Book Style: Lunar Chronicles

I am absolutely obsessed with Marissa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles series. Every book is a retelling of a classic fairy tale, but the whole series is such a beautifully complex thing that weaves all of these wonderful characters together. And it's sci-fi! I recently finished reading the advanced copy of the third book, Cress (oh, the perks of being a bookseller) and it is just as amazing as I expected. I decided in honor of the upcoming February release date for Cress and to bide my time until Marissa writes the fourth title, Winter, I would make a Book Style for these three. I decided I would base each outfit around the main titular character and try to stay true to their essence. There might be some spoilers for Cinder and Scarlet here, but I'll try to steer clear of giving too much away for Cress.

1. Cinder - Obviously, this one is Cinderella. Cinder is a 16 year old, cyborg mechanic in New Beijing. Her best friend is an android named Iko. She's pretty tough and isn't really the girly type. I gave her some combat boots and a handy hip bag for practicality. The kimono-inspired blouse is a nod to New Beijing's prevalent Asian styling. A wrench ring represents her mechanical inclinations, Iko gets some love with the adorable robot earrings, and a lunar-esque necklace hints at Cinder's true origins.
2. Scarlet - Red Riding Hood is really a feisty 18 year old French girl whose grandmother has gone missing. She forms a tenuous alliance with a street fighter who goes by the name "Wolf" in order to track her down. Scarlet is a natural beauty who never bothers with fancy clothes; they would only get in the way on the farm. Comfort is key here. Of course she needed her beloved red hoodie (isn't the asymmetry on this one amazing?) and I couldn't resist tracking down a tomato tee so she could wear her love for Wolf proudly. Some French-inspired nail polish just for fun. Ditto for the Red Riding Hood necklace. The rocket ship watch will help keep her on time for her produce deliveries and amuses me since that's where she ends up. The lunar earrings were essential for my sanity here.
3. Cress - Rapunzel needs a major haircut if she's ever going to impress the man of her dreams. She also goes by the name Crescent Moon, Cress for short, and she's been held captive performing high tech espionage for the Lunar queen on a lone satellite for most of her life. Cress is the girliest one of the bunch so she gets a dress for her petite self. She also ends up needing some decent footwear, so I provided these great strappy sandals. The bandana is to tie that notorious hair back, but it's also a nod to something I won't reveal for you yet, same for those eye earrings and military jacket. Spoilers, as River Song would say (I will never apologize for mixing my fandoms. Never!). I love the jewelry here. While the two Earthen (well sort of, in Cinder's case) girls get lunar jewelry, the Lunar girl gets a necklace to represent the swirl globe she's been gazing longingly at for years. And doesn't that ring remind you of long, silky tresses?

In conclusion, if you haven't read this series yet, stop what you're doing and go to your bookstore and grab Cinder and Scarlet now. Now, I say.

Book Review: Cinder

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Let me preface this by saying that I love Young Adult literature, but that a lot of enjoyable YA is pretty much fluff, the literary equivalent of watching the Kardashians. So when I say I picked up Cinder by Marissa Meyer because it looked like some YA I would enjoy I didn't have astronomical expectations of this book. I was wrong. This is possibly one of the best YA books I've ever read and definitely the best in the past couple of years. AMAZING.

This is actually the first book I ever picked up based purely on a Goodreads recommendation, but the premise caught my attention: A retelling of Cinderella as a cyborg. 

This is genre mashup to rival Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

The book is set in a dystopian future more than 100 years after World War IV and is centered around a 16 year old cyborg mechanic named Cinder Linh (or Linh Cinder if you want to follow the Chinese-style name standard that the book uses) who has a chance run-in with the Imperial Prince that sets her world on end and starts an irreversible chain of events. There's a global plague, an impending war with the Lunars and an icy, evil stepmother to contend with if Cinder is going to make it to the ball on time, that is if she wants to even go.

You will be able to predict several plot events based on your knowledge of the classic fairy tale; but, if you're like me, you will revel at how seamlessly Marissa Meyer works all of the classic elements into her futuristic setting and story line. And, I'll admit, the major reveal in the last chapter was glaringly obvious to me within the first couple of chapters, but I didn't care. Watching the story weave towards the reveal was fascinating and beautiful. And Ms. Meyer, if you ever see this, Iko is so freakin' awesome! 

All in all, I am extremely excited to get my hands on Scarlet which is the the next book in this four book series, the Lunar Chronicles. If you like fantasy or scifi or both you will thoroughly enjoy this tale.