What a whirlwind end to a fantastic series! Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles comes to a stunning conclusion with Winter, a whopping 823 pages that is bound to have you immersed, excited, and eagerly anticipating the ever-changing action for Cinder, Scarlet, Wolf, Cress, Captain Thorne, Kai and Iko.

Princess Winter is admired for her grace, kindness and beauty, despite the scars on her face. She’s said to be even more breath-taking than her stepmother, Queen Levana. When Winter develops feelings for the handsome palace guard, Jacin, she fears the evil Queen will crush their romance before it has a chance to begin. But there are stirrings against the Queen across the land. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even find the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long. Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter claim their happily ever afters by defeating Levana once and for all?

As you can imagine with such a hefty read, there is a lot that occurs in Winter. This book serves as the introduction for the character Winter as well as the conclusion of this enchanting series, so it has a but of fleshing out to do for her sake to bring her characterisation up to speed with the other leading ladies. As for the crew, split from each other and desperately trying to get ahead of Levana and her armies, it is a high-stakes and high-stress environment. Oh, and let’s not forget the romances to add even more tension to the plans and conflicts.

I felt that each character in this book got their share of the focus and no one felt left out or overshadowed. Winter gives everyone the opportunity to showcase their strengths and displays any weaknesses they may have as well. We see different personalities dealing with challenges, sacrifices, and quick-thinking as plans change and adapt on the go. We see them grow more confident, develop deeper friendships and connections with each other and others on Luna, and we see their make-believe plans become real, including people of all walks of life on Luna. What felt like a pipe dream has become a real revolution and it feels plausible and believable as a reader.

The worldbuilding on Luna with Artemisia and the outer sectors feels reminicent of The Hunger Games, but it doesn’t feel like a direct copy, so if you really liked that part of The Hunger Games series I highly recommend ou pick up this series. There is so much detail and action to be hooked in by and the storyline is strong, with funny interactions as well as serious matters.

I really do love this series. It has strong, interesting characters with palpable emotions and compelling reasoning. It has incredible world building with some awesome description and characterisation. The action is intense, well thought out, and includes consequences that are hits to the crew. The threat of Levana and her power is not only clearly visible but felt with each move she makes. The Lunar Chronicles is an incredible series and I cannot recommend it enough, espeically when Winter is one of the best conclusions to a series I have ever read.