Stars Above by Marissa Meyer

“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 realise 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.”

Stars Above is a neat little collection of short stories within the world of The Lunar Chronicles. Some - of course - are better than others, but as a whole they offer more insight to the characters we know and love, and provide us with more information. If you're a big fan of the original series (as I am) then you'll definitely want to add this to your shelf.

The Keeper is an excellent place to start, as it's set before the events of Cinder. Here, we follow Michelle as she deals not only a huge secret, but her teenage granddaughter - Scarlet. It was nice to see more of a certain character's origins than just the accident, but it was also really nice to see the relationship between Michelle and Scarlet, and also Michelle and her hidden ward. This is a good place to jump back into the world after having some time away from it.

4/5 stars

Glitches is an odd one. I first read it when I'd only read Cinder and enjoyed it more the first time around. The second time, I felt it was very redundant and just rehashing a lot of what we already knew from the first four books. However, I did get different information from it this time and felt that it's more to do with Cinder's origins than the 'glitches'.

2.5/5 stars

The Queen's Army gives us insight into Wolf's past, which was nice, but overall I didn't really care. I would have preferred to see more of him pre-Wolf, as the special soldiers was my least favourite aspect of the story as a whole.

3/5 stars

Carswell's Guide to Being Lucky is much in the same vein as the previous story. Nice, but nothing special. I enjoyed this least of all, as it seemed to serve no real purpose - not even to show character development, as Thorne behaves the same way in the main series.

2.5/5 stars

After Sunshine Passes By is very sad, as Cress is such a sweetly naive and innocent character, but again it was very similar to things we already know. I would have preferred more about her childhood, or about how she first coped with being sent away rather than the actual act of sending her away.

3.5/5 stars

The Princess and the Guard is one of my favourites, as it felt just like a deleted scene from Winter. It was really nice to see more of Jacin and Winter's friendship, even if it is quite a sad story and had a bit of information we'd already learnt. My biggest problem with it, however, was how someone else's misfortune was used as a motivator for Winter. She could have come to the same conclusion a number of different ways, none of which involved someone else having to suffer.

4/5 stars

The Little Android is confusing at first - I thought it was about Iko, but it actually hardly focuses on our main cast at all. In the end, I did end up really liking it. It's a clever retelling of The Little Mermaid, with a very sad ending. Made me think an extension of this world could be possible, even though I am very content with how Winter wrapped things up.

4.5/5 stars

The Mechanic is a little unnecessary as we've already seen the scene before in Cinder, but it was still nice to see things from Kai's perspective. I think I could read the entire series from Kai's perspective, as he and Cinder are my favourites. It could, however, have been improved by being about how he was using Nainsi to gather information, or even about his life before the series and growing up as a prince.

3/5 stars

Something Old, Something New is the perfect ending to this collection - and the series as a whole. Everything about it, from the wedding to the friendships to the surprises was perfect and sweet and just what I needed to round this off. The only thing that could have made it completely perfect is if it had been a different couple getting married.

5/5 stars