Have you read Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles, and found yourself thinking, hey, I really hate that nasty Queen Levana…I wonder what makes her tick?
If yes, then have I got a story for you.
Fairest is a novella that ties itself in with the Lunar Chronicles, and it fits nicely in place after Cress and before the upcoming Winter.
And its all about why Levana is such a nasty, conniving, emotionless bitch.
Yes, I’m sorry that some terrible things happened to her as a child, and that her parents basically ignored her and her sister, and that her sister was an even worse person than she. But… COME. ON.
Here’s the plot in a nutshell: Levana and her sister Channary have just lost their royal parents, leaving Channary to become the Lunar Queen. However, all Channary cares about is fashion and bedding as many men as possible. Levana thinks she has quite a head for royalty, and steps in to fill her sister’s shoes at meetings and planning sessions.
Channary has a baby — Princess Selene — gets sick and dies, leaving Levana to act as Queen Regent until Selene comes of age.
Meanwhile, Levana uses her “glamor” to make her crush fall in love with her and marry her, even though in reality, he feels nothing for her but pity. She becomes step mother to his beautiful daughter, Winter.
And then, things happen. Horrible, nasty things, in the name of “love” and “doing the right thing” for her people, Levana’s makes some seriously terrible and heartless decisions.
Levana’s “love story” did nothing but make me feel uneasy. Her scheming and plotting for power really just made me think she needed to be committed. And poor Winter. We just know that she’s not going to have an easy go of it in the next book.
Yes, I’ll continue to read the rest of the series. I liked the first three books, and am hoping that Winter gives us a somewhat happy ending for Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and their friends. And that we see the complete opposite for Levana, who I hope suffers a tortuous end.
