Review: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Review: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Publishing Date: February 5, 2013

Publisher: Fiewel and Friends

Pages: 452 (Hardcover)

My Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Summary (from Goodreads):  *Warning- there will be some major spoilers in the snippet if you have not read the first book in the series, Cinder.  I'm not really touching on Cinder's p.o.v. in Scarlet in this review, though, so it's still safe and spoiler-free :)  Just skip to the bottom of the dotted lines.  

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.

This is no average "Little Red Riding Hood" story.  No, in this tale, Little Red exchanges her riding hood for a red hoodie, and her somewhat childish name for a more feminine and "grown-up" version, Scarlet. This time, when Grandma goes missing, Scarlet pulls out the guns.  She will leave no stone un-turned until she finds her grandmother.  And in this tale, Scarlet chances upon an entirely different kind of wolf.

Set in futuristic France, Scarlet and her grandmother have been farmers for as long as she can remember.  She has lived with her grandmother since she was a little girl, and has barely spent any time away from her ever since she moved in.

Until.

One day, her grandmother disappears.  And Scarlet can't find her for weeks.  She has to keep up with the farm while she searches, though, so she has to trust the authorities to search while she keeps farming and dealing with clients.

Soon, on a delivery, Scarlet meets a very interesting person.  A street fighter named Wolf.  And thus began her adventures, along with an entirely new type of danger entering her life.  But she won't give up.  Not until she finds her grandmother.

Scarlet is a feisty chick.  She won't let someone tell her what she can and cannot do.  She knows what she wants, and she's not going to stop until she gets it.  She's a kick-butt heroine, and there's no way anyone but herself will define her.

Wolf.  Oh my goodness, Wolf.  I'd say he's pretty much unlike any male protagonist I've read in my life, ever.  Just... *swoon*.  He's there for Scarlet when she needs him, but he knows that she is strong enough to stand on her own.  He is strong, but not prideful.  He is caring, but careful to keep control of his emotions.  Wolf has his faults, like everyone else, but rather than not acknowledging them or even taking pride in them, he works to overcome them.  He pushes to be the best he can be.

There are some books that you must take in slowly.  Reading carefully, calmly, and making sure you really understand a sentence or paragraph before you move on.  Other books, you can read at a steady pace, happy and always moving forward, but stopping to smell the roses along the way.  Some books, however, you must devour.  You slip a toe into the water, only to discover that you're being pulled into the deep by a violent tide.  Scarlet is one of those books.

I began slowly, trying to ration out a certain amount of chapters or pages per day.  But no.  Once I began, I couldn't help myself.  I was constantly reading, caught up in the non-stop action.  It's a book that will leave you wondering where the time went, why it all went by so fast.  But it's beautiful, and you'll love it anyway.  It's worth every second of reading.  For every ounce of expectation you have after reading Cinder, it spits back tenfold the amount of emotion.

Favorite quote from the book:
"But her grandmother had never suggested she could think the same of Scarlet.  You'll be fine, she always said after a skinned knee, a broken arm, after her first youthful heartbreak.  You'll be fine, because you're strong, like me."

Peace out, Girl Scouts,
-Maggs