Book Review: Scarlet

Happy Thursday Everyone! Today I'll be reviewing the much anticipated second book in the Lunar Chronicles series, Scarlet by Marissa Meyer. I have previously reviewed Cinder.

Title: Scarlet

Author: Marissa Meyer

Series: Lunar Chronicles #2

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Publication Date: February 5, 2013

Format Read: hardcover

Genre: YA Science Fiction, YA Fairy Tale

Purchase: Amazon

Find on Goodreads

From the publisher: 
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.

While I thoroughly enjoyed Cinder, I just LOVED Scarlet! It's not very often that I like the second book in a series more than the first. A lot of the time they are just bridges in-between the first and last books in a trilogy or series. Marissa Meyer managed to do so much more than that with this book. Not only do we get our original kick-ass heroine from the first book, but we also get Scarlet. She is more than strong enough to stand on her own. I can't wait to see what both of these strong female characters get up to in Cress, the third installment in the series.

I will admit I was a little confused about why I was following Scarlet Benoit in this book. I knew it was somehow connect to the first book, but I had forgotten. So, to save you some trouble...Scarlet is the granddaughter of Michelle Benoit. If you remember from Cinder, she is rumored to be one of the people that helped Princess Selene escape death when she was little.

While Cinder is working on escaping and finding out more from her past by trying to seek out Michelle Benoit, Scarlet is looking into her grandmother's disappearance. Scarlet, who has red hair and wears a red hoodie (i.e. our very own Red Riding Hood), does not believe her grandma just left, she believes she was taken and will stop at nothing to get her back. Her search for her grandma leads her to Wolf, a mysterious hottie, who seems to have a connection to her grandma's disappearance. Wolf informs her he may know who has her grandma and agrees to help her. While there is mistrust and tension, it's obvious there is an attraction between the two. I think I might even life Wolf more than Prince Kai. Or maybe I'm just more attracted to Red Riding Hood's story than I am Cinderella, I don't know. I was also fascinate by the "gang" Wolf was originally from. 

This book is much more Scarlet's story than it is Cinder's story. We still get Cinder and Kai's POV's, but it felt like I was following Scarlet's POV the most (even though everything is connected). You even get a chapter at the end of the book from the Evil queen's POV. EEK! 

Just to give you the head's (in case you might be disappointed about such a thing): Scarlet and Cinder do not meet until pretty close to the end of the book. I know the description makes you think they will be meeting up sooner than that. 

I HIGHLY recommend this book. Just like in my review of Cinder, if you like this book, I recommend checking out these fairy tale retellings: A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan or Beastly by Alex Flinn (book is way better than the movie). If you like stories with a little more science fiction, you might like one of these two stories that take place in space, Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan or Across the Universe by Beth Revis. You might even like Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien.

My Rating: