This was my first read through the entire series and many years since I'd read the first 2. I don't think the 3rd was out at the time, that's how long. 
I really enjoyed how the author tied seemingly insignificant things back around to have big impact. How the stakes kept being raised and the heroines weren't made of Teflon. Their injuries and losses kept building and weren't forgotten. It was a very good series. 
But gosh teenagers and their hormines are annoying!

Everyone lives and falls in love minus Iko. My favorite couples are Winter and Jacin & Cress and Thorne.

Im so happy with the ending. 

You go on EVERY step of the journey with the characters, especially with the multiple POV, but the story wraps up in this book and it’s worth the whole read to see everything resolved! 

Really enjoyed this book! It wrapped up a lot of major elements of the story and brought a lot of happiness to the main characters, which was deserved. I loved Cinder's bravery and truly all of the FMCs' bravery/growth. 

A perfect ending to a fantastic series. I'm going to miss it...

Also. Winter & Jacin > everyone else. I freaking love them.

Winter's story also has the most clever parallels to her fairytale as well (in my humble opinion). Cinder is a close second, but I think Winter's story is a lot more exciting.

The revolution is a bit challenging, as it (understandably) has to wrap up every bit of convoluted plot line and can be a bit anxiety-inducing. Sometimes you genuinely feel that the characters are about to die and/or lose.

The last chapters are done in the way of the movie version of the Return of the King - where we get to see each person's ending. It is a bit saccharine, but in the perfect way that modern fairy tales are.

I was glad to see Cress & Thorne finally be solid. It was frustrating to read their back-and-forth in book 3, but there are some PERFECTLY written scenes between the two of them in this one. Also, can I just say that I love the mild allusion to other versions of Rapunzel? Like how Thorne stabs Cress in the side just like Mother Gothel stabs Flynn in Tangled?

I did struggle a bit when it was revealed that Levana has a disfigured face. Mostly because I don't understand how cyborgs are a reality but plastic surgery isn't? But more than that, it seemed like a weak/frustrating plot device, one that goes against the whole idea of Snow White (that the Evil Queen *is* in fact gorgeous on the outside, but can't understand that her *heart* is ugly). Still not anything worth docking stars for.

Seriously. So. Good.

I don't factor audiobook narrators' performances into my overall star rating, but I would give Rebecca Soler a 4/5 for this one. As previously stated in my other reviews of books 1-3, I got used to her slightly different voices and grew to appreciate them, especially certain characters. There were still some pieces that should have been re-recorded due to minor errors, but again, that feels like it should be on whoever did the mixing and production. But the one thing that really made me dock that extra half star compared to last time, was Winter's voice. She is voiced like a baby, and it was grating on my ears. I also don't appreciate the infantilization of a character who is 17 with a love interest who is 19. It just feels icky. I think she could have come across as "crazy" yet "alluring" and "innocent" without being voiced as a child.

The editor legitimately perished when editing this novel like THIS ABSOLUTELY DID NOT NEED TO BE OVER 800 PAGES and because of that there is literally no way I could rate this over 3 stars. 
 
The truth is that the main plotline for this series is incredibly basic. But I like the characters and I ship the ships so I've enjoyed it regardless, I'm here for their character interactions, dynamics, and arcs while going through this basic plot. The plot is merely there to be the setting for the characters and to add some pace to the story.

But even with over 800 PAGES, I still felt like the characters didn't get enough page time?? Kai and Cinder were pretty solid, Wolf and Scarlet could have had more development but it was still okay, I wanted Cress and Thorne to be fleshed out more (especially Thorne's feelings towards Cress and Cress taking him off the pedestal more) but okay I could roll with it cos they had book 3, but literally Winter and Jacin??? It's technically THEIR novel but I felt like we didn't we get nowhere near enough time/development with them. I know they're childhood friends so they already have years of a relationship, but we're supposed to see that lovers arc and it just wasn't there ?? 

Like all these character arcs and development lost out TO WHAT?? to a basic straightforward kill the villain and everything is saved plot line??? Like Cinder really thought she was Katiness starting a revolution, honey you made a video??? I would have enjoyed this SO MUCH more if the characters and their arcs were done better, like the only thing this series has going for it is the CHARACTERS (it genuinely is impressive that I like every single pov), without it's like ?? I'm not even fussed that there weren't that many consequences cos the stakes never felt that high and we did have side characters deaths, but again the plot is not what I'm here for.

By far the weakest of the series. I think the best is Cress. The length of it was pushing it but with three main characters and their overlapping plotlines it worked well and I had great time with the characters. 

I knew just by the length this novel wasn't going to be amazing and things would be dragged out, but I thought at the very least the characters and ships would be done as well as they were previously, but we didn't even get that 😭 While I still kept reading and enjoying it, by the final third I did need to push myself to actually read instead of putting it off. 

Overall, I have had fun with this series. It could have been better and with a much more intricate plot, but the characters, their arcs, the ships and their development, and the friendship rag tag crew were great and I just wish this novel had that to it's full extent. Like I think the fact that I'm not fussed that I've finished this series is indicative of how these characters did not get enough in this book cos I should be having a lot more emotions at my time with these characters being over 😭

I also don't think I really care to read the extra novellas, like that novella epilogue that is in the Stars Above should just have been included here, again over 800 pages and for what ??? So we'll see if I get around to reading them. 

As sad as I am to let this series go for a second time, I’m so glad everyone got their HEA 🥹🫶 The Lunar Chronicles is one of the first main series I read back in middle school when I started getting into more fantasy and world-building chapter books so the nostalgia I feel rereading it as a 20-year old is palpable.