Winter

Winter by Marissa Meyer, 2015 Feiwel & Friends

   The plan to kidnap Emperor Kai succeeded; sort of. After rescuing Cress and going back to the Eastern Commonwealth to stop the wedding between Levana and Kai, Cinder and her remaining friends are hiding in space - thanks to Cress's magic with technology.
     Without Scarlet, Wolf pines and the friends struggle to remain positive. Cinder and Kai are on rocky terms since he was forcibly removed from his empire but their relationship gains traction. Cress and Thorne are dancing around one another as the captain slowly regains his sight. And Iko is still in love with her (somewhat worse for the wear) human body. Levana has immediately declared war on the Earthen Union and used her mutated wolf-soldiers to engage the planet in global war.
     Earth is unprepared for the assault after 126 years of world peace. As the Union scrambles to mount a defense Levana plans world domination. The focus has shifted from Earth to Luna as Cinder makes plans to take back the throne as Princess Selene. Her cousin, Princess Winter, has been tortured by her own Lunar Gift for its lack of use. When the people love and show their deep affection for Winter, Levana sees the girl as a threat. The Queen orders Jacin, a guard who has loved Winter since childhood, to kill the girl. Jacin cannot complete his mission and, with Cress, helps Winter and Scarlet escape to the outer domes of Luna's protected population.
     Scarlet and Winter locate Wolf's childhood home and the rest of their ragtag rebellion. With Cress working from Artemisia, Luna's capital, and Cinder gaining support around the moon's isolated outer domes the friends struggle to maintain contact and lead their rebellion. When Cinder is captured and paraded around Kai and Levana's wedding feast it appears they may be finished, but the ever-resourceful Princess Selene manages to become both the leader and the martyr her revolution needs.
     Cinder's transformation from the cyborg mechanic who helped repair Crown-Prince Kai's android into Princess Selene has been long and arduous, but with new friends and the support of her people the shy young woman has become a leader hoping to make the universe a better place. Cinder doesn't want to be a princess: she wants to end her aunt's tyranny and the social conventions which oppress different classes of person. Meyer's tale incorporates classic fairytales, political wargames, and science fiction to push Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Snow White into the future and prepare their stories for young adult readers.