👶👶👶 Cress, by Marissa Meyer

While I’m a sucker for a good Dystopian novel, I can do without the sci-fi edge in this fan-fiction quartet. Having been to the author signing with my daughters, I can assure you that Meyer is a YA favorite (as well as being incredibly adept at recounting original fairy tales from memory). So, although these novels were not absolute gems for me, I can see the allure for the younger population.

Cress is truly an incomparable recounting of the Rapunzel story, and was quite a twist on this classic "damsel in distress" fairy tale. Crescent Moon was an endearing character, and I found myself rooting for her as the novel developed.

As an adult, however, I cringe at the impulsive infatuation exhibited by each of the female lead characters. It was a shame that each female protagonist had to be paired off with a male character throughout the progression of the stories. To that end, it was with resignation that I continued to read the series, as it followed this cliché pattern, and made me question the message being sent to young girls. Certain scenes were a bit nauseating with the dependency on their swoon-worthy counterparts. However, for the most part, I’ll admit it was plot-appropriate, and it is after all, fan-fiction.

The violence level is high, and as usual, I struggle with the necessity for such content, but I can be a bit conservative in terms of that part of it.

Unfortunately, because I just wasn't head-over-heels for this series (albeit fairly enjoyable), and with Winter being as interminable as I've heard, I'm going to ask my daughter for a brief synopsis of the final installment of this series, instead of trudging through it.

Overall, these were fast-paced, incredibly unique retellings of the Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Snow White stories. Kudos to the author for quite an entertaining imagination, and I must comment that the book covers are absolutely fabulous!

Read 3/7/16