Lunar Chronicles Books in Order
The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer is a must-read if you love classic fairy tale retellings as much as I do.
Book Summary without Spoilers
Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles is a book series that retells classic fairytales with a new and fun science fiction twist. This series has a lot of lead female characters that you’re sure to bond with, such as Linh Cinder, Scarlet Benoit, Cress Darnel, and Winter Hayle.
Book One Teaser
Cinder is both a gifted mechanic and also a cyborg who resides in New Beijing. Cinder meets Prince Kai and finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle with Queen Levana and the Lunar people which she is not too keen on.
Reading Order
While these books have their own storylines, it’s best to read them to get the whole story. The best way to read this series is in order of release, otherwise, you’ll end up with some spoilers for later.
- Cinder
- Scarlet
- Cress
- Fairest (prequel story about Lunar Queen Levana)
- Winter
- Stars Above
- Wires and Nerve
- Wires and Nerve: Volume 2
Book Reviews with Spoilers
Cinder
Let’s talk about Lihn Cinder and Prince Kai for a moment, can we? This book is so good! This book throws you right into these futuristic retellings and does not let go. Plus, the politics and tenuous peace agreements are so interesting. Read my full review here.
Scarlet
Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing, which leads her on a journey that guides her to meet Wolf, a street fighter with a heart of gold. I absolutely adore this Red Riding Hood retelling, as it doesn’t strictly stay to the fairytale, instead it plays in the space and lets us learn new things about the world along the way. Also, I have to love the idea of bioengineered wolf-soldiers, I mean it’s such a unique way to make a twist on this story. Read my full review here.
Cress
Hello Captain Thorne! Plus, the intergalactic struggle between Emperor Kai and Queen Levana is really heating up. How is our favorite cyborg mechanic going to handle this? Plus, who is her new handsome accomplice, Carswell Thorne? Also, a girl in a satellite? Let’s see if they can handle this daring rescue. Read my full review here.
Winter
Winter is Queen Levana’s stepdaughter and she has fully fallen in love with a handsome palace guard named Jacin. I love this trope so much. This is our snow white retelling that happily wraps up the series for us. Read my full review here.
Further Enjoyment of Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles
Who doesn’t love a good podcast? For further enjoyment of this series, I highly recommend listening to Prince Kai Fan Pod. This podcast goes chapter by chapter and it’s perfect for a relisten of Marissa Meyer’s book series.
I also highly recommend reading Heartless, which does not take place in this universe, but it is a standalone story about the Queen of Hearts. I covered Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland over on the Barely Bookish podcast with YA Bookchat. So, if you want to listen to the original story discussion, make sure to check out those episodes. If you want more retelling of fairytales, make sure to give this book a shot!
