Fairest by Marissa Meyer offers an illuminating – and terrifying – portrait of Queen Levana, central villain of The Lunar Chronicles series.

Set years before the start of The Lunar Chronicles, Fairest by Marissa Meyer follows Levana’s rise to power over Luna. Levana’s days as a young, lonely princess set her on an increasingly brutal path, as the pursuit of love and twisted good intentions lead her to become the dark queen readers will recognize from Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress. As lingering mysteries are revealed, readers will learn the true nature of the deadly queen – and find out just how far Levana will go to get what she wants.

‘Fairest’ book review

As the story of Queen Levana, central villain of The Lunar Chronicles, Fairest is something of a departure for Marissa Meyer. Levana’s story neither corresponds directly to a classic fairytale, nor intersects with the present stories of her sci-fi princesses – instead, Fairest serves almost as a revision of Meyer’s own re-told fairytales. Set years before the events of Cinder on the twisted stage of Lunar society, Queen Levana’s story nevertheless provides a relevant context for the modern-day action of The Lunar Chronicles.

Being her own story, Levana herself receives a healthy dose of context in Fairest. Written from the evil queen’s point of view, readers will witness the defining moments of her life and find Levana’s goals, desires, and regrets categorically illuminated.

But illumination is a tricky subject in Fairest. Meyer’s least conventional story is also her darkest by far, and those who pick up the book hoping to sympathize with the Lunar queen may be disappointed. Levana is not the hero of the story; in fact, Fairest makes an overwhelming case for the queen as one of the most terrifying villains in Young Adult literature.

Meyer is not squeamish with the true nature of her villain-turned-protagonist. Within pages, Levana’s darkness is unveiled; within chapters, her greed and selfishness become chillingly central to the story. Readers of The Lunar Chronicles will be expecting murder and intrigue, and they’ll get it – along with abuse, exploitation, and assault.

As desperately disturbing as it is, Fairest is also an unrelentingly gripping read. Levana’s spiraling behavior is a space-ship crash one can’t look away from, and fans of The Lunar Chronicles will fly through the pages in anticipation of the disasters they know are coming.

Fairest suffers mostly from its brevity, as many years of story are compressed into a relatively thin volume. The major beats (and they are major) are fleshed out in gripping, gory detail, but years can flip by in a page. The effect is somewhat highlight-reelish, and ultimately not quite as satisfying as the other installments in The Lunar Chronicles.

That said, Meyer’s grasp on her characters is as impeccable as ever, her writing fearless and swift. Lunar society is as fascinating as it is often repellent, and Princess Winter – Meyer’s incarnation of Snow White – becomes a fascinating figure in the shadow cast by Queen Levana.

Channeling her inner George R.R. Martin, Marissa Meyer weaves the grimmest of fairytales in Fairest. A story about the balance between beauty and ugliness – and the price of both – this unexpected installment in The Lunar Chronicles sets a delicious stage for the final installment in her innovative, fascinating series.

Fairest by Marissa Meyer is available today from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and your local independent bookstore.