Stars Above (A Lunar Chronicles Collection) – Marissa Meyer

Title: Stars Above (A Lunar Chronicles Collection) by Marissa Meyer
Publishing Info: February 2, 2016 by Macmillan
Source: Amazon
Genres: Young Adult, Retelling, Science Fiction
Find it on the web: Buy from Amazon // GoodreadsDate Completed: February 2, 2016
Related Posts: Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1), Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles #2), , Glitches (The Lunar Chronicles #0.5), The Queen's Army (The Lunar Chronicles #1.5), Carswell's Guide to Being Lucky (Lunar Chronicles #3.1), Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1), Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2), Cress (The Lunar Chronicles, #3), Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4), Heartless, Wires and Nerve, Volume 1 (Wires and Nerve #1), Renegades (Renegades #1)

The enchantment continues....
The universe of the Lunar Chronicles holds stories—and secrets—that are wondrous, vicious, and romantic. How did Cinder first arrive in New Beijing? How did the brooding soldier Wolf transform from young man to killer? When did Princess Winter and the palace guard Jacin realize their destinies?
With nine stories—five of which have never before been published—and an exclusive never-before-seen excerpt from Marissa Meyer’s upcoming novel, Heartless, about the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, Stars Above is essential for fans of the bestselling and beloved Lunar Chronicles.

By now, we all know how much I love The Lunar Chronicles so it was definitely a bittersweet read for me knowing that this was the very end of new content for the series. (Although now we do have graphic novels to look forward to so that helps!) Some stories worked better for me than others and I had really hoped for more than just one piece of a story that took place after the end of WINTER. I suppose I should have known since we were talking about only one epilogue here but really everything else came before CINDER happened. Actually, correction: I was looking for more present-day to post-WINTER stories… Like stories from another character’s POV or extra tidbits or deleted scenes. Once story was Kai’s first meeting of Cinder from his POV so that was fun but you know me — I’m just greedy for more new things! Anyway, here are my thoughts for each short story!

A photo posted by Brittany S. (@bookaddictsguide) on Feb 2, 2016 at 5:20pm PST

 

THE KEEPER: This was such a lovely way to kick off this collection of stories! I know that STARS ABOVE is an anthology of some previously released stories and some new ones and I loved that it started off with a new one! I believe these go in chronological order according to the Lunar Chronicles time line (that would make sense) so it was awesome to see even more backstory before GLITCHES. Without giving away spoilers, THE KEEPER mainly tells the story Michelle Benoit and when Scarlet first permanently locates to her grandmother’s house. It spans about seven years from when Scarlet is six until she is thirteen. I loved this added backstory and extra knowledge! It was also fun to see how Scarlet acquired some of her trademarks like her hoodie… and gun.

GLITCHES: This isn’t a new story (I first read it on Tor.com a few years back) but I wanted to read all of the stories, no matter if they were old or new. This one really tugs at my heartstrings! It’s the story of when Cinder first arrived at the Linh residence and (among other things), my heart just breaks for her. She didn’t choose to be a cyborg and she’s categorized as inhuman just because has some robotic limbs and enhanced abilities. I always love learning more about Cinder… And I’m reminded again how awful Adri is.

THE QUEEN’S ARMY: This is another story that I’ve already read thanks to its release on Tor.com! It’s definitely a much different experience reading it now than when I first had. I feel like my first read, I didn’t really know this was about Wolf somehow? Maybe I didn’t know his real name until later and then it dawned on me… Either way, obviously I have everyone’s full stories now so I am quite aware! Again, this is another situation — like THE KEEPER — where knowing what I know from WINTER (and the rest of the series), my heart just goes out to these characters even more. I feel so bad for Ze’ev and what was done to him and it’s wild to see the beginning of his story and what leads him to his job with the Queen’s army and ultimately, how he ends up with Scarlet. Quick and enjoyable.

CARSWELL’S GUIDE TO BEING LUCKY: This story doesn’t quite bowl me over, which is funny because it’s Throrne! I think I want more sarcasm and humor whereas this shows more of his natural charm (also endearing but not as snarky and funny). I do like this story though! It shows a nice soft side of Thorne that even he didn’t know he possessed. I love his obsession with Rampions. I feel for him and his relationship with his parents. His background really sets him up for the person he becomes (or I suppose it’s a good backstory from what we already know of “Captain” Carswell Thorne)! Very endearing and lovely.

AFTER SUNSHINE PASSES BY: Awwww, I feel so bad for Cress! I do love how really everyone is getting their own back stories here… But I’m also anxious for the epilogue!!! Ahem. Anyway, this was another new one and we see little nine-year-old Cress, as we learn from the books, heading off to her satellite. Most of this has already been laid out in CRESS but it was very touching to see it directly from Cress’s POV. Sybil is heartless, as always, and I just felt so bad when Cress got left there for the first time! Nine is YOUNG. The little song in here was quite delightful and that’s where this story gets its name.

THE PRINCESS AND THE GUARD: I think this was the longest novella so far and I absolutely loved it! Obviously this is the story of Winter and Jacin, their childhood together, and the events mostly lead up to WINTER. We find out exactly how Winter got her scars and witness the specific event, learn more about her decision not to use her Lunar gift, and more about the incident that led to that decision. I also fell even more in love with Jacin. I LOVE his protectiveness of Winter and I think a big part of that is because they’ve also always had a good friendship… and you know how much I love best-friend-to-more stories! He also has some pretty smooth moments. I was so glad to see more of him and even more of Winter’s and Jacin’s friendship/relationship. Absolutely touching.

THE LITTLE ANDROID: This had even more Little Mermaid parallels than I remember! Maybe I was looking for the more thoroughly this time now that I knew how the story went. Still not quite my favorite, possibly because the main focus isn’t one of the main characters though we do see mention of Kai and an actual appearance of Cinder herself. I think I would have liked a longer story so we could enjoy more plot! But isn’t that always my request with short stories from my favorite authors!?

THE MECHANIC: “The mechanic that was going to change everything”… Little did he know! This story was just plain adorable. It’s Kai and Cinder’s first meeting from Kai’s point of view and I just loved his instant attraction to Cinder not in spite of but because she was different from the other girls that usually fawn over him. You know me, I love a good tomboy and it’s always great to see a character appreciate a tomboy and love her for who she is! This was just adorable to see and I love how many little things are slipped in there that made me think of the rest of the series and smirk. Just you wait, kids!

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW: This epilogue was absolutely PERFECT. It was everything I could have dreamed of and just filled my heart with so much happiness. I had several guesses for who was getting married but this actually wasn’t the first wedding I expected but it was of course, absolutely perfect. I truly teared up during the ceremony because it was just so lovely and I’ve become so invested in these characters throughout the series. It was also so wonderful just to see everyone all together again and NOT in grave peril! Their friendships are truly touching and I just love this crew and I always will. What a fabulous way to close out the series.

Kept Me Hooked On: Anthologies & collections. It’s so great to have a bind-up of all of these novellas in a beautiful hardcover! I’m usually not one to read a bunch of short stories but I think that’s growing on me!
Left Me Wanting More: New content. There were a bunch of new stories included but I was super duper hoping for more content that took place during/after the series. That epilogue though!!!

Addiction Rating
Buy it!

I always love more additions to The Lunar Chronicles. These books just make me so happy and the epilogue was the absolutely perfect way to wrap up this series!!

BOOKS LIKE STARS ABOVE

(Click the cover to see my review!)