The Lunar Chronicles is a YA Science-Fiction series based on fairytale retellings. They aren’t full retellings, as they vary from the initial stories to a good extent, but you’ll see aspects of each fairy tale, some more fractured than others, pop up here and there throughout the stories and series.
The series as a whole is exciting and action-packed with creative technology, unique characters who are easy to love, and terrible villains whom you will love to hate.
There are 4 novellas, 3 of which aren’t mandatory, but if you love the series, you’ll want to read them for the small bits of insight they bring to the series and world.
Fairest is the 4
th novella, and it should be read (in my opinion), as part of the series. Technically, it’s not part of the progressing storyline, but it provides so much useful insight into the villain of this series, that it would be a shame not to read it before the final book. Read it after
Cress and before
Winter.
Total = 8 books with 2,741 pages
Glitches by
Marissa Meyer (Novella 0.5)
My rating:
4 of 5 stars
This novella explores Cinder’s life when she first came to live with the Linh family. It’s heartbreaking and gives you a glimpse of a younger Cinder.
Pages: 32
The Little Android by
Marissa Meyer (Novella 0.6)
My rating:
4 of 5 stars
This is a creative retelling of The Little Mermaid. It’s completely separate from the books, but it does have a Cinder cameo. It’s sad but good.
Pages: 35
Cinder by
Marissa Meyer (Book 1)
My rating:
5 of 5 stars
This is a retelling of Cinderella, complete with Cyborgs, and androids, and a lunar plague. Oh, my!
Cinder is a cyborg who works as a mechanic in the marketplace, but all of her wages go to her evil stepmother, since cyborgs have no rights. When the crown prince brings by his android to the marketplace to be fixed, Cinder hides her true self, and the story spirals into chaos from there.
If you’re not sure about the series, read this book first. Once you love it, you can go back and read Glitches (0.5) and The Little Android (0.6) at any point.
Pages: 448
The Queen's Army by
Marissa Meyer (Novella 1.5)
My rating:
4 of 5 stars
This novella provides more of the backstory on Wolf. I read it before Scarlet. It’s also a teaser novella to motivate you to read the next book, so don’t expect a complete story. It does cut off right at a point where you hope for more, which isn’t a problem if you already have book 2.
Pages: 18
Scarlet by
Marissa Meyer (Book 2)
My rating:
5 of 5 stars
This is a sci-fi adaptation of Little Red Riding Hood. The focus shifts to a new heroine, Scarlet, a farm girl whose grandmother has gone missing. Scarlet is not sure whether or not the lunar guy who was genetically modified into part wolf is to be trusted or blamed for that.
This story is a continuation from book one and still includes most of the characters you loved from Cinder. It's a fantastic sequel, every bit as enjoyable and interesting as the first book.
Pages: 512
Cress by
Marissa Meyer (Book 3)
My rating:
5 of 5 stars
Cress is the futuristic version of Rapunzel. Cress has been trapped for almost her whole life inside a satellite, tasked with the job of spying on Earth for the head thaumaturge (evil government bad guys with mind control powers) of Queen Levana.
Scarlet and Cinder attempt to rescue Cress from her isolation, but things go wrong. Very wrong. This is another fantastic book, and Cress is a refreshingly different heroine.
Pages: 592
Fairest by
Marissa Meyer (Novella 3.5)
My rating:
5 of 5 stars
From a fairy tale standpoint, this aligns with Maleficent’s story, but it’s far different from that and well worth reading for some excellent insight and background to Queen Levana, who is a fantastically evil villain.
She's not nearly as redeemable as Maleficent, but I was fascinated by the depth of her issues and self-delusions.
Pages: 272
Winter by
Marissa Meyer (Book 4)
My rating:
5 of 5 stars
Ah, Snow White, re-imagined in the most unexpected way possible, complete with Winter, a main character who is mentally unbalanced and eccentric, but extremely lovable.
This is how you end a series: not with a whimper but a bang.
Pages: 832
Cress is the third book in the Lunar Chronicles series. It adds the story of Cress, a re-imagining of Rapunzel, to Cinder and Scarlet's continuing story. In this version, however, Cress is a young girl tucked away in a satellite in space, who has become a master hacker. Her story intersects with Scarlet, Wolf, Cinder and Thorne in the most painful of ways. I couldn't put Cress down either, and I really enjoyed reading Cress's chapters. I'm not as familiar with the Rapunzel lore, so I didn't really know what to expect from her story, other than that she would have really long hair (which she does). 
Cress is the third book in the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer.
It is hard to fully describe what goes on in Cress without providing
spoilers, but here it goes. Cress is based on the fairy
tale "Rapunzel." Cress (Rapunzel) was placed in a satellite at the age of 10. She has been spying on Earth for the Queen Levana. Cress is torn between helping the queen, who she does not want to help, and helping Cinder and her gang overthrow Queen Levana. A lot of different and exciting things happen. Cress has fallen for Thorne, Cinder is still in love with Emperor Kai, and Scarlet is Wolf's Alpha Female. At the very end, we learn who Winter is, the princess of Lunar. Winter seems to be on the heroes' side, but we will have to wait until November 2015 to find out! :-(