Review: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Scarlet

Author: Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles, Book One
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Genre: YA Science Fiction
Format: Hardcover, 452 pages
Release Date: February 5, 2013
Source: Mid-Columbia Libraries
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Synopsis from Goodreads:

The fates of Cinder and Scarlet collide as a Lunar threat spreads across the Earth...

Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She's trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.

My Review:

I loved Cinder, the first book in this series and couldn’t wait to read the second one. I love the underlying fairytale theme. This book is based on Little Red Riding Hood. Scarlet, a girl with flaming red hair, is going after her grandmother who was taken *surprise, surprise* by wolf like creatures. However, that is the only similarity this book has to the classic fairytale. This book was a huge mystery for me to solve. I loved the three new characters Marissa Meyer introduced in this book. At first it worried me. I was like, um, excuse me, where is Cinder and the gorgeous Prince Kai? But I quickly grew to love Scarlet, Wolf, and Thorne. And there was no lack of Cinder. Although I was disappointed at how little Prince Kai there was. I mean, don’t get me wrong, he was definitely prevalent in the book. I guess I more missed him and Cinder together. They had such great chemistry in the first book. All in good time, I’m sure.

I was somewhat shocked and amazed at how easy it was for them to fly into space. It seemed slightly implausible to me and was never really explained. I felt like they just got in their spaceship whenever they wanted and then *poof!* they were in space, orbiting the Earth. I know they are in the future and all, but it still seemed a bit too easy to me. Especially since space technology in our current age doesn’t seem to be advancing at that fast of a rate. I mean, we haven’t sent another human into space since we landed on the moon. So that part I didn’t like. Other than this though, the story was very believable for me. One other thing that bugged me about this book was that there is one random chapter from Queen Levana’s perspective. I liked getting her perspective, but it just didn’t feel right. It felt out of place. It wasn’t the prologue or even the final chapter. It was just randomly placed in the book. It just felt kind of odd to me. I think that if Meyer wants to write from her perspective, she should have written more chapters or made it a final, ominous chapter in the book.

Cinder really takes this entire book to accept her newfound identity and to come into that role. It is hard for her to accept it. I mean, wouldn’t it be for all of us? One minute you’re the person you have always known yourself to be and the next you’re something completely different. It would be unsettling. I loved that she got to uncover some of her history and learn why she couldn’t reach any of her memories before she moved to the Eastern Commonwealth.

Scarlet was a great character for me. She is sultry and flirtatious, yet also fierce and independent. She is well aware of her ability to garner a man’s attention, but she certainly does not need a man on her arm to make her happy. She has strong morals and isn’t quick to judge. This quote from Scarlet (in regards to Cinder) really jumped out at me:

“I just think we shouldn’t judge her, or anyone, without trying to understand them first. That maybe we should get the full story before jumping to conclusions.” -Scarlet

 

I loved this quote because it can be applied in everybody’s life. This is true of all human beings and it was enlightening to hear this young girl say it even though everyone else was busy being completely disgusted by Cinder, a young girl they knew next to nothing about.

Wolf. Oh, what can I say about Wolf? One word. HOT. I was ensnared by his character from the first description I read about him. His eyes will get you. Watch out. I have a really bad habit of falling in love with fictional characters and this one got me. My sister tries to tell me that all these men I’m in love with aren’t real, but I just can’t accept that. Wolf is dark, mysterious, strong, and powerful. Everything that I love in a male character. He fights his animal instincts because he truly cares about Scarlet and wants to protect her. Love, love, love! Great character addition, Ms. Meyer!

Thorne was another great character addition. He escapes prison with Cinder and just so happens to have a stolen spaceship waiting for him that he uses to whisk them away from law enforcement. He is really funny. I totally pictured him as like a Woody Harrelson type of guy. If they ever turn this book into a movie, I sincerely hope they cast him to play the part of Thorne. He would be perfect. He is sarcastic and thinks that he is way more charming than he is. He doesn’t flinch at the fact that Cinder is a cyborg like most people do and that made me like him even more. He is a great companion and Cinder never could have escaped without him.

Overall, I loved this book just as much as the first. Meyer introduced us to several new characters, all of which I loved. It was a fast paced book that I couldn’t put down. The action and mystery starts at the beginning and never really stops. I can’t wait for the third book in the series, Cress, based on Rapunzel, which is slated to be released February 4, 2013. I am only upset that I have to wait that long to read it. Oh well, it will give me an excuse to read the first two books again when it comes out to refresh my memory! Happy reading all!