chips embedded in their wrists. The details of the world building and the interweaving of the detailed storyline was completely seamless. 

I guess one would call Cinder a "fractured fairytale." It seems somehow a disservice to reduce it to that label though. I mean, sure - there's a orphaned slave girl named Cinder, a wicked stepmother and two stepsisters, a handsome prince, and even an evil queen. Oh, and when escaping from the ball, Cinder doesn't just leave her glass slipper behind - she leaves her whole damn FOOT. The correlations between Cinder and my daughter's favorite Disney movie are obvious. 

But, Cinder is much darker than I had expected. And so much more complex. In Cinder, we're introduced to the main characters, but also a nefarious plot orchestrated by the Lunars to take over the Earth and enslave its people. We learn Cinder's role in this plot, as well as Kai's and the wicked Lunar Queen Levana's. This plot, together with the spreading of the deadly plague and the constant search for a cure make for an intriguing, unique and completely brilliant book. 

With everything that's going on, you would think that the book would be rushed and confusing. But, the pacing is absolutely perfect, with details being brought to light at just the right moment. The characters are all incredible. It was so easy to fall in love with Kai and Cinder and to feel so much sadness and fear and excitement for them. 

A few words about the audio version - the narrator, Rebecca Soler, did an absolutely amazing job. She made the characters come to life. I'll be looking up her other works after this. 

Who knew I would love a book about a cyborg girl falling in love with a boy (And, really, that's NOT what Cinder is about. The romance aspect was rather minor, actually.) as much as I did? One thing was for certain - Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2) and the upcoming Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3) are absolute must-reads for me now.