Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles, #2) in Around the World in 80 Books

Dec 15, 2012 Nadine in NY Jones rated it really liked it

Shelves: based-on-a-folk-tale, young-adult, stayed-up-way-too-late, dystopian-and-post-apocalyptic, retelling-a-classic, cyberpunk, sf-romance

Two pages in, and we've got a character named Scarlet, who has filed a missing persons report with the police for her missing grandmother ... and you just know the wolf hybrids had something to do with it. By page 26, we learn that Scarlet wears a red hoodie. By page 28, we are introduced to a handsome, broody young street fighter named Wolf (no doubt a wolf hybrid soldier from the moon queen's army, I am guessing) . How clever is that???

FAIR WARNING: if you are reading this, when you start Chap Two pages in, and we've got a character named Scarlet, who has filed a missing persons report with the police for her missing grandmother ... and you just know the wolf hybrids had something to do with it. By page 26, we learn that Scarlet wears a red hoodie. By page 28, we are introduced to a handsome, broody young street fighter named Wolf (no doubt a wolf hybrid soldier from the moon queen's army, I am guessing) . How clever is that???

FAIR WARNING: if you are reading this, when you start Chapter 35, make sure you have plenty of time to finish the rest of the book, because you will NOT want to put it down at that point.

I enjoyed Scarlet even more than Cinder, probably because I knew what to expect. I also think it helped that I read The Queen's Army, it made me much more sympathetic to Wolf than I would have been otherwise. While obviously this story is riffing on the old Red Riding Hood tale (view spoiler), at times (at many times) I thought it was a lot more akin to Beauty and the Beast. I suppose in a way Meyer has merged the two tales - I wish she had remained true to just one or the other, it would have felt more powerful, I think.

The story switches back and forth between Cinder, busy escaping from basically every single police force on Earth AND the moon (along with her accidental side-kick, "Captain" Thorne, who was imprisoned for stealing an American spaceship, and who somehow manages to never become annoying), and Scarlet, who is traveling with HER accidental sidekick, Wolf, on a quest to find and rescue her grandmother. I DID sometimes get a little disoriented, and I'd have to take a moment to remember "wait, which one is Cinder? which one is Scarlet?" because the characters are awfully similar. Sometimes I would find myself wondering why Scarlet didn't just use her cyborg hand to do something, and I would have to remind myself that CINDER is the cyborg, Scarlet is the French country girl cum pilot. If only Meyer had managed to differentiate the two a bit better, I'd be giving this book 5 stars.

I'm looking forward to Cress (that's the Queen's computer programmer who's been communicating with Cinder, right?) which is said to feature Rapunzel (Queen's programmer trapped in a tower???) in 2014. ...more

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Oct 22, 2012 Lauren⁷ 💜 rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance, fantasy-science-fiction, library-has-a-copy, young-adult-teen-new-adult, dystopian

I really, really, really liked this! Scarlet and Wolf are great characters! Scarlet easily held her own and was very brave and resourceful. Wolf's more quiet and reserved character was a good match for her and I liked them together a lot. Their romance was very sweet. And Meyer very successfully and skillfully wove in all the elements of Little Red Riding Hood. We learn yet more about Cinder and her abilities and she continues to grow and get more intriguing as a character. We learn more about L ...more

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Mar 23, 2014 Pam rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya-fiction

AUTHOR: Meyer, Marissa
TITLE: Scarlet
Date Read: 02/28/14
RATING: 4.5/B+
GENRE/PUB DATE/PUBLISHER/# OF PGS: YA/2013/Thorndike Press/568 pgs
SERIES/STAND ALONE: #2 in The Lunar Chronicles

TIME/PLACE: France
CHARACTERS: Cinder/ cyborg mechanic; Scarlet/seller of fresh produce, Wolf/street fighter

FIRST LINES: Scarlet was descending toward the alley behind the Rieux Tavern when her portscreen chimed from the passenger seat, followed by an automated voice: "Comm received for Mademoiselle Scarlet Benoit fr ...more

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Jan 27, 2015 Sarah rated it it was ok

Shelves: audio, young-adult, magic-sci-fi-fantasy

I think I liked this one even less than Cinder. I just find this whole series so juvenile. I think the problem might actually be with the narration of the audiobook. Rebecca Soler is a good narrator in that she keeps my attention and gives each character a distinct voice and personality. But she's too good at sounding like a teeanger. Her heroines all sound like annoying little twits and I can't decide if the fault is with Meyer's writing or Soler's narration. I will say, though, that Soler's Sc ...more

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Jul 11, 2013 Ahsia rated it really liked it

Not as good as Cinder but still pretty good

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Sep 15, 2016 Ashley rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016-reading-challenge

I loved this one ! I love how the author has taken little red riding hood and has made her totally the opposite of what the traditional red riding hood. Red is a bad ass is a bad ass in this book . I also like how the author has made everyone into a team to fight against the evil queen .

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