Review: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer and Giveaway (Scarlet Audiobook)

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

ARC received from Feiwel & Friends (Macmillan)

Release Date: 2-5-2013

Reviewed by:  Middle Sis Jenn

The Sisters Say:  Shocking, Salacious, and Seriously Awesome!

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.

So, I read Cinder and Scarlet in the last few weeks, and while Cinder was good, it didn’t blow me away.  BUT Scarlet did!  It more than blew me away—It smacked me in the face with its awesomeness!!!  From Chapter 1, I was reeled into this futuristic world, and for the entire 450 pages, I didn’t want to be anywhere else.  Scarlet is mesmerizing—be prepared to enter a world dripping with malice, encounter characters laced with deceit, and discover love breaking its bonds.

Like I said in my Cinder review, I really like the world that Marissa has created.  It’s futuristic, yet it retains many similarities to our own world, so it’s easy to relate.  But the technology is what sets us apart—and this future is intricate and captivating.  I love seeing the different advances that have taken place and how they have affect society as a whole.  The androids and cyborgs create a different dimension that separates Marissa’s world from other dystopian novels.  I look forward to the next two books in the series, as they take place in separate parts of this new world.

I really liked that this book focused on Scarlet.  At first, I was kind of wary because she was completely new character, and I didn’t know how it was going to fit in with Cinder’s story, but the two plot lines merged fantastically.  The story is told in alternating perspectives, so we get to see Scarlet as she travels down her road in search for her grandmother, and on the other end, we also get to watch as Cinder travels down her own road of self-discovery.  I will admit, I enjoyed Scarlet’s story much better.  Scarlet was strong-willed and determined, but still all too human.  She falls prey to human vulnerabilities, and I liked seeing how others had to come to her aid.  She was strong, but needed help at times, and that made her open herself up to new relationships.

I absolutely loved Wolf because he’s my YA type!  Troubled and broken, broody with secrets.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again—that’s the best YA guy in my opinion.  I love knowing there are secrets behind their actions because I love mystery in a guy, and there is definitely mystery surrounding Wolf.  He’s strong and over-protective, domineering and a jerk-face at times, but that just adds to the tension that he creates with Scarlet. 

In Cinder, I though the plot twists were extremely obvious, and while I still saw most of the twists in Scarlet coming, they weren’t laid out as openly.  You kind of had to stretch to see them.  Still, I’m hoping for a little less predictability in the future.

If you’re a fan of Kai (which I’m not a huge fan of), then you might be disappointed in this book.  He only shows up a handful of times, and those times are really not very lengthy.  I was perfectly fine with this because he is a bit too goody-goody, nice guy for me. 

Lastly, I will say that the blurb isn’t written the best.  It makes it sound like Scarlet and Wolf are meeting up with Cinder and that most of the book will follow them together.  This wasn’t even close to the case.  They run into each other very late in the book—the rest of the time they are on their own. 

Overall, this was a fantastic read, and I would highly recommend it to fans of dystopian worlds. 

Scarlet + Wolf = Jaw-dropping, edge of your seat fun!

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