Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Scarlet
by Marissa Meyer

Read: May 18-19
Published: February 4, 2014
Genre: Science Fiction, Fairy Tale

Cinder is back and trying to break out of prison--even though she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive if she does--in this second installment from Marissa Meyer.

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. (Amazon)



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Why did you read this book?
....that freaking cliffhanger. I actually put off reading this one for a few days because Cinder wasn't all that exciting...but I'm so happy I finally read it!

What did you like about this book?
          I don't even really know where to start with all of the things I liked. This book was 20x better than the first one. It was just so exciting to read! I'll start first with the characters, I suppose. I really liked Cinder in this book, even though she didn't feature in it as much as she did in the first one. Despite her limited page time, I felt like she evolved as a character. And then she met Thorne, who I adore. I thought there was going to be a possible love triangle between Cinder, Thorne, and Kai, but after finishing Scarlet I don't think that will happen. Cinder and Thorne's relationship is hilarious to read and I love their instant love-hate relationship. Then, of course, there was Scarlet, the focus character of this book. She is easily my favorite character so far. She kicks butt and grows delicious tomatoes. What more could you ask for? The other character introduced in Scarlet was Wolfe. I loved him. I hated him. I loved him again. I even kind of still loved him when I hated him. I'm excited to see where the next book takes him as a character as well as his relationship with Scarlet (I ship it).
         Anyway, aside from the wonderful characters, I love that this book continued Cinder's story as well as introducing Scarlet's. I was worried that each book would be a different fairy tale with different characters. While it does essentially do that, it doesn't leave the previous characters behind. Instead, the story grows and evolves, each character finding their place within the folds of it.
         On top of all that, I am super excited to read the next book.

What didn't you like about this book?
          I don't have many complaints about this book. However, there is always something. And Scarlet's something is Kai. I really want to like him because he's supposed to be Cinder's prince charming, but he doesn't have a personality other than being stressed out and/or lashing out immaturely to the Queen Levana. You'd think being raised as a prince would have taught him a bit of diplomacy, but he doesn't seem to have much of it. Maybe it's because his character reminds me too much of Maxon from The Selection by Kiera Cass. Actually, you know...that is it. All of the other characters feel pretty original, Kai feels like a copy of Maxon with a different name.

Bottom-Line:
          This book is excellent and I would definitely recommend it. I'd recommend reading Cinder just so you could read this book. High marks from me.




"I think I realized that I would rather die because I betrayed them, than live because I betrayed you." -Scarlet by Marissa Meyer