Meyer, Marissa: Scarlet
Scarlet (2013)
Author: Marissa Meyer
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Genre: Science Fiction, Fairy Tale Retelling, Young Adult
Pages: 452 (hardcover)
Series: Lunar Chronicles #2
Cinder returns in the second thrilling installment of the New York Times-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 and 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 has no choice but to trust him, though he clearly has a few dark secrets of his own.
As Scarlet and Wolf work to unravel one mystery, they find another when they cross paths with Cinder. Together, they must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen who will do anything to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner.
Why I Read It: I didn't love Marissa Mayer's debut Cinder (which was released last year), but I did think it was a lot of fun (you can read my review here). It was great brain candy and I was looking forward to its sequel to see where the story would go. My wonderful friend Avery from Avery's Book Nook received an ARC of this from the publisher and was nice enough to pass it along to me. :)
This follow-up to last year's Cinder was a great, fun, everything-I-was-expecting-and-a-little-more, read. It was pure brain-candy like its predecessor, but that's what I was expecting, so the book was everything that I was hoping and wanting to be there, but it also offered a little more, for which I was obviously happy about. (By the way, this review will be spoiler-less for Scarlet, but does have a fairly big spoiler for Cinder, so read with caution!)
First off, where Cinder was purely from Cinder's POV, this book broadens its scope: we have chapters from Cinder's POV, but also from Scarlet Benoit (our Red Riding Hood parallel) and Prince Kai's as well. The only downside to this is that sometimes we have to take breaks from one characer's POV to jump to another, so if you become especially invested in any one character, this may potentially be frustrated. I, personally, really enjoyed this setup as it kept the pacing quick and steady; everything clipped at a good pace and this kept the pages turning. I was equally invested in all the storylines as well, so this obviously helped. The mystery of the whereabouts of Scarlet's grandmère kept me engaged in that storyline, as well as trying to figure out where Wolf's loyalties really lie; I loved the introduction of new-character Carswell Thorne in Cinder's story as he was a good dose of humour which helped even the tone of the novel; and getting inside the mind of the seemingly perfect Prince Kai added extra dimension to him that was absent in Cinder. It could be argued that there's a little too much going on here, to which I would agree, to a degree -- I think Meyer's bitten off a little more than she can chew, but it was still nice to see her expanding the universe she's created and
Once again, romance is one of the major elements of the plot, and this is where the book has me a little conflicted. On the one hand, I definitely got some warm fuzzy feelings, especially during one particular scene between Scarlet and Wolf. BUT, the time it takes for their relationship to escalate to this level is a little fast, especially when you consider that Scarlet is very mistrustful of Wolf to begin with. Perhaps if their feelings hadn't crescendoed so quickly I'd be more accepting, but as it stands, this aspect left me with a feeling of frustration due to the hastiness of it.
The characters on their own were quite great. Scarlet is a gun-toting badass but avoids all the common annoying tropes that often happen with those kinds of character; Wolf definitely has hints of the "bad boy" to him and he's literally an Alpha male, but he's never THAT kind of alpha male; I've already mentioned Carswell, but he was easily my favourite character (I love those smartass, flirty characters); Cinder is just as capable as she was in her debut, but now she's struggling with her new Lunar powers and still not wholly accepting of the fact that she's of royal blood; I've also already mentioned Kai, but it bears repeating that he's given a little more depth and dimension in this installment than when we saw solely through Cinder's eyes.
Final Verdict: Overall, I enjoyed this book more than the first in the series. We have more characters, and while it can a little unwieldy at times, it was a format that worked well for me because it kept the pacing quick and made the pages fly. I loved the introduction of the new characters (mostly Carswell), and others from the first book were more fleshed out here (especially Kai) due to the use of alternating POVs. I was also equally invested in all three concurrent storylines, so I was never frustrated with having to switch to different characters chapter to chapter. My only hitch was the romance; I can't deny that it made me swoon a bit, but the time it took for the intense feelings to develop felt too rushed to me -- I'm much more of a slow-burn kind of gal, so this put of me off a bit. But the fact that it still made me feel kind of tingly and excited despite this should be indicative of the strength of Meyer's developing the relationship, even if it was a little quick. I definitely recommend this, especially if you were a fan of the first book Cinder and/or are just looking for something that's a lot of fun. If you were a little unsure about it, this book may change your mind.
Author: Marissa Meyer
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Genre: Science Fiction, Fairy Tale Retelling, Young Adult
Pages: 452 (hardcover)
Series: Lunar Chronicles #2
Cinder returns in the second thrilling installment of the New York Times-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 and 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 has no choice but to trust him, though he clearly has a few dark secrets of his own.
As Scarlet and Wolf work to unravel one mystery, they find another when they cross paths with Cinder. Together, they must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen who will do anything to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner.
Why I Read It: I didn't love Marissa Mayer's debut Cinder (which was released last year), but I did think it was a lot of fun (you can read my review here). It was great brain candy and I was looking forward to its sequel to see where the story would go. My wonderful friend Avery from Avery's Book Nook received an ARC of this from the publisher and was nice enough to pass it along to me. :)
This follow-up to last year's Cinder was a great, fun, everything-I-was-expecting-and-a-little-more, read. It was pure brain-candy like its predecessor, but that's what I was expecting, so the book was everything that I was hoping and wanting to be there, but it also offered a little more, for which I was obviously happy about. (By the way, this review will be spoiler-less for Scarlet, but does have a fairly big spoiler for Cinder, so read with caution!)
First off, where Cinder was purely from Cinder's POV, this book broadens its scope: we have chapters from Cinder's POV, but also from Scarlet Benoit (our Red Riding Hood parallel) and Prince Kai's as well. The only downside to this is that sometimes we have to take breaks from one characer's POV to jump to another, so if you become especially invested in any one character, this may potentially be frustrated. I, personally, really enjoyed this setup as it kept the pacing quick and steady; everything clipped at a good pace and this kept the pages turning. I was equally invested in all the storylines as well, so this obviously helped. The mystery of the whereabouts of Scarlet's grandmère kept me engaged in that storyline, as well as trying to figure out where Wolf's loyalties really lie; I loved the introduction of new-character Carswell Thorne in Cinder's story as he was a good dose of humour which helped even the tone of the novel; and getting inside the mind of the seemingly perfect Prince Kai added extra dimension to him that was absent in Cinder. It could be argued that there's a little too much going on here, to which I would agree, to a degree -- I think Meyer's bitten off a little more than she can chew, but it was still nice to see her expanding the universe she's created and
Once again, romance is one of the major elements of the plot, and this is where the book has me a little conflicted. On the one hand, I definitely got some warm fuzzy feelings, especially during one particular scene between Scarlet and Wolf. BUT, the time it takes for their relationship to escalate to this level is a little fast, especially when you consider that Scarlet is very mistrustful of Wolf to begin with. Perhaps if their feelings hadn't crescendoed so quickly I'd be more accepting, but as it stands, this aspect left me with a feeling of frustration due to the hastiness of it.
The characters on their own were quite great. Scarlet is a gun-toting badass but avoids all the common annoying tropes that often happen with those kinds of character; Wolf definitely has hints of the "bad boy" to him and he's literally an Alpha male, but he's never THAT kind of alpha male; I've already mentioned Carswell, but he was easily my favourite character (I love those smartass, flirty characters); Cinder is just as capable as she was in her debut, but now she's struggling with her new Lunar powers and still not wholly accepting of the fact that she's of royal blood; I've also already mentioned Kai, but it bears repeating that he's given a little more depth and dimension in this installment than when we saw solely through Cinder's eyes.
Final Verdict: Overall, I enjoyed this book more than the first in the series. We have more characters, and while it can a little unwieldy at times, it was a format that worked well for me because it kept the pacing quick and made the pages fly. I loved the introduction of the new characters (mostly Carswell), and others from the first book were more fleshed out here (especially Kai) due to the use of alternating POVs. I was also equally invested in all three concurrent storylines, so I was never frustrated with having to switch to different characters chapter to chapter. My only hitch was the romance; I can't deny that it made me swoon a bit, but the time it took for the intense feelings to develop felt too rushed to me -- I'm much more of a slow-burn kind of gal, so this put of me off a bit. But the fact that it still made me feel kind of tingly and excited despite this should be indicative of the strength of Meyer's developing the relationship, even if it was a little quick. I definitely recommend this, especially if you were a fan of the first book Cinder and/or are just looking for something that's a lot of fun. If you were a little unsure about it, this book may change your mind.