Book Review | Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Series: Lunar Chronicles #2
Published: February 2013
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Format: Kindle eBook
Pages: 464
Rating: ★★★★

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother and 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 has no choice but to trust him, though he clearly has a few dark secrets of his own. As Scarlet and Wolf work to unravel one mystery, they find another when they cross paths with Cinder. Together, they must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen who will do anything to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner.

Ever since I read Cinder, I have been so excited for the next instalment of the Lunar Chronicles series – Cinder was the first fairytale retelling that I had ever read, and it would definitely encourage me to read more in the future. I had extremely high expectations for Scarlet due to this, and although I still loved it, I don’t think my expectations were really met or exceeded.

This is a fairytale retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, now although it is a fairytale, it isn’t one of the most predominant ones, or one with a lot of story behind it. There are certain aspects of Little Red Riding Hood which are noticeable in Scarlet, but there was nothing remarkable and there wasn’t a lot of progression on the retelling front like there was in Cinder. The book in itself was brilliant, but I can’t see as much of a retelling of the fairytale as I would like to, as this is a retelling.

Each chapter represented a different character, and throughout the story you were mainly following two stories, with the exception of other characters slipped in every now and then. You saw our newest heroine, Scarlet Benoit, on her search for her Grandma, and Cinder where she left off, with her newest companion “Captain” Thorne. I know I’m enjoying each story on its own when I don’t want to go onto the other story, and then get hooked on the next one, and this definitely happened to me upon reading. Both points of view were very fast paced, action packed and full of surprises, and that’s exactly what I love about these books and what makes me not want to put them down. I enjoyed reading about Scarlet and getting to know her and the characters revolving around her as much as I enjoyed following on from where we left off with Cinder – there wasn’t any particular story that I favoured.

The characters were as brilliant as ever. Cinder is like a new person, she’s so much stronger than she was at the beginning of the first book, and this development hasn’t just come on suddenly, it’s come over a series of unfortunate events and I love this. She acts with purpose and knowing but at the same time with an underlying doubt, which is what makes her so realistic and relatable – she’s also got a lot more sarcastic which I absolutely love. Her and Thorne’s friendship in the book was hilarious to read, their personalities were so different but when they conversed they just bounced off of each other ever so nicely. They were like the unintentional comedy duo that lifted the dark air that sometimes shrouded the book. Scarlet on the other hand, although I loved her story, I found to be quite frustrating. She was so naive and trusting of certain things and then wouldn’t believe someone when they told her the stone hard facts about other things, she is the typical character that in my head I would be screaming at to stop being so ridiculously stupid.  She would always have these doubts in her head but would then brush them away and say something along the lines of ‘but I can see it in his eyes’ – like that makes a difference.

On the topic of Scarlet, her and Wolf’s relationship just wasn’t believable in my eyes. Although it was necessary for once to have this relationship, I can’t whole heartedly believe it happened the way it did and in such a ridiculous space of time. Scarlet was always going on about trusting people and then just jumps on the first train with a stranger to save her Grandma, that’s just not how things work in the real world. It seemed too forced from both sides and her naivety played a massive role in this.

Overall, this was a fantastic sequel that could have done with a little bit more ‘fairytale’ and a little less naivety on the character front. It’s not a better book than Cinder as such, but it’s definitely a great read.

Book Review | Cinder by Marissa Meyer

When I first heard that Cinder was going to be a fairytale retelling, I immediately thought that it would be predictable and boring to read. Everyone knows the story of Cinderella, how can you possibly make it unique. Well I’ll be the first to admit I totally and utterly judged the book before it had even begun and I can’t even begin to tell you how undeniably original this novel was.

We set the scene in New Beijing after World War IV, the deadly plague of letumosis is spreading across the commonwealth, and with the Emperor sick with this life threatening disease, New Beijing is in a state of panic. Cinder is a cyborg mechanic living with her two step sisters and her stepmother, who will stop at nothing to make her life a living hell because of the resentment that lies below the surface. It isn’t until the infamous Prince Kai turns up at Cinder’s market stall that her life is turned upside down and she finds her self stuck in the middle of an intergalactic struggle for peace.

Right from the first page in this book, you take a plunge into the deep end of New Beijing and you’re instantly surrounded by the fantastical futuristic world that Meyer has developed. A world where pretty much everything is computer based; from ID chips to hovercrafts and androids – the imagery is close to perfect, and I found myself caught in the book from the off. The pacing was spot on for me, it had enough tension but didn’t keep you waiting for too long until another twist came or something unexpected happened. No one part lingered on a little longer than needed, and most importantly at no point did I get bored of reading this book.

Now on to the most amazing thing about this book; the plot. Personally, I have never read a retelling before, but if this is anything to go by then it has set the standards way up there. The story of Cinderella was still lurking there beneath all the uniqueness, you got hints of it every now and then to remind you that this was a retelling when you got too comfortable in its originality. The history of the world that was told through this book added another dimension to the novel – the ongoing war and struggle for peace with the Lunars on the moon was believable and the way the characters described them and had their own opinions on them created a view of the way they were seen from the off which they succeeded in presenting. There was one thing in the plot which was a bit of a downfall, and that was the ending and the fact that it was quite predictable. That however, is the only negative thing I have to say about this book.

The characters were unbelievably relatable and believable, and I felt as though I connected with each and every one of them in the way that is expected with regards to the original Cinderella story. I didn’t like the step sisters, (well I did and I didn’t, but I can’t explain that without spoilers), and I absolutely despised the stepmother beyond any other hatred I’ve ever had for a character in a book – she wasn’t ‘evil’ but she was just so sly and subtly dark. Prince Kai was so, normal, well for a Prince anyways. He had a modesty about himself wherein he didn’t take his fame and fortune for granted, he didn’t really see himself as anything special despite the thoughts of the swooning girls throughout the city. He was naturally charming and mischievous without even knowing and he was a wonderfully likeable character. Lastly Cinder, she was most definitely a strong minded character, but she had a tendency to doubt and belittle herself just due to the fact that she is a cyborg. Even when put through some hardships she always tried to keep her head held high even if it only looked as though her pride was being kept in place. She was a wonderful protagonist and I felt as though I really got to know her throughout the entirety of the novel.

I could not put Cinder down, and even when I had to, I was still thinking about how amazing a book it was – I kept on telling everybody I knew how much of a brilliant novel this was. I am super excited with the sequel to come out and I’m just angry I need to wait till February 2013 to read it. I’m a little worried however, with what I’ve heard of the sequel, that it won’t be as good as it doesn’t necessarily carry on with Cinder but with ‘little red riding hood’ instead. But I’m open to give this book a chance. Anyways, I highly recommend Cinder to anyone and everyone and give it the biggest 5 stars of the year so far.

★★★★★