"Cress" by Marissa Meyer (The Lunar Chronicles Book 3)

Cress is the third book in Marissa Meyer's sci-fi fairy tale series called The Lunar Chronicles. I read the first two books Cinder and Scarlet earlier this year, and finally got to book 3. Cress is a retelling of Rapunzel's story. Since this is a sci-fi novel, instead of being held in a tower, Cress is a prisoner on a satellite that orbits the earth. One of the Lunar Queen's thaumaturges brings her food and supplies and in return, Cress hacks into earth's networks and spies on the most powerful people, in particular Prince Kai whom we met in the first two novels. Cress is different from both Cinder and Scarlet. Even though she is extremely good at the high-tech stuff, she is awkward socially, shy and is a hopeless romantic. I really liked this character. The book itself is considerably longer than either of the first two installments in the series and the plot is also much more complex. You can definitely see how Meyer has grown as a writer since the first novel. We got glimpses of Cress in the first two novels and both times she helped Cinder and her friends. In Book 3, we learn about just how much Cress was helping them to stay invisible from both the earthen and lunar law enforcement. Cress is a very likable character and I really liked reading about her adventures as she joins Cinder and her crew in their efforts to overthrow the evil queen Levana.