Series: the Lunar Chronicles #2Author: Marissa Meyer
Genre: young adult, dystopia, science fiction, fantasy, romance, retelling, adventure
Published: February 4, 2015 (first published January 1, 2013)
Publisher: Square Fish
Even in the future, beware of the big, bad wolf...
Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She is 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. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information about 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.
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I really, really, REALLY wanted to love this. Some say all the books in the series so far are equally good, others say that it gets better after each book. But for me Scarlet suffered from that second book slump (well almost).
Cinder was a really cinematic, brilliant, and really fun read. I loved Cinder! In fact, I loved ALL of the characters. There was not a moment that I got bored. But Scarlet was somehow the opposite of it. I enjoyed Scarlet, I have to admit that but there were times that I'd just want to skip chapters. Some times I check how many pages left or check the next chapter to see which character's POV it is.
I remember calling Cinder predictable yet still being able to deliver well. It made cliche moments exciting and cheesy moments oh-so fun. Scarlet, on the other hand, is also very predictable. I have the upcoming twists in my mind and how they played out didn't really excite me. It could be because of my relationship with Scarlet and Wolf which didn't turned out okay.
Scarlet is more of an 'okay' heroine - not really exciting to read, not really someone I felt for, not really someone I root for. She's strong. She has this dramatic story going on around her. SO I'm blaiming her lack of Cinder humor and pure seriousness which made me not care about her at all. Wolf, on the other hand, is introduced as a mysterious character. While Scarlet and Wolf had a very interesting interaction, strangely enough it didn't capture me. So their relationship, for me, felt more like that cheesy moment. Scarlet is full of romance (and sometimes doubt) of Scarlet towards Wolf - their adventure, the development of their oh-so quickly developed feelings.
Thorne and Cinder's part of the story is the exciting and fun side of Scarlet. It's that part of the book that I eagerly look forward to just because Thorne nicely complements Cinder's humor as much as Kai's narcissism. Their team is so great I wouldn't mind reading an entire book about their adventure. Iko's comeback in the story really made things more fun (ohwait is this a bloodydamn spoiler for Cinder?).
Prince Kai, on the other hand, really had it difficult in here. After Cinder's escape he had to take matters in his hands and well... let's just say things were rough and his lack of appearance in the story didn't made me feel for him in here. He's very conflicted about Cinder, that's for sure, and how he's part of the story will be continued later on in the series will certainly be interesting.
There is action - thrilling action, and internal conflicts. It's still nicely laid down despite my lack of interest on certain characters. There certainly isn't any still moments. It's either they're on the run or they're fighting off Lunars. Really exciting moments, really, unless you're like me who won't care about Scarlet and Wolf (and maybe saying that over and over is the highlight of my review).
OVERALL, Scarlet is an exciting read. It still had that Cinder vibes but with the mix of new characters how you take them will clearly be of great impact on how much you'll enjoy the story. Scarlet's overly serious character topped with Wolf's somehow mysterious character made thing a bit too serious for me. Yet this was nicely complemented by Thorne and Cinder's adventure which was all fun and excitement.
I remember calling Cinder predictable yet still being able to deliver well. It made cliche moments exciting and cheesy moments oh-so fun. Scarlet, on the other hand, is also very predictable. I have the upcoming twists in my mind and how they played out didn't really excite me. It could be because of my relationship with Scarlet and Wolf which didn't turned out okay.
Scarlet is more of an 'okay' heroine - not really exciting to read, not really someone I felt for, not really someone I root for. She's strong. She has this dramatic story going on around her. SO I'm blaiming her lack of Cinder humor and pure seriousness which made me not care about her at all. Wolf, on the other hand, is introduced as a mysterious character. While Scarlet and Wolf had a very interesting interaction, strangely enough it didn't capture me. So their relationship, for me, felt more like that cheesy moment. Scarlet is full of romance (and sometimes doubt) of Scarlet towards Wolf - their adventure, the development of their oh-so quickly developed feelings.
Thorne and Cinder's part of the story is the exciting and fun side of Scarlet. It's that part of the book that I eagerly look forward to just because Thorne nicely complements Cinder's humor as much as Kai's narcissism. Their team is so great I wouldn't mind reading an entire book about their adventure. Iko's comeback in the story really made things more fun (ohwait is this a bloodydamn spoiler for Cinder?).
Prince Kai, on the other hand, really had it difficult in here. After Cinder's escape he had to take matters in his hands and well... let's just say things were rough and his lack of appearance in the story didn't made me feel for him in here. He's very conflicted about Cinder, that's for sure, and how he's part of the story will be continued later on in the series will certainly be interesting.
There is action - thrilling action, and internal conflicts. It's still nicely laid down despite my lack of interest on certain characters. There certainly isn't any still moments. It's either they're on the run or they're fighting off Lunars. Really exciting moments, really, unless you're like me who won't care about Scarlet and Wolf (and maybe saying that over and over is the highlight of my review).
OVERALL, Scarlet is an exciting read. It still had that Cinder vibes but with the mix of new characters how you take them will clearly be of great impact on how much you'll enjoy the story. Scarlet's overly serious character topped with Wolf's somehow mysterious character made thing a bit too serious for me. Yet this was nicely complemented by Thorne and Cinder's adventure which was all fun and excitement.
* * *
What I Like: (1) Cinder and Thorne!, (2) Iko's comback, (3) endless exciting adventure, (4) the humor (especially Thorne's), (5) Cinder's conflict, (6) the apperance of Lunar soldiers
What I Didn’t Like: (1) Scarlet and Wolf (because their relationship and characters literally just ruined it for me, sorry)
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