Review: Cress

Cress by Marissa Meyer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The fun kinda dropped off here a bit so we're back to three stars. Sorry but apparently Scarlet and Wolf stole my heart in the last book so I'm offended that this book expects me to get over them so quick.

I do like how this series collects characters with each book, though the coupling is starting to grate. This time we've got Rapunzel Cress, who has been held captive in a satellite for most of her life, but she's been in contact with Cinder and the gang so her world is about to go topsy-turvy.

I was honestly expecting more of life on the satellite, but I guess that small a location would have made things a little boring. Instead, we get miles and miles of sand. I really hate desert settings. All anyone does is complain about the heat and the sand. YAWN.

Cress is obsessed with Thorne after researching his life on her lonely little satellite and he's, as yet, uncoupled, so naturally we get a lil romance in that direction. Was not feeling it. Sorry. Thorne just feels really old and ... experienced ... compared to naive Cress and that kinda weirded me out a little. I mean, I like that he was a comforting presence for her but I was honestly concerned about how vulnerable she was all the time . She was not my fave. I know all characters can't be badass like Scarlet but it hurt that she had to take a backseat in this one and let Cress take the wheel. Plus, Thorne was such a sassy, sneaky criminal type in the last one so to see him soften up this much hurts my heart a little. I need him to be stealing more, picking more locks, breaking and entering, etc. Just give me some small misdemeanors. DON'T YOU LOSE YOUR BAD BOY SOUL ON ME NOW.

Cinder, as the hero, gets a little more screen time and we're also seeing a little more of Kai (and dying inside waiting for that reunion) so I didn't mind that so much. As least Cinder is still a no-nonsense kinda gal. Plus Iko is fun. She has so much energy and enthusiasm and I appreciate that. I also appreciate her situational inappropriateness. She says exactly what she's thinking whenever she's thinking it. It's quite refreshing.

I'm starting to kinda not feel anything for the whole, 'evil queen trying to take over the world' business. Like, it was always talked about but not a lot happened there? I'm not hugely seeing the evil I guess. I mean, obviously I get WHY she's evil and what she's doing is evil but she doesn't actually get a lot of screen time to help us to hate her. She's a disappointingly generic kinda evil. Sybil is a little more savage but still not enough.

Overall, I feel like this book was a little step backwards in terms of pace and excitement. We've had all the world building, and the last book was action-packed and full of mystery-solving with some fantastic new, dynamic characters, and this one kinda slows down to talk about feelings. Even the fairytale angle was a little thin, here. I enjoyed it, but it was kinda bland compared to the last one.

I'm really looking forward to some serious action in the last book. I want explosions, destruction of property, Wolf and Scarlet going berserk together; guns, fire, telekinesis.

Snow White better bring her A-Game.

View all my reviews