Stars Above review

The Basics

Book Title: Stars Above (Lunar Chronicles #4.5)

Author: Marissa Meyer

Pages: 369

ISBN: 978-1-250-09184-0

Genre: Fantasy, Short stories

Defining Quote

(Hard to pick for a short story collection, so I decided to pick a quote that stuck with me from one of the stories that wouldn't be a spoiler.)

"Then, so suddenly she almost missed it, space opened up before her. Black and expansive and endless and filled with more stars than she could ever drink in. More stars than she could ever compute."

Summary

A collection of short stories, mostly involving the main characters from the Lunar Chronicles series. The exception is "The Little Android", which is set around an android not introduced in the series. 

Thoughts

As a fan of the Lunar Chronicles, I found this book to be a great companion to the series. All of the stories, with the exception of "The Little Android", filled in information about each character that didn't have a natural place to be explained within the series. 

In "The Keeper", we learn more about Michelle's background before she was united with Cinder. In "Glitches", we follow Cinder shortly after being regenerated and is on her way to meet the Lihn family. In "The Queen's Army", we follow Ze'ev, or Wolf, before he becomes a member of the Queen's army. "Carswell's Guide in Being Lucky" is, obviously, about Carswell Thorne when he's younger. This story mainly focuses on that mysterious Kate Fallow that was mentioned in the series, but we never learned any more about. "After Sunshine Passes By", is one of the short stories detailing how Cress went from being a Lunar shell providing blood to being in the satellite. In "The Princess and the Guard", you follow Winter and Jacin. In this story, Winter is still using her powers and is freely interacting with her best friend, Jacin. As you read, you find out about why Winter decided to stop using her powers and how Winter and Jacin came to be in their relationship when we are first introduced to them in the series. 

"The Little Android" is the outlier in this book because the main focus is an android, Mech6.0. You follow a snippet of her life when her personality chip starts to act up and leads her to more human-like reactions. While these are brand new characters within this story, it stays within the tone of the other stories and brings out tender feelings by the end. 

"The Mechanic" is the only story that is a re-telling from the series, but from a different perspective. Here, we see Cinder and Kai meeting for the first time from Kai's perspective. While it isn't new information like the previous stories, it is nice to see the meeting from his point of view. Finally, "Something Old, Something New" is the aftermath of the series. It takes place two years after the conclusion of Winter with all of the main characters going to Scarlet and Wolf's farm for their wedding. 

Overall, I really appreciated the stories where something new was added that wasn't fully explained within the series. There's nothing especially thrilling or leaving you on the edge of your seat. The exception (if I dare say) being "The Little Android". As I read through this story, I was constantly wondering what would happen because I didn't know how things were going to end. This book didn't blow me away, but I don't think it was meant to do that. It filled in the gaps in the series to make it complete. 

Pros vs. Cons

• Pros
• Fills in info gaps from the series
• Stories are easy to get through
• Involves all your favorite characters
• "The Little Android" adding new material in a wonderful way
• Leaves you with a feeling of completion
• Cons
• With the exception of "The Little Android", you know how each story ends
• Nothing generally surprising

Overall Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐

What do you think? If you read this book, which was your favorite story?