Fairest: The Lunar Chronicles: Levana's Story Audio CD – Audiobook, 27 Jan. 2015

This was another Christmas present to myself, using the money given by family members, and I'm very excited to have finally read it. I have been wanting to read Levana's origin story FOR AN AGE. Meyer's 'The Lunar Chronicles' is an extremely inventive series, and what I liked best about it was the way that it used famous fairy tales and turned them into a whole new story. I always felt however that Levana's character was a little one-dimensional compared to others. I didn't understand her actions, until now that is. She really wasn't joking about Cinder's mother! Yikes!We get to see so much more of Levana's descent into cruelty and madness, and WHY it happens. Her abusive family, particularly her sister, allows her to grow up with a very twisted perception of what love actually is. I found myself feeling sorry for her even when she did unthinkable things, because I could more easily see WHY she did them. And what became very clear was that she cared a lot about the future of the planet and the people that lived there. Everything that she did was in order for Lunar to prosper, not just purely selfish reasons.I found no real faults here. It was a wonderful addition to the already rich world of The Lunar Chronicles, with more of an insight into Selene and Winter's lives too, and I liked the nod to Sybil Mira's rise to the top as well. Meyer did a great job adding more complexities to the characters, adding some great new ones (good and bad) and it's made me even more excited to get hold of 'Stars Above'!

“Fairest” is the backstory on the Lunar Chronicles antagonist; Queen Levana—the evil queen. It’s set before the events in Cinder, but I have to agree with the author that it would be good to read in-between “Cress” and “Winter”. This book was what made me devour the rest of the series in two days.Princess Levana hates the sight of her true self. After an incident when she was a young child, her body is now covered in burns. Hiding behind the glamour from her bio-electric manipulation, she hopes that one day the people of Lunar will forget about her ugly self. Suffering from her beautiful sister’s endless torments, Levana finds solitude in the friendship with a guard whom she has a big crush on. Deciding to take matters into her own hands, she device a plan to get him through manipulation. She just need to look like his deceased wife.Oh. Wow. I. Can’t. Even.This book is everything I never knew that I really wanted, needed and desired.In my reviews of the first three books, I’ve mentioned how much I wished for more information on the character’s past. Their motivations, and what made them to who they are.And this book did just that, and whoa… Even now—three days after I finished the book—I’m still baffled with feelings over this book.What I loved the most: Beautifully described, I loved how the author managed to make me feel Levana’s self-loathing without making her whiny. I sympathized with the young princess whose trust was shattered by none other than her older sister.Of course, that only lasted until Levana turned psychotic. But you know… I pitied the little girl who was tortured by her older sister through her entire upbringing.I can’t stress how amazing I found the character development. Often in books, I find that the author doesn’t give their characters enough flaws, but that is not the case here. Levana was crafted to perfection. Her scars, her ambitions, her motivation and even her delusions tugged on my heartstrings.Alright, I’m going to talk about the plot next, because… feelings. So pardon the spoilers.As horribly as it is, I actually rooted for Levana to receive the love of her guard husband in the end. Even though their entire relationship was one-sided from the beginning, I felt she deserved that much. For someone to just… love the fragile, shattered girl inside of her, despite her grotesque scars.In a way, I think that had she had someone to love her, Levana would have become a great Queen instead of the evil one. Of course, then we wouldn’t have the series, but you know… I’m invested in this character damn.The plot isn’t cute or lovely at all. But it is amazing.The story follows a teenage Levana as she nurses her school girl crush on her married guard, tries to avoid her diabolic sister and practices her glamour to perfection.Many years after the incident, Levana still has nightmares of the time where her sister—Cinder’s mom—held her down as flames licked her skin. We see how she lives in the shadows of her sister, and how she is tormented on an everyday basis.It wasn’t pleasant to read this story. The bullying from one sister to another. The insecurities. The self-hatred. It made my stomach churn, and while I still hate Levana’s character in the chronicles, it made me want to jump into the book to give the poor princess a hug, and take her far away.As the story goes on, we see how Levana finally snaps after she meets the wife of her crush—his very pregnant wife. Obsessed, Levana starts spiraling after Winter is born. Taking on the form of his dead wife, Levana basically tortures her crush into her bed. And after that, she forces him to marry her—although, she claims he had a choice, but we all know he hadn’t.There are so many sides to Levana. She’s smart and ambitious—something her older sister definitely isn’t. When it comes to court business, her words are often overlooked, but it’s clear that she is as manipulative in politics as she is in her everyday life.When Cinder is born, Levana’s sister—Channary—starts to cough more and more. It is discovered that she has an incurable lung disease, and eventually, Channary passes away.And that’s how Princess Levana became Queen Regent, as a placeholder until Cinder—or Selene as she is named—is of age to overtake the throne.The power turns the already delusional girl into a psychopath. Her paranoia grows, and she finds herself envying her step-daughter, wishing that her husband finally gave his heart.Her envy extends to the baby Princess Selene(Cinder). And she starts dreaming that the girl didn’t exist. Somehow, her daydreams turn into reasoning as to why the true heir had to be killed. And what better way to do it, than with a fire? At least, Levana is merciful enough to let her niece’s life end there—a courtesy that Channary didn’t show Levana.Of course, us semi-sane people can’t follow that kind of logic. But it becomes her excuse, her reason to kill off the true heir.After the death of the princess, Levana’s guard husband starts to feel a bit unsettled by the rumors. And it spirals into fights about when he wants to give her his heart for real. After a while it’s clear to Levana that she’ll never receive his love, and then decides to kill him too.I mean… THAT was clearly the logical thing to do to your so-called beloved. O_oWhile the story gives an in-depth look into Levana’s life, we also see how the biological warfare is created in order to take possession of Earth. We see Lunar’s inner workings, and it prepares us pretty well for the last book “Winter” who will follow Levana’s step daughter.I just… this book is my favorite. By far.I would recommend this to everyone. Even if you haven’t read the Lunar Chronicles. Since the book is set before the events in “Cinder” it can technically be read as a stand-alone.Especially to all my writer-friends who might struggle to craft the perfect villain. This story would probably serve as inspiration for many—I know it does for me.Just…. Read it. You most likely won’t regret it

I absolutely love this book which is a prequel to the main books in the series;  Cinder  & Scarlet  & Cress  . You can read this book if you wish prior to reading Cinder however the bonus 3 chapters included in the back for the new book due out later this year;  Winter  will obviously ruin the first three books in the series if you read them so avoid these at all costs if you wish to read this book first.All the books are a brilliant read and the story-line keeps building with new characters being introduced that fit seamlessly into the plot and it's subsequently a fantastic series. Marissa Meyer is a new addition to my favourite authors list and I have the final book in the series;  Winter  already on pre-order and I cannot wait to read it later this year. The series has been unputdownable and I have enjoyed every minute reading the books.This book is extremely interesting as it is Queen Levana's story and tells of Levana's childhood and the events leading up to Cinder. We truly get to see what has made Levana the way she is and her awful childhood with her sister Channary who was not a nice big sister to her at all. Channary has been made out to be quite a reasonable Lunar Queen I think in the previous books but we get to find out what she is really like. We also find out the reason why Levana looks like she does and the reason she wears a wedding ring that she hides with her glamour which I think was mention in the previous book; Cress although I could be wrong and it may have been an earlier book. We get to find out why the mutants were created and more about Cress and Winter and it really is a book worth reading and especially if you have been as hooked as I have been to this series. A love interest in the form of Evret is introduced and just why Levana is looking after a child that isn't hers. A very interesting and illuminating read to the series.A fantastic series with a new fresh take on the Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Snow White tales and as I mentioned above I have read all four books in the series in fast succession as I loved the series so much and was immediately hooked. If you are a fan of dystopian or YA then I think you will love this book and this series and I can't wait for the next one due to be released in December this year.

„I know you must be hurting now, but don't give up hope on future happiness, and all the good things that still to come to you.” – „Ich weiß, dass du jetzt verletzt sein musst, aber gib die Hoffnung auf ein glückliches Ende und all die guten Dinge, die noch folgen werden, nicht auf.“Dies ist eine Vorgeschichte zu den Luna-Chroniken, eventuelle Spoiler lassen sich dadurch nicht vermeiden!Zum Cover: Dieses Buch gibt es ja derzeit nur auf Englisch – wer weiß, ob es jemals übersetzt wird –, aber das Cover ist einfach der Hammer. Generell mag ich ein schlichtes jedoch aussagekräftiges Cover immer sehr gerne und das trifft auf „Fairest“ definitiv zu. Nicht nur, dass das Bild mit dem Spiegel, der sehr viele Schnörkel inne und eine Krone oberhalb besitzt, wahnsinnig gut zu Levanas Person passt, sondern auch die Flammen dazwischen noch ihre Berechtigung haben, finde ich großartig. Die Szene aus dem Buch, wo Levana dann auch tatsächlich vor diesem Spiegel steht, hat mir eine Gänsehaut beschert und ich denke, das soll schon 'was heißen.Zum Inhalt: Spieglein, Spieglein an der Wand, wer ist die Schönste im ganzen Land? – Das pure Böse hat einen Namen, versteckt hinter einer Maske aus Täuschung, wobei sie ihre glänzende Schönheit nutzt, um die Macht zu erlangen. Aber wer ist Königin Levana?Lange bevor sich ihre Wege mit Cinder, Scarlet und Cress in den Luna-Chroniken kreuzten, lebte Levana eine sehr andere Geschichte, eine Geschichte, die niemals erzählt wurde. Bis jetzt.Ihre Geschichte handelt dabei nicht weniger von Liebe, Kampf, Täuschung und Tod, und dennoch ist sie es wert erzählt zu werden. Denn Levana liebte auch einst und hat diese Liebe jedoch leider nicht bekommen können. So allerdings musste kommen, was in den Luna-Chroniken geschah.Meine Meinung: Da ich grundsätzlich liebe, nochmals in eine Welt einzutauchen, von der ich restlos begeistert war, musste ich das Prequel zu Königin Levana aus den Luna-Chroniken einfach lesen. Wie gesagt, ich habe an dieser einen bestimmten Spiegel-Szene Gänsehaut bekommen, also hat mir das Buch demnach unglaublich gut gefallen. Es hätte zwar irgendwie mit etwas anderem gerechnet oder ich hatte andere Erwartungen an das Buch, aber geliebt habe ich diese Geschichte trotzdem.Es war so schön, wieder nach Luna, also auf den Mond oder eher in das Königreich von Artemisia, zurückzukehren. Auch die vereinzelten Auftritte von Winter und Jacin, die hier noch Kinder sind, mochte ich sehr. Daran erwähne ich jedoch nochmal, dass es besser ist, „Fairest“ in der Tat vor „Winter“, dem letzten Teil der Luna-Chroniken, zu lesen, weil es so einfach von der Geschichte her am schönsten zu entdecken ist. Nichtsdestotrotz kann man es natürlich auch so wie ich erst nach dem letzten Band lesen, das tut der Sache keinen Abbruch.Die Atmosphäre bleibt dieselbe, auch wenn sie teils doch recht düster ist, aber gut, ich meine, was will man von einem Prequel zum eigentlichen Bösewicht auch schon erwarten. Ich mochte es jedoch, wie hier das Thema erneut aufgegriffen wurde, dass Levana Angst vor Feuer hat. Hierbei wurde auch erklärt, warum und dieses „Warum“ hat mit ihrer Schwester Channary zu tun. Diese wirkt in diesem Buch nun auch gar nicht mehr so heilig, wie sie in den Luna-Chroniken immer dargestellt wurde, zumindest ist das so mein Empfinden. Channary ist in Levanas Fall geradezu die Böse, obwohl das fast zu Recht ist, denn sie zu ihrer kleinen Schwester wirklich ganz schön gemein. Gut, Schwestern vertragen sich ja auch nicht immer, aber irgendwie finden sie ja schließlich doch wieder zusammen, sollte man jedenfalls meinen. Bei Channary und Levana ist das allerdings eher weniger der Fall.Man erfährt nun aber auch nicht nur mehr über Channary, sondern auch über ihre Tochter Selene, oder wie sie bei uns bekannter ist, über Cinder. Sie kommt zwar auch nur als Kleinkind vor, da hier immerhin nur die Szene mit ihrem maßgeblichen Tod, der ja eigentlich gar keiner war, vorkommt, doch dass sie sich davor mit Winter so gut versteht, bekommt man dennoch mit, was auch wieder sehr toll in Szene gesetzt wurde. Marissa Meyer weiß einfach, wie man seine Geschichte noch weiter ausfeilt. Das merkt man auch an der Tatsache, wie Evret in die Geschichte eingeführt wurde. Er ist Levanas Leibwächter und Winters Vater. Es entwickelt sich zwar zwischen Evret und Levana eine ähnliche Geschichte wie bei Winter und Jacin, doch im Gegensatz zu den Winters Geschichte geht Levanas nicht so glücklich aus, was man, so viel sage ich noch, jedoch in Evrets Fall dann wirklich nachsollziehen kann.Fazit: Schließlich bekommt „Fairest“ von mir nun, wie sollte es anders sein bei den Luna-Chroniken, seine für mich wunderbaren 5 Sterne. Mir hat es wirklich gefallen und wenn dieses Buch dann vielleicht doch nochmals irgendwann auf Deutsch übersetzt werden sollte, werde ich diese Geschichte bestimmt erneut zur Hand nehmen.

Endlich mal ein Buch aus der Sicht des Antagonisten, welches ihn nicht glorifiziert. Ich Liebe den Einblick in ihren sehr verzerrten Geist. Es ist wirklich toll die Welt mal durch ihre Augen zu sehen. Man bekommt kein Mitgefühl mit ihr, es ist nicht so das sie einem auf einmal Sympathisch ist. Sie ist verrückt. Und ihre krankhafte Vorstellung von Liebe und Zuneigung ist wirklich besorgniserregend. Ich fand es sehr spannend hinter die Kulissen der Regierung auf Luna zu blicken. Auch Levana hatte zu kämpfen, gegen ihre Lieblose und grausame Familie, gegen die Gesellschaft und gegen sich selbst. Hässlich in einer Gesellschaft zu sein, die sehr auf ein äußeres Erscheinungsbild achtet, und dies mit Macht gleichsetzt, ist alleine schon eine Herausforderung. Ich hätte gerne noch mehr gelesen. Dieses Buch ist für mich wirklich ein Highlight der Reihe.

This book didn't exactly turn out the way I had expected it to be, but it was hella better!! Marissa Meyer opened my eyes to the evil Queen Levana.The author gave a whole new dimension to this character. To see how Levana was before she became the evil Queen is very interesting. I felt emotions towards her that I never thought I would feel.I will stop right here and not go into detail because I don't want to ruin it for the readers. I want them to be surprised on your own.And YES, I highly recommend you read it before diving into the epic finale of this amazing series.

"Fairest" is book 3 1/2 of the Luna Chronicals and was published in English only (up to now). As Book 4, "Winter", was already released half a year ago in German, I think this book may never will be translated and I decided to read it in English.It appeard a bit thicker in the beginning and I was a bit disappointed - there are only 222 pages of text. The rest are the first three chapters of Winter, which I read already in German.If you can choose, you should read this book before reading "Winter", but you should have read "Cress" and "Scarlet" already, otherwise there are too great spoilers to enjoy the story.The live of Levana was really moving to me, allthough I knew the mainparts already from reading "Winter". This book helped me understand how Levana got the person she ended up to be when "Cress" started. She not always was the mean queen, but a lovely child who had to suffer under her elder sister.I also love the way Marissa Meyer writes in English, but for the other (longer) books reading / listening in German was easier for me. Thank you very much for writing this book - I really enjoyed reading Levana's stroy.

InhaltSchon fast ihr ganzes Leben lang steht Levana im Schatten ihrer älteren Schwester Channary. Um ein schreckliches Geheimnis zu verbergen, zeigt sie niemanden ihr wahres Aussehen. Nichts wünscht sich Levana mehr, als ihrer Einsamkeit zu entkommen. Da begegnet ihr Evret. In ihrer Sehnsucht nach Liebe ist Levana bald kein Preis mehr zu hoch.MeinungDie Kurzgeschichte gibt Einblick in das Leben der noch jungen Levana. Wir erfahren mehr über ihre fast schon grotesk anmutende Familie, insbesondere Levanas spezielle Beziehung zu Channary. Die dekadente Oberschicht von Lunar, die auf den ressourcenarmen Mond lebt, wird ausführlich beleuchtet. Aber im Mittelpunkt stehen Levanas absurden Denkstrukturen, welche sich nah an der Grenze zum Wahnsinn befinden, sie vielleicht sogar überschritten haben.Marissa Meyer zeigt in “Fairest”, dass Levana zumindest zu Beginn keineswegs von Machtgier getrieben war, stattdessen war ihr Antrieb ein völlig fehlgeleitetes Verständnis von Liebe. Die Kurzgeschichte zeichnet dabei das Bild eines Mädchens, dass vielleicht nie wirklich eine Chance hatte. Dies sorgt jedoch bei mir nicht für Mitgefühl, sondern erzeugte höchstens etwas Verständnis dafür, wie Levana zum kaltherzigen Biest werden konnte.Insgesamt überzeugte mich die Kurzgeschichte trotz einiger starker Sätze und Szenen längst nicht so wie die Hauptbände, denn es kam weder echte Spannung auf, noch fieberte ich irgendwie mit den Charakteren mit. Dann fehlte mir der märchenhafte Charme der anderen Bücher. Außerdem gibt es nach meinem Verständnis eine gigantische Logiklücke, was Levanas Äußeres angeht.Zu guter Letzt: Auch wenn es diese Kurzgeschichte geschafft hat, als Buch gedruckt zu werden, so bleibt sie doch eine Kurzgeschichte und dafür fand ich das Buch etwas teuer. Da hilft dann auch der Auszug aus “Winter” nicht mehr viel.FazitWer die Antagonistin Levana besser verstehen möchte, findet hier einige Antworten.3 Sterne

Interesante ver el punto de vista del antagonista, y la autora no trata de redimirla, al contrario, nos muestra a Levana tal como es egoísta y sin capacidad de amar, debido si, a todos los sucesos de su vida. Recomendable para ver los libros desde otro punto de vista. Sigo preguntándome porque las editoriales no publican estos en español. Hay dos libros de la serie en español y como siempre nos dejan, a las lectores de habla hispana , sin continuar las series.

Quick Thoughts:1. This book made a lot of people feel really bad for Levana but it just made me hate her more.2. If Levana was a strong enough person, she could have turned out to be a good ruler and that makes me sad.3. I HATED the whole part about her husband. Not the story itself but her. It made me feel really bad for him and I was expecting Winter to turn out horrible because of Levana's influence.4. I'm kind of glad that Cinder's mother wasn't the greatest either. It made the family feel more realistic.5. I don't know if I could reread this book. I hate Levana way too much. She has a horrible upbringing sure, but she didn't choose the right way to overcome it.

Fairest is just a novella, not a full-length novel like Cinder or the other books in the series. This story introduces us to Levana in her mid-teens back when she had no power or confidence, and still had a small (very small) shred of humanity left in her.From the beginning, Levana is an incredibly damaged person. She is nearly incapable of empathy and is truly warped. She does not come across as a sympathetic character, even though we do get a glimpse into the physical and emotional abuse her older sister put her through. Barely 16-years-old, Levana arguably rapes an older man. Emotionally manipulating him as well as subtlety threatening him and his daughter, he has no choice but to sleep with her. I interpret this as rape, but maybe other readers will see it differently. It's very rare in YA fiction for the main character of a novel to be so completely evil. Although I came to understand Levana so much more, I don't hate her any less. She has a sick mind, which makes for a very entertaining story.Although I am really upset that Winter's release date was pushed back by several months, I did enjoy this novella of Levana's early years. It will definitely appeal to all Cinder fans and there are some familiar characters in the story, as well as great new ones. The novella includes some chapters for Winter, so I am more excited than ever to read the last book in the series.

This is definitely worth reading if you're a Lunar Chronicles fan.It was my least favorite book in the series, but that's likely because it was about Levana, who, let's face it, isn't all that easy to relate to. That being said, it's well written & helped me to understand certain nuances I would otherwise be blind to.I definitely do NOT recommend that anyone read this before reading at least the first two, if not three books in the series. I finished all four before starting on this one and regret doing so in that order.Regardless of the fact that Fairest is a prequel, Marissa Meyer published it between Cress and Winter and it's my belief that that is how the books should be read.So, in my opinion, reading the series as follows makes for the best experience:1) Cinder2) Scarlet3) Cress4) Fairest5) WinterHappy Reading!

The Lunar Chronicles are fantasy with science-fiction elements fairytale retellings (the author lovingly calls them ‘space opera’ ;D), of which as of now, three books are out: Cinder (reimagining Cinderella’s story), Scarlet (Little Red Riding Hood), and Cress (Rapunzel). Winter (Snow White), the forth and last book in this series, is expected to come out in November 2015. Fairest fits into this series as a kind of prequel, a story about the evil queen in Snow White, in this case called Levana.Who is Levana, how did she become queen on Lunar and the horrible villain we know her as? This short novel answers all these questions. Fairest is a lot darker and more twisted than the three novels that went before it. And while it’s just as readable as Marissa Meyer’s other books, it is not at all cute or fun like the books before were.Levana as a character seems much more like an adult, not your typical YA heroine, definitely the villain. The story adds background to her character and adds understanding, yet it didn’t make me sympathise with her more. When this prequel was announced I was scared Marissa Meyer would make the reader like Levana, only to destroy her, make her into kind of a tragic Snape-like figure. But she didn’t and I love that because in YA that’s rather unusual I think (at least when the villain gets their own book/novella).I flew through Fairest within a few hours. I think Lunar Chronicles fans will enjoy this, although it won’t be my favourite of the whole series, as I love the quirky and fun elements in her other books just too much. I don’t think this book is a must-read for the series, but if you are interested in how the villain became a villain then definitely read it because it is really good in that aspect. Marissa Meyer is very capable of writing more gruesome and dark characters and stories as well. You will get to see with what kind of a person Winter, the main character to the final book, has had to live. So this prequel will prepare you wonderfully for the finale (*sobs* I will never be prepared…).If you’re wondering which order to read the books in now that a prequel is out: I still recommend you read them in the order they were published in, as Fairest contains minor spoilers for the first three books.

My initial thought upon finishing Fairest : Levana is insane and I love it.This novella is really more of a character study of Levana, and is hard to talk about it without spoiling the book and the entire series, so read it at your own risk. It doesn’t advance anything in the main plot, but it gives a hint of what to expect from her. Nothing will stop her from achieving her goals.I love that she wasn’t redeemed. That she wasn’t even the least bit justified in her actions. Of course, this is from her point of view, so she thinks that everything that she is doing is for the sake of Luna. She has become so caught up in her desire to control everything and everyone, that she doesn’t even realize what she is doing anymore. Throughout the story she reminded me a lot of Cersei Lannister from A Song of Ice and Fire series.Levana has a twisted way of perceiving love. She is manipulative, vindictive and cruel. She has suffered most of her childhood at the hands of her parents and her sister, and her outward ugliness encouraged her to perfect her glamour. But in doing so, she has lost track of who she really is and of what it means to be loved.So she manipulates the man she loves and she controls the people of Luna, she uses her glamour almost desperately in an attempt to make those around her adore her. She is jealous of her sister, because she believes she is more fit to be a queen, but her circumstances have prevented her from doing so. She secretly hates herself and she has a lot of internalized misoginy, she hates other women, especially those she consider beautiful and/or weak. Channary isn’t better than Levana in any way; she is cruel and careless. She throws her own sister in the fire and the fact that she seems to care for her baby daughter doesn’t redeem her in my eyes. She is just as vicious as Levana.I said it is more of character study, but it still has some plot and a very interesting one, of how Levana became Winter’s stepmother. A lot of the stuff that happen were already acknowledged by the rest of the series, but it was nice to wrap up how it all came together.In the end, I really enjoyed this. I like character studies, I like villains. I enjoyed the fact that Levana was a full villain, motivated by nothing more than her own madness and desire for power (even if those were shaped by certain tragedies on her past). I believe that strong female villains are just as important as heroins or anti-heroins. We want female characters of every shape and form and this story, as is the entire Lunar Chronicles series is a step in the right direction.Bonus: The first four chapters of Winter are amazing already and the pain of the wait has officially begun!

La storia mi è piaciuta ma devo ammettere che mi aspettavo qualcosa di più dal personaggio di Levana. Forse credevo sarei riuscita ad empatizzare di più con lei.Ad ogni modo è stata una bella lettura

Es precioso. Es tal vez un pelin grande comparado a los otros que tengo, pero a partir de el, todos son del mismo tamaño

We were introduced to this series by our fourteen-year-old granddaughter, and my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole series. I think that's a pretty good recommendation.

The evil queen explained. She might not be likeable but the story is well written and gives an in depth look at her psychology. Well written