Fairest

"Prequel about Queen Levana - she is crazy "

"It's definitely a drop in quality from the main series. Wow, that was painful 😢 but there are some good parts every now and again. "

"I enjoyed seeing Levana's side of the story, however I believe this story made my hatred for her even stronger than it was before."

"Gives a good back story on Queen Lavena - fair warning, it can feel very dark at times, but you learn more about the royal family which adds more to the story as a whole. Worth the read! "

"<br/><br/>Before i got to Winter i decided to read all the side stories to get ready for the end of the Lunar Chronicles. I love the series but this book is my least favorite in the series. I don’t hate it. I’m still glad that i read it but i wouldn’t recommend it unless the person really wanted to read it. <br/><br/>This is a story about how Levana became queen. Despite what other people say this is not about how she became evil. This story still tells us why she was evil but i think that she was evil before the book even started. Many people get the reason that she became evil wrong. It isn’t the her parent didn’t pay attention to her or that her sister was mean to her or that her crush didn’t like her or the fact that no one liked her. Sure that it plays a factor on how she became the way she is but the real reason that she is evil is that that is the way she was raised. She was raised to use her glamor as an advantage. She was raised to believe that she is somewhat higher than everyone else. Jealously does play a small part but i think that she would of ended up the same if everyone was nice to her. When her parents died (this happens at the beginning so it not a spoiler) she wasn’t upset about them dieing. She didn’t say that she was relieved that they were dead. She didn’t have much feelings for their death. Same with her sister. It kinda just happens. Nothing happens in the story to make her more evil. She was still kinda evil in the beginning. Things were actually getting better for her once her sister died. Nothing happened between her and another person that i am not going to say who. Then she kills the person. Before then she still had her mortals. She doesn’t try to kill princess Selene in a way that is straight out. She does it in a way that it was like someone else did it because she didn’t want to be a monster. When she became queen except for the trying to kill a baby thing she wasn’t trying to murderous queen. She didn’t kill many people. When she does do bad stuff she tried to make excuses for the stuff that she did so that it seem right to do the stuff she did. It doesn’t excuse her behavior but it shows that she was trying to give herself some morals. <br/><br/>I don’t really feel bad for her. She was evil from the start. She sexually abused and raped someone she “loved”. It was a big crush that wouldn’t go away. It wasn’t love. Explecially the fact that she forces him to love her. He does repeatedly tell her to stop she refuses. These scenes made me feel uncomfortable. It was right after his wife died and he had a kid too. I’ll also like to add that she is a teenager and the guy is a grown man. Despite all this she thought for a long time that he loved her. <br/><br/>I also didn’t like reading in Levana’s point of view. I know that she is supposed to be bad but i don’t like reading in her point of view. I don’t like watching her repeatedly do bad stuff and make her own excuses. I would of liked it better if it was in someone’s else point of view and that character was watching Levana grow.<br/><br/>I would of liked to see more of Luna. The story is set on Luna. This was our chance to see more of it but we just saw the palace. We don’t get to see that many other characters either. We don’t get to see what they are like. We do at least get to see that lunar people aren’t evil. We kinda see that in the series but they are mostly people that got the short end of the stick and didn’t live with the other lunar people. Though some of them that we met didn’t have any abuse and lived with other lunars and weren’t evil. This book did confirm that Lunars aren’t evil just the queen and a few others. <br/><br/>The parts that i did like to see was the small scenes that Princess and Selene and Winter were seen or mention. We got to see where they came from and what happened to them, which was nice."

"Do not read this book"

"I always love to hear the villains story because it does explain all lot, like, I see how Levana ended up where she is BUT GIRL "

"After rereading, I'm changing from 5 to 3 stars. This book was pretty rushed and although it was a fine backstory, it wasn't the most intriguing to read. I do appreciate that it wasn't a sob story that makes you feel bad for the villain — nope, the villain truly is a villain."

"I love that it’s from the villains point of view. It’s written in a way that you understand why she is the way she is but doesn’t try to make her the victim like so many other books do. "

"I am not 100% sure this addition to the series was necessary, but it was good. Although, with all the background it gives, I almost feel as if this book should be read first. It gave insight into Levana as a ruler and a person, and I fully believe she is as delusional as she is manipulative. It tells of her past and why she is so obsessed with her glamour and keeping her face hidden at all times. It even hints at her gift being weak at some points which was surprising. There is more background into the letumosis virus, Selene's nursery fire- the full story, background of Winter's mother and her death, and the assassination of Levana's husband. All great informative background for the story."