In this stunning bridge book between Cress and Winter in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles, Queen Levana’s story is finally told.

Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is the fairest of them all?

Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story – a story that has never been told . . . until now.

Marissa Meyer spins yet another unforgettable tale about love and war, deceit and death. This extraordinary book includes full-color art and an excerpt from Winter, the next book in the Lunar Chronicles series. (Cover and synopsis from Goodreads.)

*Warning:  This is a bridge book between books 3 (Cress) and 4 (Winter) in the series. Even though the events in Fairest take place before book 1 (Cinder), Fairest really should be read after Cress. While I really don’t like spoilers, you might find some spoilers for the first 3 books in the series in this review.*


As with most sequels, I want to have as few spoilers as possible in my reviews, so I’m just going to make this a mini review and share some of my notes:

• I LOVE the end papers! SO PRETTY. And until reading this book, I didn’t have much of an idea of what Luna looked like in my head.
• This book doesn’t have chapters, just sections split up. Kind of weird, but it didn’t bother me too much.
• I can’t remember if we learned before this book that Levana is disfigured. I remember that she always uses glamour to hide her true face, but I don’t remember if we were told what she really looks like.
• For some reason, I thought Winter was younger than Cinder. But in this book, Winter is born before Channary is even pregnant (or very soon after Channary becomes pregnant).
• I kind of feel like this is a slight, twisted retelling of Frozen. If so, I give Marissa Meyer props for sneaking that retelling in. (Or perhaps it’s a slight retelling of The Snow Queen, from which Frozen was loosely adapted.) But I know Levana and Winter’s stories are mostly based on Snow White.
• This book makes Levana more human, and slightly more likable, but she’s still incredibly horrible, so she’s still a great villain. I LOVE when villains have complex backstories and I’m so glad we’re getting Levana’s.
• I love how Winter is totally a feminist. “Maybe the princess can save herself.”
• Some great symbols, irony, and things coming full circle.