"Fairest" by Marissa Meyer

This is a shorter story in the Lunar Chronicles series, an origin story of the villain Lavana. They suggested that you read this as the fourth book in the series, but I wanted to read it now. 

I was surprised at how much I felt for Lavana in the first half of the book. Her sister Princess Channary, who would become Selene's mother, was a horrible and cruel person. Lavana was not the heir to the throne, and she was mocked by Channary. 

Lavana was in love with a royal guard named Everett, and was horrified to find out he was married and about to become a father. His wife died in childbirth, but the daughter survived. Lavana was able to use her Lunar gift (or "Glamor") to cover up scars from a childhood accident, and learned how to control Everett's feelings to make him love her. He knew she was controlling him, because his feelings changed every time she wasn't there. But Lavana convinced him to marry her and to move into the palace with his daughter, who he named Winter.

Queen Channary became pregnant with a baby, even though she didn't know the father. Shortly after baby Selene was born, Channary became ill and died. Lavana became the queen consulate, until Selene was old enough to become queen.  Lavana took her role seriously, more serious than Channary ever had. She brought Luna into a time of plenty. She kept up her Glamor, not only making herself look beautiful to everyone but also putting in everyone's mind the idea that they loved her. She couldn't stand the idea that someone else could be loved more than her. She wanted ALL of her subjects to be 100% loyal to her.

This is where you start to not like Lavana as much. She was so jealous of her niece and stepdaughter's beauty that she did not want to be around them. Eventually, the idea of Selene taking the throne was too much for her. She Glamored the nanny to fall asleep in the nursery with a lit candle under a blanket. She thought that it killed Selene, and knew that her throne was secure.

The last thing was that Everett did not truly love her. He told her one night that he would never love her. The next week she came to his room (he still slept in the guard's quarters, despite having been married to Lavana for 10 years), and that night a Thomiturge (the name of the aides to the queen) came in and killed him. Turns out Lavana had made a deal with him.

Turns out Lavana was severely disfigured when Channary had Glamored Lavana to put her own body in a fire. That's why she has the veil on the book cover. She also banned all cameras and mirrors. They don't show Glamors, and would show Lavana for what she really looked like.

This book makes me more excited to finish the series now!