Stars Above: a Lunar Chronicles Collection by Marissa Meyer

Reviewed by Susan Z. 

Grade 12 

Stars Above by Marissa Meyer is a collection of several stories; most of which serve as prequels to the main series, and one being an epilogue. If you’re done with the Lunar Chronicles and you want more...this is that book. It’ll give you a bit of history, a look at what happened in the near future, and more. 

Stars Above is made up of nine chapters, each a separate story. "The Keeper", "Glitches", "The Queen’s Army", "Carswell’s Guide to Being Lucky", "After Sunshine Passes By", "The Princess and the Guard", and "The Mechanic" are all what I would consider prequels to the Lunar Chronicles. Some are backstories that provide a bit of history while others have events that happen literally right before or at the beginning of the series. They all sort of just provide additional context, and also some are told from a different person’s perspective. 

"Something Old, Something New" is the epilogue we all wanted. I would say it picks up just about a few weeks after Winter (the last book in the main series). It’s really sweet, and if you weren’t happy with where Winter ended off... "Something Old, Something New" will definitely bring some closure. So, this was the final chapter, however, there is one previous chapter that isn’t really a prologue or an epilogue, and it doesn’t really fit into the main series. "The Little Android", following the same style as the other books, is a sci-fi twist on The Little Mermaid. Androids aren’t meant to fall in love, or really have any emotions in general, but this one certainly does. 

 I really enjoyed all the stories in Stars Above, being a big fan of the Lunar Chronicles. Like I said, they are mostly prequels. I liked getting to know the characters a bit more through these prequels. Another thing I liked was that we got some new perspectives; some events do overlap with what has happened in the main series, but we got a different person’s point of view so that was pretty nice. I really enjoyed the epilogue, I think it was a great way to end things. And although I didn’t mind how Winter ended, this epilogue did tie up some of the loose ends. "The Little Android", I was confused the first time I read it, but it made more sense the second time around. I think it’s cool that another classic fairy tale got a sci-fi update. I would be pretty excited if the author came out with more of these short stories. 

 I would recommend this book for those that have already read the Lunar Chronicles and enjoyed those books. I think this book alone can be a little confusing if you were to read it by itself, without having prior knowledge on the Lunar Chronicles. So if you haven’t read those books, they’re really great books for everyone. I would especially recommend them for people who like science fiction.