Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer • contains 452 pages • published February 5, 2013 by Macmillan Publishers, Square Fish • classified as Fantasy, Science Fiction, Young Adult • obtained through library • read as paperback • shelve on Goodreads • shelve on The StoryGraph
Synopsis:
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.
Little Red Riding Hood doesn’t count among my favourite fairy tales. In fact, I have no fondness for it at all. That’s why I was hesitant about about reading Scarlet when I found out that the retelling was based on that fairy tale. Amazingly, I thoroughly loved Scarlet — even more so than Cinder.
Scarlet had so much going for it, there never was a boring moment. I quickly got used to the alternating settings between France and China as Scarlet was introduced while Cinder remained a permanent fixture. Even though they were so far apart, they each were central to the grand narrative of The Lunar Chronicles.
Scarlet
What stood out to me and made me love Scarlet so much was the complexity that could be found in Wolf. He was mysterious and weird. I mean, he didn’t know what tomatoes were! He had an air of danger about him that wasn’t built on pretences and I wanted to know why that was.
The initial encounters between Scarlet and Wolf were so ominous too because at the back of my mind, I kept thinking of the big bad wolf from Little Read Riding Hood, that I kept holding my breath, waiting for Scarlet to kill him. Eventually though, I let go of all my knowledge of original fairy tales because Scarlet was so engaging in it sown right, it stood on its own as its own futuristic fairy tale.
Cinder
Meanwhile, Cinder continued to be a fixture in the second book of the series. Part of me wishes that there would’ve been more of her, especially after she won a special place in my heart last year. In any case, the focus was on Scarlet, so Cinder took somewhat of a backseat until her paths crossed with Scarlet. That’s when both carried equal weight again.
Balance
On the whole, I think Marissa Meyer found a great balance among all the characters involved, from Scarlet to Cinder and even among the secondary characters who didn’t feel all too secondary at all. Wolf, Kai and Thorne were all so well developed, I couldn’t get enough of Scarlet. It’s so important for all characters to have substance and I found Scarlet to be a stellar example of that.
Scarlet was so wonderful, that my initial reservations ebbed away so quickly, I can’t even remember the degree of apprehension that I had felt with regards to Scarlet.
Scarlet is my favorite of the series! I just loved her story, and the things that happen to propel the overall arc of the series :)
High five, Alexa! Scarlet is my favourite so far too! :D
I’m glad I caught this review. I finished Cinder in January and have been a wee bit weary of picking up Cress. Still, everyone raves about this series, so perhaps I should just give it a go?
Both Scarlet and Cress are worthy reads and expand very well on the world of The Lunar Chronicles. I can’t recommend the series enough, so yes, do give it a go! :)
Ah, Scarlet! :D I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on Cress! I definitely enjoyed Cinder in the first book, and I wanted more of her in this one. o: Great review!
Cress review will be up this month! ;)
I really loved Cinder, but I had the same problem with Scarlet – I just don’t like Little Red Riding Hood. I ended up DNFing it when it was due back to the library. I think I’ll give it another chance. Thanks! :)
Well, the elements of a red cape, grandmother and “wolf” are there but Scarlet is anything but a naive helpless girl, which is what I particularly dislike about the original fairy tale. I say, go for it with the second chance! :)
If you thought Scarlet was great, wait until you read Cress! Marissa Meyer does such an amazing job balancing all the characters and developing them and the story with each book.
I’ve already read Cress and Fairest ;) Scarlet still is my favourite. As a whole though, The Lunar Chronicles is just such a wonderful series, that it doesn’t really matter anymore who one is the best because all have been good so far. I can’t wait for Winter though! xD
I really love this series! It just gets better with each book, so I’m excited to see your opinions on Cress. Wolf and Scarlet have a great relationship and I love the way that all of the stories are connected without leaving the last ones behind. Great review :)
I’ll be posting my reviews for Cress and Fairest soon :) And I agree, Meyer built up a strong world that allows her to connect all these different equally wonderful characters. I love that so much about The Lunar Chronicles!
I agree! Even though the story goes back and forth to France and China, I never got confused and I actually liked the set up because I kept guessing how Scarlet will meet Cinder (or vice versa). I’m not sure whether I like this one than Cinder or if I like Cinder than Scarlet (in terms of books), but I know that I both enjoyed them. I didn’t really mind that Cinder wasn’t the spotlight of the book either, and I loved Scarlet and Wolf’s relationship! The whole tomato thing is so cute.
At the end of the day, I think The Lunar Chronicles just works so wonderfully as a series, that it doesn’t really matter which book anyone prefers :) So even though I liked Scarlet best so far, I enjoyed all four books that are out in print. And the tomato thing did crack me up and that’s also when things with Wolf started to get interesting for me. Haha.
I’m so glad that you ended up loving this one. I just love The Lunar Chronicles. My favorite character and book is Cress, although I love them all.
The entire series is just wonderful! So even though my favourite so far has been Scarlet, I still loved every book very much too :)