Do You Need to Read “Fairest” Before “Winter”?

The Lunar Chronicles book series consists of four main books: Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter. It also includes a novella, Fairest, that departs from the main storyline yet was published after Cress and before Winter. Because it isn’t one of the “main” books in the series, some wonder if it is necessary to read Fairest before reading Winter.

So, how necessary is reading Fairest before Winter when reading The Lunar Chronicles? Well, there are two answers depending on if you are asking if you “should” or “need” to read it. Read on to find out the answers to both!

What is Fairest?

Fairest is part of The Lunar Chronicles series. It was published after Cress but before Winter. However, it takes place long before any of the books. This is because Fairest explores the background story of the evil Queen Levana.

In this way, Fairest dives into new territory while also looking back on some things. The new territory includes a lot of information about Levana. It looks at her origin and explains how she became queen of Luna. However, the book also looks back on a few things. Specifically, it looks back on events in the past that were some of the key mysteries uncovered in Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress.

Should You Read Fairest Before Winter?

In general, we definitely recommend reading Fairest before reading Winter. The book introduces a few key pieces of information that are brought up again in Winter. This includes some details about Lunar society, the history of the Lunar monarchy, and Winter’s past. This is especially important as neither of these are discussed in detail in Winter, so seeing them in Fairest helps you understand them better.

Fairest also gives readers a chance to learn more about the series’ antagonist before the final book. The previous three books all look at the main protagonists and their individual stories and motivations. However, Levana is only viewed through the eyes of these protagonists. Fairest gives readers a chance to see things through Levana’s eyes before the climax of the series, which makes the climax more meaningful.

Do You Need to Read Fairest Before Winter?

While is it definitely helpful to read Fairest before reading Winter, it is not necessary. You can jump right from Cress to Winter and still understand what is going on. There will be a few mentions to characters and events that were explained in Fairest but missing out on the backstory behind these references will not have a big impact on the read.

So, it is not necessary to read Fairest before Winter. However, we still recommend doing so, as it make the reading experience better.

When to Read Fairest

Ideally, those looking to read The Lunar Chronicles series should read the series in the order it was published. This means reading Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress first, then reading Fairest, and continuing on with Winter (we’ll discuss the short story collection, Stars Above, in a future article). Readers can technically skip Fairest but reading all of the books gives the optimal reading experience.

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