REVIEW | Stars Above by Marissa Meyer

Stars Above by Marissa Meyer

Publication Year: 2016

Genre: YA, Science Fiction, Short Stories

Series: Lunar Chronicles 

Awards: None

Format: Audio

Narrator: Rebecca Soler

WHY?: Because I'm a certified Lunartic:0).

Stars above is a collection of stories set in the Lunar Chronicles universe though only one in the collection deserves to be classified as a true short story. The majority of the stories are prequel chapters that provide a little more background on the characters from the novels.  They are arranged chronologically: first is the story of how Scarlet goes to live with her grandmother and is joined by a certain Lunar Princess, Cinder's first few months being awake and living with the Linh family, how Cress ends up living in a satellite and Ze'ev Kesley becomes a "wolf", how a teenage Thorne navigates high school, and how Winter and Jacin grow up together.  There is also a re-telling of Kai and Cinder's meeting in the market place from Kai's perspective and the collection ends with the one future story which brings all the characters together again about two years post Winter.

The one oddball story, which was my favorite, was The Little Android.  It is the only entry in the collection that has a fully fledged story arc and could really count as a short story.  I really love the idea of sentient androids, which is probably why I love Iko so much, and the story uses this idea to re-tell The Little Mermaid (which is my favorite fairy tale).  It is done with Meyer's usual creative flair and works really well.

The last story is the most fun because we get to peek at where our friends are after Winter ends.  It solidified for me that Cinder and Kai, the original couple, are my favorite.  I'm a sucker for characters with a strong sense of duty and responsibility, especially when said characters get their much deserved rewards.  There's something so satisfying about it.  Because of my love for them I also really enjoyed the story of their first meeting from Kai's perspective.  

Rebecca Soler was the narrator for the entire series and I really like her reading.  On the audio version at least there is an excerpt from Meyer's next book, Heartless, a story based in Wonderland (as in "Alice in") and I was hooked and can't wait for that book to come out now!

FINAL VERDICT:  This is an enjoyable companion to the Lunar Chronicles series that any fan will definitely want to read!  3 out of 5 Stars.

Other Opinions: Readers in Wonderland |  Feminist Fairy Tale Reviews