Review: Scarlet, by Marissa Meyer

Title: Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2)
Author: Marissa Meyer
Genre: Fantasy/Sci-fi
Pub. Date: February 5, 2013

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.

5 Stars!

I know I’ve read a spectacular book when I find myself pacing my room, unable to find anything to read and gravitating towards the book I have just completed. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer is one of those books. I ignored everything, because I was completely immersed in this novel.



I have finals next week? IGNORED.

I am behind on 6 reviews? IGNORED.

I have a ton of book copies for review? IGNORED.

I have to write a speech and read two novels for school? You’re kidding, right? IGNORED.

See, only a truly great book could make me forget everything and anything in real life. It’s only the beginning of 2014, and I know this will make it onto my favorites list. Recently, I've been unjustly let down by countless sequels, leading to a mess of rage. Scarlet manages to overcome the second-book-syndrome, and stays true to the first book while becoming much more complex and interesting.

No, I am not saying that I loved Cinder any less (quite the opposite actually), but like any other well-written series, things begin to make sense and puzzle pieces are starting to come together. It is irrefutable that Meyer is becoming much more mature as a writer.

I’ll be honest here: I was not expecting to adore Scarlet. I heard that this book was less focused on Cinder, and more on brand new characters. I didn't like this. I was too fond of Cinder, and I didn't want to read a book with only a portion dedicated to my favorite character. You could say I was stubborn, waiting 2 weeks after I got the book to begin it. And, scared of disappointment. But that fear was uncalled for, because I ended up being glued to the pages and wholly satisfied.

In Scarlet, characters are introduced, relationships become more complicated, and the sci-fi aspect is given an entirely fresh spin. On every page, something was always happening, and I never felt I could stop reading at any point because the story was so engaging.

This will probably apply to Cinder as well, but I love the writing style in this book. I feel like I can easily recognize Meyer’s distinct voice in anything she writes. She manages to be simplistic yet descriptive in her writing while not going into purple prose territory. The world-building is what sets this out from other young adult dystopian novels: I actually understand the fundamentals of the Earthen world and maybe a bit about the Lunar world. What a surprise!

Cinder is still my absolute favorite character. We still see a lot of the mechanic we love, but she has gotten stronger and has more control of her powers[powers (hide spoiler)].

On the other hand, Scarlet can be considered the opposite of Cinder. They both have that steely determination in them, but Scarlet shows it much more, recklessly so. I can’t really love her because her personality flaws are very similar to mine, but as a character, she is quite endearing. In my opinion, however, her romance with Wolf escalated much too quickly for my liking.

In hindsight, their relationship still did feel natural, so I think I can excuse this issue that would normally cause me to knock off a star.

I love Thorne. He is mine.

I’m still speechless on how Meyer ingeniously weaves traces of fairy tales into her books, without making them too obvious or shoving it into our faces.

If I had to choose between Cinder and Scarlet, I’d choose… I really don’t know. It’d be like a mother choosing who her favorite child is.

On second thought, I think I may like Cinder a bit more.