Title: Scarlet

Author: Marissa Meyer

Publish date: February 5th 2013 by Feiwel and Friends

Source: ARC from publisher

Buy it from: Amazon| Book Depository | IndieBound | Books & Books

Goodreads summary:

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.

Review:

Scarlet. Where do I begin, you guys? I’m just coming down from a reread of Scarlet, so how about with the tried and true FANGIRL FLAIL? It is so rare that within a week I have two reviews going up of books that I love this much, and I’m LOVING it.

I suppose the fair thing to do would be to start my review of Scarlet by talking about one of the main characters, and the book’s namesake, Scarlet Benoit. I’m loving how Marissa Meyer managed to make a second kick-ass female MC in this sequel to Cinder, and has a second mystery for us to unravel– the mystery of her grandmother’s disappearance and past. Scarlet and Cinder are both the main POVs in Scarlet and both have distinctively strong personalities. I would want to be BFFs with either one (or both), easy and it was amazing to see their stories come together.

Having talked about the kick-butt girls, I would now like to talk about the boys. GUYS. This is another “Where do I begin?” scenario because there is a cornucopia of swoony boys present in the pages of Scarlet. There’s this guy named Kai (IDK, you may remember him from the first book?), but IN ADDITION, let us add: Captain Carswell Thorne who is so quirkily funny and cocky and perfect.

But Thorne’s day in the sun has yet to come, so really the person we need to talk about here is WOLF. And may I just say? Rawr. (Ah-ooo?) He’s so quiet and mysterious, and it’s a really interesting contrast with the ferocity that he unleashes from time to time. Plus, despite the fact that the events in Scarlet take place in a very short amount of time and the book is extraordinarily fast-paced (Seriously, NEVER A DULL MOMENT), the relationship between Wolf and Scarlet manages to feel fully-developed, without the insta-love element that often drives me mad.

Other things that cannot go without a mention: Marissa’s amazing world-building, for one. I talked about this in my review of Cinder, but now that the world (so to speak– this is a sci-fi novel after all, and there is more than just one world to contend with) is expanding we learn more, and it’s never presented in an info-dumpy way. It grows more and more fascinating.

I also want to nod to the way that Marissa caught her readers up with what happened in Cinder. This was something I noticed on my reread, but it’s so perfectly mixed into the book’s opening. Again, none of the boring info-dump that is a commonality in many series from book to book. The “catch-up” is part of the action.

But one of my favorite things about Scarlet is the humor. I legitimately laughed out loud multiple times. And the dialogue! It’s so snappy and on-the-money. So perfect.

To sum up: Whether you read it once, twice, three times, or ten times, I think you’ll find something new to love about Scarlet on every read.

Need a second opinion?

“SCARLET is a phenomenal installment to the Lunar Chronicles. Readers will be heartbroken when the book finally comes to an end, if only because they can’t get their fix of this world for a whole other year.” -IB Book Blogging

“It makes me want to keysmash all kinds of words of love, it is that good.” -Good Books and Good Wine

“Everything that makes a book perfect for me was present in Scarlet.” -Great Imaginations

Haven’t read Cinder yet? Catch up with:

My review | My stop on the Cinder blog tour | My interview with Marissa

I want to spread the Scarlet love, so I’m giving away an ARC! Enter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway