Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Title: Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles #2)

Author: Marissa Meyer

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends

Release Date: February 5, 2013

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository

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 grandmothers 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. 

I absolutely adored Cinder when I read it last year and ever since then I have been impatiently waiting to be able to read the sequel, Scarlet. And despite having a copy of the book sitting on my shelf for a few months, it wasn't until recently that I finally found the time to pick it up. Let me just say that Scarlet was just as good Cinder, if not even better, and once again Marissa Meyer wrote a story I couldn't help but love.

Now that Cinder knows who she truly is, she is on the run from Queen Levana and her armies. She knows she has to get to Africa to meet Dr. Erland, but first she wants some answers. But getting answers means finding Michelle Benoit and that means teaming up with Captain Carswell Thorne because without him Cinder doesn't have much hope of getting anywhere. What she doesn't know is that Michelle has gone missing and her granddaughter Scarlet is doing everything in her power to get her back. Even if that means teaming up with Wolf, the mysterious street fighter who may have more going on than meets the eye. Soon enough, as the mysteries unravel, the duos meet each other and team up to stop Queen Levana, because they might be the only ones able to do so anymore.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that Marissa Meyer has now become one of my all-time favourite authors and Scarlet is what confirmed this for me. Because Scarlet was simply amazing. From start to finish the story completely captured my attention and I was just so wrapped up in it all that I had no idea what was going on in the outside world. The story picks up right where Cinder ended, but it does so in a different part of the world with different characters who are just as interesting and compelling as the original ones. I loved just how much action there was in this story compared to Cinder. It just felt like something was constantly happening, something which might have to do with the multiple storylines at play. Right when I thought things were going to calm down, the focus would shift different characters and all of a sudden I would find myself right back in the thick of the action. 

I loved seeing the characters I had come to love in the first book. Cinder was just as fantastic a character and it was great to see her take on more confidence but at the same time I really enjoyed seeing her come to terms and deal with everything she learned about herself in the first book. Kai on the other hand I wished I would have been able to see more of. As much as I loved him in the first book, I feel like I didn't see him enough in Scarlet…and when I did he had the tendency to anger me but I can't really hold it against him considering the circumstances. But to make up for a lack of Kai I had Thorne and Wolf. And while they were no Kai, they weren't so bad. Thorne just made me laugh every single time he opened his mouth. And Wolf was quite the mysterious fellow and he definitely had his shortcomings, but he also had his moments where I couldn't help but swoon just a little. And of course there's Scarlet and there's just so much I could say about her. She was everything I hoped she would be and she took me by surprise on more than one occasion. She just wasn't afraid to run head first into whatever situation was in front of her. I can't wait to see more of her in the future. (Sidenote: I loved the fact that there was a character named Émilie in the book--it never happens that I find character with not only the same name, but who also spell it the same way.)

Marissa Meyer's Scarlet was a phenomenal read. I just couldn't turn the pages fast enough but then there was no more to read and I was begging for more. The Lunar Chronicles have quickly become some of my favorite books and Marissa Meyer one of my favorite authors. And I can't wait to see where she takes the story next in Cress.