I was going through my list of books I’d meant to put a review in for, and for some reason I had notes down for this one but completely forgot to actually write my review! I would have used a general full review format, but I thought it was better to have the gist of it, because most of my notes tackled each short story in the collection.
Bit of a mixed bag, really, and if you aren’t a big fan of the Lunar Chronicles series or just mildly enjoyed it, this is definitely a big skip. To be fair, I kept going knowing the last two stories were the only ones that mattered to me.
NOTE: The stories here assume you already know what’s happened in the entirety of the Lunar Chronicles series. So spoilers ahead!
A Breakdown of Each Story
“The Keeper” – This was a nice prologue about Michelle Benoit, Scarlet’s grandmother, which explores how Michelle got involved with the lost Lunar princess to begin with. It was a nice reminder of the past, and I liked that we got a bit more insight into Cinder’s backstory, prior to the start of the series story.
“Glitches” – From here, it looks like a chronological progression from Michelle Benoit’s story. “Glitches” is an origin story for Iko, lovable android personality that she is. Unfortunately, there’s not much really here, as much of this has already been touched a few times already in the actual series itself. It might humanize Adri just a bit, but I didn’t care for her then, and I don’t care for her now.
“The Queen’s Army” – A Wolf story! I actually forgot much of Wolf’s arc within the series (the Scarlet-Wolf storyline was probably my least favorite of the set), so this was a backstory I went into with little expectations. It was pretty sad! I felt like of the pairings, Scarlet and Wolf definitely went through a lot.
“Carswell’s Guide to Being Lucky” – Thorne was definitely my favorite character throughout the entire series, so this was a fun read because we got to see ickle Carswell Thorne being mischievous. That said, if it weren’t for my notes, I already forgot what his short was about. It was kind of forgettable, unfortunately.
“After Sunshine Passes by” – CRESS I CRY FOR YOU! This one hit me, because poor Cress! Again, this is probably bias talking, but Cress was my favorite book, so any backstory of hers is welcome. It’s at this point though that I start wondering if all the short stories were just prologues, which might be a little disappointing, since I really just want to know the aftermath of Winter.
“The Princess and the Guard” – We don’t get much of Winter’s story in her own titular novel, so it’s not surprising that Winter and Jacin don’t hit me as hard as Cress and Thorne, and Cinder and Kai–where the romance between them has been there since the beginning. That said, this short story is pretty lengthy, and I found myself starting to get bored in between.
“The Little Android” – I have no idea what this story was trying to do. I thought the android was Iko, but it wasn’t? I think this was supposed to be a take on Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid” but because the character was no one I knew, I mostly just skimmed it.
“The Mechanic” – KAI POV. KAI POV. His meeting with Cinder for the first time? YESPLS.
“Something Old, Something New” – I’ve forgotten how much I missed the banter between Thorne and Cinder. This short story delivered in all things I wanted from a LC epilogue. I would never say no to more Cinder and Kai interaction, and Rampion crew shenanigans. They were a great set together. I wished the collection would have just focused on little epilogue stories of what Cress and Thorne, Jacin and Winter, Scarlet and Wolf, and Cinder and Kai were doing in the world. Especially because just from the graphic novels, they’d been really busy!
Haven’t read another Marissa Meyer series yet, but I really should. I’m hearing quite a few good things about Gilded and I really should check it out. (And I’ve had Heartless sitting on my shelf for the longest time…I should get on that, too…)
Story and Somnomancy 