Series : The Lunar Chronicles #2
Edition : Paperback (454 pages)
Publisher : Square Fish (February 2014)
First Published : January 2013
Genre : Young Adult, Fantasy, Dystopia, Fiction
Source : Amazon.de
Date Read : August 2015
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Cinder is back and trying to break out of prison–even though she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive if she does–in this second installment from Marissa Meyer.

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.

My Thoughts

At first, I thought that this book will focus with the new characters and will only include some parts of Cinder’s story. I was wrong.

The sequel of Cinder, Scarlet is a modern retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. It introduces us to Scarlet Benoit who is living in a small town in France. Her grandmother is missing and Scarlet don’t have any idea what, how or why it happened. She meet a mysterious street fighter named Wolf and teams up with him to find her grandmother. Meanwhile, in New Beijing, Cinder is trying to break out of the prison when she accidentally meet another prisoner named Carswell Thorne. Both Scarlet and Cinder have their own mission and questions that need some answers.

I preferred this sequel to the first book becasue this has so much exciting things going on, the plot twists are quite unexpected and there are additional interesting characters.

Scarlet is determined, a bit naive but also a badass like Cinder. For me, Cinder is more mature than Scarlet because she went through a lot of things in her life. I can say that I like Cinder more than her. Wolf is a strong and silent type which made me like him. He is a bit complex and I hated him once but it changed quickly. Me and Joyce are currently fangirling over him. Thorne, or should I say Captain Thorne, is the complete opposite of Wolf. He’s cute, funny and hilarious. I like the chemistry between him and Cinder and their conversations are fun to read. Iko is back and even though we don’t see (or hear) much of her sassiness, it still made me feel happy. I almost forgot Kai. In my review of Cinder, I’ve mentioned that I wasn’t sure with how I feel about him. In this book, we get to know him better. I can say that he is a great leader and loyal person and I totally disagree with his final decision. I think romance is not the major thing on the story but I’m still rooting for Cinder and Kai.

The writing style is still incredible. I love how Meyer retells the scenes from Little Red Riding Hood into this book. Especially the one when the bad wolf pretended to be her Granny in order trick her. I didn’t see that one coming in this book and I was impressed.

The world-building becomes more astonishing because we get to know what is happening in the other parts of the world. I think this is the first dystopian book that I’ve read which do not focus on one place where the dystopian society is happening.

But why I didn’t give this a perfect five? The back and forth from Scarlet in France to Cinder in New Beijing is a bit confusing for me. And there is still no clear history about the Lunars. Are they aliens? Or also humans who travelled to the moon and decided to live there?Also, I’m having a hard time picturing Wolf and Thorne in my head. I’m not sure why.

The ending makes me more eager to buy a copy of Cress. I want to know the result of Kai’s announcement and how Cress will become a part of the story. Scarlet is an action-packed and exciting read. I totally enjoyed reading this book and I highly recommend it.

There is a short story entitled „The Queen’s Army“ included on my copy of Scarlet and I’ve found out that it’s about the wolf pack.

My Rating