Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Release Date: February 5, 2013
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Pages: 464
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #2
Review Source: eARC from Macmillan via Raincoast Books

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)
Cinder returns in the second thrilling installment of the New York Times-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 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.

My Thoughts:
As of writing this review it’s been a couple of hours since finishing ‘Scarlet’ and all that keeps rolling through my head is: “This is sheer perfection!” Obviously nothing is perfect, but this is the perfect book for me. It’s so much fun to read with all the character banter, bad ass heroines, and larger than life villains. I love how the book has such different sides to it: there are those lighter, amusing moments, but there is also intense action, heartbreak, and romance, all of which made me feel huge amounts of varying emotions.

I loved ‘Cinder’ so much that I couldn’t imagine not loving ‘Scarlet’, but I still wasn’t entirely sure what to expect with having a new main character added in. I don’t know why I even worried for a second, because Marissa Meyer weaves the plotlines together seamlessly, and I guarantee that you’ll adore Scarlet within a page or two. I still have a soft-spot for Cinder, of course, but I never found myself wanting to go back to one part of the narrative over another. The back and forth between the main characters always broke at the absolute perfect place.

Along with the amazing new heroine there are also two gentlemen added into the mix. I honestly can’t decide who I like more. On the one hand there’s the charmingly arrogant and debonair Captain Thorne, who is the main contributor to the book’s comic relief. On the other hand there’s the mysterious and shy Wolf, who I really can’t describe any other way except sexy (yes, I went there).

When you love a book so much it’s hard to pinpoint all the different reasons why it worked so well for you. There are all those elements I mentioned in the first paragraph, there’s the seamless narration switches, and there’s the extremely well written characters. In the case of Marissa Meyer’s writing there’s also incredible world-building. I love the Sailor Moon-esque plot elements that continued on from ‘Cinder’, and in ‘Scarlet’ I also noticed what I thought was a Firefly vibe. I absolutely loved these aspects, and I loved seeing everything come together.

Bottom line: this is a must-read series that I would recommend to all YA fans. I absolutely loved ‘Scarlet’, and the only negative I can think of is having to wait so long for the remaining two volumes in the series.

The Cover:
I wish I could say I love it, but I don't. The only thing I like is the title font.

Rating:
[5/5]

Find Scarlet by Marissa Meyer on Goodreads, Book Depository, & Amazon.