I barely remember this book individually of the others at all! I remember that it was good, and that I was enjoying it so much that I finished it the day I started it. 
 All I can remember really is their attempt to save Cress ... and Africa ... a kidnapping? Okay, well, here goes. I seem to remember more than I thought I did of this book! 
 1. So it was in this book that we met Cress properly, though we had met her briefly in the first book. I don't particularly like Cress as a character, to be honest, but I AM glad that we meet a girl who does not fit the typical 'strong female character'. I really thought that she'd be another Scarlet and Cinder like character, so it was nice to hear her angsting over what dress she would be wearing for her escape, to be honest! She also seemed more removed from her original fairy tale than the other three girls are from theirs, but maybe I am saying this just because I am not as familiar with Rapunzel than the other stories. (I am also not so familiar with Red Riding Hood and I thought Scarlet was a bit more removed too, though not as much.) 
 2. Meyer doesn't seem to like Scarlet and Wolf that much really. They are almost definitely the couple - and individual people - to suffer the most in this series! (view spoiler)[Though I do think that Wolf's extreme suffering with the kidnapping of Scarlet was a bit weird, what with the fact that they had not met that long ago! But, I liked their relationship anyway, so ... Why did they have to suffer so much!?? (hide spoiler)] I did like the characters of - and the relationship between - Wolf and Scarlet and it was a shame that they could not be just happy for a few minutes. 
 3. Again, the relationship between Cress and Thorne, though very sweet, did seem like instalove. However, I can see why Cress would latch on to him so fast with her previous isolation (view spoiler)[and the fact that he saved her and that they spent so long in Africa together (hide spoiler)]. I do just think that they should have toned it down a little bit perhaps. I liked that they did not completely get together in this book, which also tones down the instalove as they are not immediately together! 
 4. I liked the setting of Africa more than I liked the setting of New-Beijing or France, and this is mainly because you saw more of the 'African' type characteristics in this setting; the way that people were dressed to accommodate the heat, the types of tree (I think I recall?), the sand and the dust that got whipped up by the landing of the ship, etc. I also liked the camaraderie of all of these people that lived there, the way they lived together in peace. even though they did have reasons to mistrust each other. 
 5. I also liked that(view spoiler)[, during the kidnapping of Emperor Kai just before the wedding, (hide spoiler)] it was shown that not all of the more sympathetic characters are completely immune to having bad things happen to them. This also happened with Scarlet (view spoiler)[where she got one of her fingers cut off, (hide spoiler)] but it was more clearly shown here with the more dramatic thing that happened; (view spoiler)[the death of Dr Erland, and just before he could have a proper talk to the girl he just realised was his long lost daughter. Ouch. (hide spoiler)] I LIKE this aspect in books; if something tragically bad happens to one of the good characters, it makes it more ... realistic, in a sense. 
 Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and I devoured it pretty fast! A gread addition to the Lunar Chronicles which left me very excited to get onto Winter.