Winter

By: Marissa Meyer

Narrated by: Rebecca Soler

Length: 23 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

The #1 New York Times Bestselling Series!

Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.

Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won't approve of her feelings for her childhood friend--the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn't as weak as Levana believes her to be and she's been undermining her stepmother's wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that's been raging for far too long.

Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters? Fans will not want to miss this thrilling conclusion to Marissa Meyer's national bestselling Lunar Chronicles series.

The audio includes an interview between the author and the narrator.

©2015 Rampion Books, Inc (P)2015 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Reader Soler is one of those magical voice actors who can create a seemingly endless supply of memorable voices. Here, she offers an appropriately sweet, fluttery Snow White-esque voice for Winter; a deliciously purring, cooing "popular mean girl" voice for Queen Levana; a French accent for Jacinl and many, many more. Even background characters who appear for just a line or two get distinctive voices, such as an Australian-accented guest at the wedding banquet. Soler's pacing is excellent, and she skillfully navigates listeners through Meyer's 23-hour story." -Publishers Weekly

"Narrator Soler returns to deliver an epic performance. She continues to enrapture listeners as she takes on the vocal stylings of 10 main characters and a plethora of secondary voices. She breathes personality into each while maintaining distinctions among the voices with a variety of pitches and accents, including French, Australian, and Irish. Her whimsical portrayal of Winter as seemingly vague and almost fluttery is a perfect contrast to the flawlessly venomous Queen Levana. Solar ramps up the pace to bring listeners to the edge of their seats in a thrilling escape scene and just as expertly slows it down for the romantic interludes. Soler’s narration helps bring this epic series to a wonderfully engaging conclusion." -Booklist

So amazing

I honestly don't think she could have ended this amazing series any better! So great!

R. Soler does a few mistakes narrating it.

In chapter 33, 11 min 30 sec in, she says the wrong name. A few small mistakes here and there throw me out of the story but it is still decently done.

the best ending possible.

i hope she writes more in the series, to include more fairytales from around the world!

I'm speechless

Not really. This is freaking amazing and I could go on about it for days. Beautifully and intelligently written. After reading all 4, I miss my friends. What a gift this author has. Just wonderful. Splendid. Oh, and the narrator....best I've ever heard. The accents, the tones of voice. Amazing. Got the points across. Enveloped the listener in the story. Perfect.

This author tho!!!!! SO GOOD

I was introduced to Marissa Meyer's addictive writing with Renegades (I am currently impatiently awaiting the 2nd book). Her fans were constantly comparing Renegades to The Lunar Chronicles so I had to check it out for myself. I was immediately sucked into the series and finished all 4 books within a couple weeks. I can't seem to put my finger on it, but there is just something about her writing that pulls you in and keeps you intrigued. Although Renegades and The Lunar Chronicles are very different series, they both have that intriguing quality and writing style that can only come from Marissa Meyer. They both involve an entire world of their own that involve not only amazing characters that you desperately want to see succeed, but also a whole world in which only an excellent sci-fi/fantasy author can create.

I listen to audiobooks when working out and on the long drive to and from work and this series kept me completely entranced and then quickly irritated when I had to pause it. Meyer's ability to suck her readers in to the story is uncanny. She is WAY too good at cliffhangers! She knows how to make her readers impatient as hell...in a good way.

Amazing story and great narrator!

I love that the narrator did different voices and accents for the different characters! I've loved the books for years, but with my busy schedule never found time to read the last one, then I found it on here and had to listen and I'm so glad I did! I have read Renegades her new series, but have yet to listen on here, but I hope Rebecca Soler also narrates those ones.

Marvelous Finish to the Series!!

These books were a light, but fun read, as evidenced by my zooming through them at the rate I did.
I really enjoy Marissa Meyer's writing, and I love the world she created. This series is so much fun, and I'll definitely be checking out her other books sometime soon.
I loved Winter, the character. She is so sweet, but she is not gullible, and she fights her aunt even if costs her her own mind. I admire her so much, and her desire to help Cinder and her allies even though everyone just wrote her off as "crazy" was kind of great.
Jacin was...a little two-dimensional. I could tell he cared for Winter, but I feel like we didn't really get to know him. I don't know if Meyer just didn't write him as well as the others, or if it's from years of emptying his mind around Levana and her minions. Either way, I wish he was a little more fleshed out.
I think the ending was a little "and they lived happily ever after", but that's pretty much what I expected. ****SPOILER**** [I have to include this one spoiler in my review, because I feel this is worth mentioning. The fact that Kai and Cinder don't get engaged was such a relief to me. They're both so young, and I think they both just need to focus on learning to rule their respective nations. An engagement would have been a little bit too much for me.] ****END SPOILER****
Overall though, I really loved this book, and I loved following the characters on their journey

exceptional

a very beautiful ending to a beautiful series. although ending seems rushed, I enjoyed it still. I wish there is a post Winter book, telling us how Cinder deals with Lunar and her relationship with Kai. SPOILER!! I thought that Winter will be sitting on the throne at the end, and Lunar accepting that giving up their gifts would be for the better, then Lunars and Earthens can live in harmony.

The Best Narrator

Rebecca Soler is my favorite narrator, she captures all of the emotion in the book and she has the best voices for each of the characters, and she is flawless in both of these. The book itself is amazing, and the narrator makes it even more so. I cannot recommend this book and series enough, whether you choose to read or listen to it.

A Thrilling Conclusion to the Story

I will start by saying that I loved this series! It was so amazing, the retelling of the old tales with a sci-fi and inclusive twist was just... amazing.
Winter as a character was not new to this book, but having her be featured more heavily was wonderful, I loved the views and change in perspective to the story that she brought.

While it is still a book about Cinder and her tale and journey, it very much tells the story of all of the strong young women so far, Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter; along with their male counterparts. I absolutely loved the pairings and what each partner bring to the story, though I do wish the stories had more LGBT+ representation across the board.

I listen to audio books at 2x speed, and I did not put this down all day, I listened through work and while making dinner. During my downtime at home. Everything! I finished it in a day! I was sad when it ended but couldn't stop listening!!! I was laughing along so much and also shaking my head at dumb decisions or talking aloud and upset when hard parts came along.
And like all of the Cinder books, this one is not lacking for hard and sad moments, but the funny ones are more memorable to me.

I am excited to be able to share these books with my kid when they finish their talking animal kick, I think that they will love them. And so would anyone of any age honestly. :)