Winter by Marissa Meyer

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 breath-taking 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?

-- Goodreads.com description --

Warning this review contains spoilers of the previous books in the series!

Winter by Marissa Meyer was my most anticipated book this year, if not of all time. I simply love this series! My favourite book in the series still remains Cress. I just LOVE Cress and Thorne. They're so cute. My least favourite characters are still Scarlet and Wolf, I don't know why, but I just find their story a little boring. But man, Winter was an amazing conclusion to the series but I still want MORE. I NEED MORE! So now Stars Above is my most anticipated book of 2016. I'm actually considering buying it in hardback because I would get it a month sooner!

I can see why some people thought it was too long, I didn't mind because I just didn't want it to be over, however, some parts did feel a little dragged out. I did think that Wolf and Scarlet got too much attention in the book while the others were not yet established as a couple that was a bit of a shame. I would have preferred to see a lot more of Thorne and Cress, Kai and Cinder and Winter and Jacin. 

We were briefly introduced to Winter in Cress and Fairest. I wasn't that impressed by her character then and I was afraid I wouldn't like her. However, Marissa Meyer is a pro at creating amazing characters that you can't help loving! Winter might actually one of the most interesting characters of the whole series. Not using her lunar gift makes her unpredictable, which I loved. Cress is quite unpredictable as well in some parts of the books at least. But like I said, Winter gives things a nice and unpredictable twist.

I can't get over the fact that this was the last actual book in the series. Thank God for the epilogue in Stars Above! I really hope I won't be disappointed with that one! I need more Cress and Thorne and more Cinder and Kai.

I'm secretly hoping that Marissa Meyer will write a spin-off series in which these characters return. I don't think it would be hard to write an adventure for Cress and Thorne or even Winter and Jacin involving some new characters!

Winter is definitely a satisfying ending to a beloved series. This series is definitely worth your time and if you read Cinder and are still not convinced, I would suggest continuing on with the series if you liked the characters, because the books definitely get better! It is not really necessary to read Fairest, however if you do plan on it, read it before Winter. It does give you a little bit more insight into Levana and Winter's father as well.

5 out of 5 stars! This is quite possibly one of my favourite young adult series of all time. I cannot recommend it enough!