Review : Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title : Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles #2)
Author : Marissa Meyer
Publication Date : February 5th 2013
Publisher : Feiwel and Friends
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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.

Personal Thoughts

I read Cinder a few months after it came out and really enjoyed it. Despite that, I've been putting off Scarlet. Why you ask? The hype. This is one of those series that is so hyped and that so many bloggers loved, that it scared me off a little. With the release of Cress this week, I've been seeing a ton of reviews once again praising Marissa Meyer, so I decided to get over my fear of over-hyped books and dive into Scarlet, and I'm so pleased I did because Scarlet was an incredible book, even better than the first installment.

In Cinder, we met Cinder. In Scarlet, our new protagonist is Scarlet. I was a bit worried about the involvement of a new character into the continuation of a series, but it turns out, I had nothing to be worried about because Marissa Meyer knew exactly what she was doing and she did it beautifully. As much as I loved Cinder, I have to say that my new favorite heroine has to be Scarlet. There was nothing really unlovable about her. She's fierce, devoted and so brave. I loved how much she was willing to risk to be able to find her kidnapped grandmother. She's the kind of girl who was ready to go to lengths in order to protect those who she loves. She's also not afraid to speak out her mind, which led to some honest scenes between her father and her. I love a girl who is as determined and as strong-willed as Scarlet was. With the introduction of Scarlet, I feared that we wouldn't get to know Cinder better, but I was once again wrong. Cinder is getting used to her new-found powers and you watch how she begins to doubt herself. I admit that she was a little infuriating at times, with her reluctance to fully embrace the truth, but thankfully for her, Scarlet was there to put in her place and to show her the right path.

Now onto the boys! Wolf! Oh my! I know everyone swooned over him and I did too. I loved that quiet intensity he had and I also loved how clueless he was throughout the book because it made for some hilarious scenes. His relationship with Scarlet was one of the highlights of this book for me. The slow burn of their romance was probably the best part of the book for me. It was so intense, you all! While Wolf was an incredible character, the boy who managed to charm his way into my heart and ran away with it was the infuriating but entirely loveable Captain Thorne. I adored the man so hard, you guys. He was just so delightful with his sassy attitude. He also provided comic relief throughout the book and I didn't go through one of his scenes without giggling like a school girl with a crush on a celebrity. Yes, people, I've found myself yet another fictional book boyfriend! I can't wait to read his story next! The ever loving Iko was also a huge part of the story and the Queen Levana was as horrible as ever.

The world-building in Scarlet was breath-taking. You can tell that the author really put a lot of time and effort into crafting this world so that it seems realistic and authentic by revealing its complexities. The plot too was brilliant in every sense of the word. One of my only complaints with Cinder was that there wasn't enough action-packed scenes for me, but it's as if Marissa Meyer listened to me because Scarlet was action-packed from start to finish and it left me on the edge of my seat. Marissa Meyer is a fantastic author and one way I could tell that was by her mastery of the third person POV writing. If you know me, then you know that the third person POV rarely every works for me because I don't feel the connection to the characters, but Marissa Meyer sure knows how to use it. The book is also told in multiple POVs, a fact that should have bothered me, but it didn't because there was this lovely flow to the writing and the start of a chapter never felt abrupt. Bonus? There's no cliffhanger!

Scarlet for me was beyond a success. It was a thrilling, emotional and creative sequel that in no way suffered from the cursed middle-book syndrome. If you haven't tried this series yet, I highly recommend it. I, for one, cannot wait to see what Marissa Meyer comes up with next!

Rating

Cover : 5/5
Plot : 5/5
Characters : 5/5
Writing : 5/5