Review | Scarlet

Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer
Review by Alyssa
February 2013 by Feiwel and Friends
454 pages
Amazon + Good Reads
4.5/5 stars

"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."

-Good Reads

So, this is the second book in The Lunar Chronicles and in an attempt to remain spoiler free, this review will be relatively short.

I have the hardest time writing reviews for sequels because, in my mind, it really boils down to this - did this book make me want to continue the series or not? 

AND OH MY GOD YES, YES, YES - I WILL BE DYING UNTIL CRESS IS RELEASED!

Scarlet picks up almost exactly where Cinder leaves off... but instead of focusing solely on Cinder's story line, Meyer introduces us to a few new characters who help expand the world of The Lunar Chronicles and add new dimensions to the story arc. Admittedly, it has been almost an entire year since I read Cinder and so a lot of the details were pretty fuzzy for me but thankfully, Meyer rehashed the story in a way that didn't make me cringe. You know what I mean, right? When an author takes about three paragraphs to obviously summarize the preceding books. And once I got over the initial awkwardness that come with a sequel, I hit the ground running.

Now, I loved Cinder and Kai's voices as much as the next Cinder fan and wasn't too sure how I would take to another main character. Scarlet is a fiery young woman (17? 18?) who is obsessed with tracking down her grandmother after her disappearance. Though many people have written off Scarlet's grand-mere's inexplicable vanishing as a woman who simply doesn't want to be found, Scarlet is convinced that something much more sinister has happened. After a turn of events, the young woman teams up with a mysterious and violent street fighter named Wolf who seems to be the key to locating her grandmother. As you can probably guess, Scarlet's story becomes intertwined with Cinder's and the two inevitably meet... but I'm just going to leave it at that.

But I loved her! I love a strong female lead and Scarlet was definitely her own person. I loved that she fearlessly put her own life on the line and refused to back down until she found out where her grandmother was... And did I mention that she is totally kick ass? Oh, and Wolf... Don't get me started on Wolf... (/drool). He is a perfect blend of damaged, brutal and mysterious... and his story was the biggest shocker for me. Meyer reveals a lot about her characters but nothing threw me off my guard quite like Wolf's story did - I did not see that coming. And, much like how I felt in Cinder, there were times when I simply did not think that the characters were going to be able to make it through.

Basically, I love The Lunar Chronicles. Besides the amazing characters, Marissa Meyer has built a world that feels eerily like Firefly - and that is my favorite part about this series. The world feels a bit like a Western but with all the bells and whistles of a futuristic science fiction. Simply put? This series is wonderful. If you're a fan of Firefly or even just a fan of fairy retellings - check Cinder out. I will be anxiously awaiting the release of Cress! (*Prays to the God of ARCs*)

A few weeks ago, I did a Casting Call Saturday for Scarlet - check out my picks here! 

That's all from me for now - have you guys read Scarlet? What were your thoughts? 
-Alyssa