"Cress" by Marrisa Meyer

5 of 5 stars.

The Basics: The Lunar Chronicles continue but this time we are introduced to a new character, Cress (reminiscent of Rapunzel). She is locked in a satellite by Sybil (a thaumaturge for evil Queen Levana). The last book, Scarlet, left off with Emperor Kai vowing to marry Queen Levana to stop her attacks on the Earthen civilizations. As the wedding is being planned, Kai continues to despise Levana and everyone is still on the hunt for Cinder. Once Cinder and her crew get in contact with Cress, who is a shell and also a reluctant, high tech hacker for Queen Levana, they decide to rescue her but the mission goes array. In the botched attempt to rescue Cress, Scarlet is taken by Sybil, Jaicin (a Lunar guard) uses the opportunity to escape and Wolf is badly injured. On top of all that, Thorne is stuck in a satellite with Cress which is on a quick, crashing descent to Earth as punishment by Sybil.
Though Cress and Thorne survive they must then learn to survive a journey through the Sahara desert. Thorne eventually learns that he can have feelings for someone other than himself. Cinder learns that she needs a better plan to rightfully gain her crown as Princess Selene. Wolf withdraws from the others as he copes with possibly losing Scarlet forever. 

My Thoughts: Definite spoilers ahead: OMG! This book was awesome! From the beginning to the end this book took me on a wild ride. The action starts from the top and never really tapers off, which I loved.
Ok, so Cress is such a welcomed new character. Her hacker abilities come in handy for the crew once she and Thorne make their way back to Cinder and Wolf. Also, I certainly feel bad for Thorne. I hope he gets his vision back in the next book, it does seem like he will. On to Wolf, I like him so much and I like that Cinder is patient with him because he is kind of wild. I feel bad that he has lost Scarlet. He is so withdrawn because of this loss. One flaw in his character that makes me hesitant about him is his ability to be manipulated by Lunars paired with his deadly wolf-like enhancements from being a special op.
Moving on to Cinder. I have grown to love her more as the series continues. She is my shero. She is learning to defend herself and by the end of the book she is hesitant but ready to take on the epic mission of gaining her throne. As the book moved on and the crew gets back to Earth, it is so awesome to see Cinder command a mission and follow through almost seamlessly. She is overwhelmed with everything but she doesn't nag too much, and that makes me like her even more.
At the end of the book, I could not believe Dr. Erland contracted letumosis, and I cannot believe that he is Cress's father. How crazy. I did like that he confronted Queen Levana about the creation of letumosis on Luna and how she has been purposefully using it as biological warfare so the Earthen civilizations would have to look for her for the cure. Unfortunately, her plan worked but I like that Dr. Erland shared his findings with Cinder and the crew before he died.
At the end of the book we also meet Winter, the stepdaughter of Levana. So, we know that Winter is a little loopy (crazy) from not using her glamour for many years but she obviously has a good heart. Scarlet senses there is something good about Winter but she is still hesitant about Lunars (especially after Queen Levana cut off her pinkie finger).

So these are my hopes for the last book, Winter.
-I hope Cress and Thorne fall madly in love with each other and Thorne becomes more humble. I love his wit but obviously Cress wants him to be the man for her. Shoot, I have a crush on Thorne so Cress better get him before I do. :)
-I hope Scarlet is reunited with the crew. Wolf wants her back dearly. It seems like Winter will be working with Cinder in the next book so I definitely see Scarlet and Wolf reuniting in the near future.
-I hope Dr. Erland's findings about Luna creating letumosis as biological warfare and then using the blood of shell's to create vaccines (and not killing the shells as the Lunar parents think) helps Cinder in her attempt to win over the people of Luna.
-I would hope that Kai would assist Cinder in any way he can in overthrowing Levana and stopping her continued attacks on Earth. I also hope Cinder and Kai marry and build a union between the Lunar people and Earthen civilizations.

I am so looking forward to Winter. November can't come fast enough!

~Remember, teachers read fun stuff too!