Book Review- Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Title: Scarlet

 Author: Marissa Meyer

Series:   Lunar Chronicles#2

Published:  7 February 2013 by Penguin

Length:452 pages

Source: Publisher

Other info: This is book 2 in the Lunar Chronicles series. Book one was Cinder and was reviewed here. Books three and four will be Cress and Winter.

Summary : Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. The police have closed her case. The only person Scarlet can turn to is Wolf, a street fighter she does not trust, but they are drawn to each other. Meanwhile, in New Beijing, Cinder will become the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive – when she breaks out of prison to stay one step ahead of vicious Queen Levana. As Scarlet and Wolf expose one mystery, they encounter Cinder and a new one unravels. Together they must challenge the evil queen, who will stop at nothing to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner . . .

Review: The police have given up on finding Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother, but she hasn’t. She’s at the cagefights where she meets Wolf, a fighter who she wants to trust, but isn’t sure she should. The whole book leads straight on from the end of Cinder, so Cinder is in prison as a fugitive despite her being who she is. With Thorne, another prisoner, she escapes to find Michelle Benoit, who might have information to stay out of Queen Levana’s way. Various things happen and there’s many more mysteries to unravel.

I was so ready for this. I absolutely loved Cinder (review here) and Scarlet didn’t disappoint in mixing scifi and fairytale elements. Once again, you get major plot points of Red Riding Hood, but moved around to fit the plot and cyberpunk world.

 I love the fact that we get more Cinder! I’m looking forwards to the way this series is working-as well as bringing in a cool new girl, we get the cool ones from before back. Looking forwards to the fourth one where we get (hopefully) four kickass heroines.   

Scarlet is just as epic as Cinder. She’s very assertive, really determined and really believes in finding her grandmother. Wolf is someone I halfliked to start with, liked more as we got to know him, then less at various points. End feelings were mixed. The grandmother is so so awesome. Kai, I feel sorry for-he’s obviously being manipulated by Levana and  he goes against what he really wants to do.

There’s lots of plot twists. They’re a bit predictable, but I loved them all the same. So much happened and the action just kept coming.

We get lots of scene changes, which would normally be annoying but doesn’t mess with the flow too badly when done here. You know the trick of cutting off a chapter at a cliffhanger? Normally, this gets resolved in the next chapter. Not so here-you get a chapter of someone else doing important things, dragging out the waiting time. the rest of the writing is really good too.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to another perfectly blended science fiction fairy tale.  A  whole year to wait??? Damn.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website | 

Book Review- Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Title: Cinder

 Author: Marissa Meyer

Series:  Lunar Chronicles #1

Published:  3^rd January 2012 in America. In England, 5 January by Puffin/

Length: 400 pages

Warnings: slight innuendo, 13+

Source: Netgalley

Other info: The others in this series will be called Scarlet, Cress and Winter. Cinder is Marissa’s debut novel.

Summary : Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .
Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Review: The premises to this was amazing. I love retold fairy tales. I love sci-fi. A mix????  Must read. The whole idea of having our beloved rags-to-riches girl being a cyborg of all things was just a really great idea. And it was carried off perfectly. As well as that, there’s an evil Lunar  queen trying manipulate those on earth, a plague that may or may not get out of control,  and the inevitable love story that comes with this kind of thing, and so it  definitely should be my thing.

And it was. From the first page, something is happening. And the action doesn’t stop. Aside from when she meets Prince Kai and is a little flustery, going against the tougher image of Cinderella that I was expecteing for this. Then it picks up, the next time isn’t as bad, and her sister is taken ill with the plague, and her evil stepmother signs her over as a test subject for finding an antidote. Yeah, a lot of things happen. And the writing style suited it perfectly. I could easily see it all happening, and that kept me wanting to read on and on and on.

Against all the odds, I loved the Stepsisters. One of them, anyway. Because of how she ends up acting and the way Cinder treated her, I ended up feeling for her and I don’t think she really deserved what she got. Prince Kai was an interesting guy with a lot shoved onto his shoulders at a young age.  Queen Levana was your untypical villain, that will definitely be interesting to watch her and her plans develop over the series.

The romance is done surprisingly well, with Cinder trying to be practical about it all (but obviously, kind of failing). It was really sweet watching their relationship develop.

The addition of the plague letumosis was an unexpected, but really intriguing aspect to this world. I loved the idea that any of our characters could fall ill at any time, another thing that kept me reading.

The revelation about Cinder at the end...that was totally unexpected. And then the book ended..... HOW COULD IT DO THAT? Really, that was quite horrible to leave it there. I can’t wait for book 2, Scarlet, which will be out next year. Really, how can they expect us to wait that long?

Overall:  Strength 5 tea to a great retelling with an original twist on it that made it something I completely loved.

Links: | Goodreads | Author website |