Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends

Release Date: February 5th, 2013

Source: Publisher (thank you!!)

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.

Review: I really enjoyed Cinder when I read it last year but I must confess that I absolutely loved Scarlet. Everything from the new cast of characters, the setting and the tensions that arose in this sequel heightened the dramatic events that occurred in Cinder.

The introduction of Scarlet's character along with her grandmother helped to further develop and strengthen Cinder's back story that was always mysteriously hinted to in the first book. It was so impressive to see how Meyer weaved all the details and revelations that came out about Cinder into Scarlet's tale while also giving Scarlet her own presence and story. And what a story! The action took a much quicker pace once Scarlet stepped onto the first page and I think this is primarily why I took to Scarlet more than I did Cinder. Scarlet's personality was also more driven, more assured than Cinder's and she didn't shy away from getting herself into dangerous situations, she just did what she had to do in order to find her grandmother. And with that being said, this is where Wolf's character comes in. Quiet, child-like in some ways, both kind and fierce, Wolf was an intriguing character. His relationship with Scarlet was riddled with tension and mistrust but how they worked together despite the odds! ♥

Along with them are Cinder and her cocky but rather charming partner-in-crime, Captain Thorne. Omgosh did he bring some much-needed comic relief to the overall situation. I'm so curious to see how his character's role emerges in the series but as he is now, he was pretty damn funny as well as useful. As for Cinder, she still has a lot of character development to go through but she's eons away from being the sad little mechanic cyborg that she once was. I loved how much more proactive she was this time around, and how she's set on becoming stronger and finally accepting her Lunar heritage. HOLLA for girl power. :) Then there's poor Emperor Kai and the political drama that threatens to destroy everything. Kai's character also matures greatly now that he is in charge of an entire nation and because Queen Levana is upping the ante and making things ten times worse than they have to be. If you were spooked by her in Cinder, she's downright terrifying in Scarlet.

Final Verdict: I could kick myself for taking so long to getting around to reading Scarlet. There seems to be this continuous pattern I have for taking too long to pick up great books but once I do, I finish them almost instantly. Unfortunately Scarlet had to suffer that consequence, but better late than never right? If you loved Cinder and thought that it couldn't get any better, Scarlet will prove that oh yes, it can get much better. Scarlet and Wolf are wonderful characters to meet, and as for our cyborg protagonist, her predicament gets even more dire but she grows into her own this time around. I can't wait for the next installment in this awesome series.

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P.S. If you want to learn more about Wolf's character and how he came to be an alpha wolf, check out the short story available on Tor called "The Queen's Army." It's pretty awesome if I do say so myself. :)