The book starts just after Levana's parents died and her older sister, Channery, became Queen. Channery was cruel and spiteful. She used her Lunar gifts to hurt others, including her younger sister. Levana always uses a glamor to cover up her appearance, which is covered in scars from a childhood accident. Her sister mocks her, exposes her true self, is generally a bitch.
Levana is still a teenager when she falls in love with a guard. Unfortunately, he is married and his wife is about to have his baby. She dies after childbirth, and Levana uses her gifts to get the guard to fall in love with her. They marry, and his daughter becomes hers.
Not to be outdone, Channery becomes pregnant and gives birth to a girl named Selene, who we come to know as Cinder. Selene and Levana's stepdaughter Winter grow up together. Channery dies from a mysterious illness, leaving Luna for Selene to rule when she is old enough. Levana serves as regent and starts to think that maybe it would be for the best if she was Queen permanently. There's only the problem of her pesky niece in the way...
I hope that Fairest wasn't supposed to make me feel sympathy for Levana, because I didn't. A lot of terrible things were done to her by her sister, but she ended up doing just as many terrible things, if not more. The book did make me wonder about the Lunar powers. Levana saw herself as good, as knowing what's best for those around her. What if she wasn't just controlling those around her, but was also manipulating herself to act worse and worse, to believe that the horrible things were all for the best? I don't know if this has any basis, it just intrigued me.
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