Title: Fairest
Author: Marissa Meyer
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pub Date: January 27, 2015
Format: Paperback
Pages: 222
Source: Purchased
Genre(s): YA, Fantasy, Science Fiction
Rating: ★★★★
Goodreads || Buy on Amazon

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Synopsis from Goodreads:

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?

Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story – a story that has never been told… until now.

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My mini-review:

“She cried for the girl who had never belonged. A girl who tried so hard, harder than anyone else, and still never had anything to show for it.”

I am pleasantly surprised. I feel genuine pity for Levana. This novella shows that Levana had reasons for doing the evil things that she did, but her experiences do not justify any of her awful actions. Her parents were terrible, her sister was absolutely horrid (like really, really horrid), and their court was just as awful. She never truly felt like she could be herself. That being said, it doesn’t seem like she was that nice to begin with. She wasn’t necessarily born evil, but being raised in that Lunar lifestyle certainly did not help matters. Maybe she never had a chance.

I don’t know what I was expecting but it was not this “romance” between her and Evret Hayle, if you can even call it that. I always thought Levana’s love for Winter’s father was a show, but now it’s clear that it is painfully true. Emphasis on the painful part.

I highly recommend this book to any fan of The Lunar Chronicles. It would be just as interesting as a standalone, but you will definitely get more enjoyment out of reading the entire series.

This insightful glimpse behind Levana’s glamour gets 4 stars.