Scarlet Buddy Read

[Daniel]

A bunch of us are going to be reading in the coming days/weeks.
Everyone is welcome to join!
There are no set chapters per day, we just read at our own paces and start each post with how far along you are, i.e., Chapter #, %, using spoilers where needed. Have fun!

[Daniel]

I already have my book, and I can't wait to start it!
Hopefully lots of you guys will contribute to the discussion!

[Tia]

I'm going to wait until after 2015 starts so that I can contribute it to my challenge ^.^

[David, Mr. Blue Eyes; He's the Best--Ain't no lie!! ;)]

Hope you enjoy the read! I look forward to reading your comments :)

[Tia]

Thanks David!

[Daniel]

This will be my first read of 2015. Will start it tomorrow.

[Tia]

I'm planning on starting tomorrow as well

[Daniel]

Cool! Hopefully we'll be reading it at around the same pace.

[Daniel]

Page 38.
(view spoiler)[ I have no idea what to think of Wolf. What if he's a werewolf?! Or what if he kidnapped the grandmother? (hide spoiler)]

[Tia]

Chapter 6; 12%
(view spoiler)[I'm anxious to see how Scarlet plans on handling Wolf. I also don't think that, even though he has the tattoo, he's particularly responsible for the kidnapping of her grandmother. I also really like the chapters with Cinder. Her Lunar gift isn't working so well which worries me... (hide spoiler)]

[Daniel]

Chapter 11.
(view spoiler)[ Tia, I actually don't love the Cinder scenes in this book. She seems very calculating, overly snarky, and, well, more mechanic than human. The escape scenes are very drawn out. Also, I couldn't care less about Captain Carswell. He annoys me. I do like the Scarlet scenes and the mystery around wolf. Is he the villain? An ally? All very suspenseful. (hide spoiler)]

[Tia]

Chapter 12
(view spoiler)[I'm starting to agree with you on the Cinder chapters. At first I liked them because I liked seeing what she was up to since this book is mainly about Scarlet, but now not so much. I really can't wait to find out what Wolf knows though! (hide spoiler)]

[Tia]

Chapter 22
(view spoiler)[I'm a little confused by Wolf's non-answer when Scarlet asked if Ran was his brother. Is he or isn't he? (hide spoiler)]

[Tia]

Chapter 25
(view spoiler)[Okay...Scarlet being Princess Selene would make sense since her grandmother is Michelle Benoit, but then what about Cinder's blood line? I don't know what to believe anymore ._. (hide spoiler)]

[Daniel]

Wow, you're blazing ahead.
I haven't read at all today. LOL

[Tia]

I've been home all day with nothing to do XD

[Daniel]

lol. No problem with that.
I'll try to catch up soon.

[Daniel]

Page 152. Chapter 15. Fell asleep reading, which isn't to say it's bad; I'm just really tired.
(view spoiler)[ Cinder's scenes are still lacking any substance for me.
It also frustrates me that Kai still has no idea what's actually going on. Hopefully he'll find out soon and rekindle his relationship with Cinder.
I really like Wolf- he's dealing with Scarlet well in that he has a lot of patience- Scarlet reminds me of Clary in that she's impulsive, explosive, and very hard to control. It's good that she cares about her family, though. (hide spoiler)]

[Tia]

Yes, Daniel, that frustrated me too. (view spoiler)[I hope something happens with Kai to where he finds out exactly what's going on. I was hopeful that he would do something the aid Cinder somehow but now it's not that likely (hide spoiler)]

[Tia]

Chapter 28
(view spoiler)[All I can say right now...Screw too, Wolf. (hide spoiler)]

[Tia]

I kind of finished it...oops? Lol. I stayed up until 3am because I couldn't sleep and didn't realise how far I was until it was over :P

[Daniel]

Wow!! lol
No problem, I'll just try to finish so we can talk about it.

[Daniel]

Chapter 20.
(view spoiler)[ Cinder is being rather selfish and annoying. You're going to delay going to Africa and delay saving the lives of everyone on Earth (INCLUDING KAI) just so you can consider having a life of "freedom"? Wow.
I like the romantic tension developing between Scarlet and Wolf, though. (hide spoiler)]

[Tia]

Oh my gosh yes! That annoyed me a lot too -.-

[Daniel]

Chapter 24.
(view spoiler)[ DAMN DAMN DAMN. THAT KISS. But, like, the surgical scar, though. (hide spoiler)]

[Daniel]

Tia, it's really annoying but I'm realizing why it needs to happen.
(view spoiler)[ Cinder has to behave that way so that her path intersects with Scarlet's in France, I guess. But the effects on Cinder's personality are rather sloppy and inconsistent. (hide spoiler)]

[Tia]

(view spoiler)[But they were already headed to Michelle's before they found out she had a granddaughter. That whole part annoyed me because obviously it's Cinder and shea just finding excuses not to take responsibility (hide spoiler)]

[Daniel]

(view spoiler)[ Yeah, I'm saying that the reason the author has Cinder going to Michelle's is because that's the only way their paths will connect. But the author's attempts at joining the two together are proving costly to Cinder's character. (hide spoiler)]

[Tia]

Yes, I agree

[David, Mr. Blue Eyes; He's the Best--Ain't no lie!! ;)]

Wow, loving your discussion, guys! *goes back to spying*

[Daniel]

LOL David!
Spy to your heart's content!

[David, Mr. Blue Eyes; He's the Best--Ain't no lie!! ;)]

:) Thank you! I just really enjoy how many people are reading and talking about books. It always makes me smile!

[Daniel]

CHAPTER 28.
HOLY SH*T.
I should have known.

[Daniel]

Finished.
I'm a bit conflicted.
I'm on my phone now, so I'll post more detailed thoughts once i get back home.

[Tia]

That's how I felt at the end as well, I look forward to hearing your thoughts :)

[Daniel]

Here are my thoughts.
All of these points will come up in a full review that I will do soon. I'll copy paste the link here when I'm done so you guys can see.

(view spoiler)[Well, there were lots of things I liked, and lot of things I didn't like.

I did like the first half of Scarlet's POV. I thought that both Scarlet and Wolf were great characters, and I also liked that there was intrigue surrounding Wolf- is he the bad guy like in the fairy tale? Or did the author choose to make him good? But once it was revealed that Wolf was a Lunar working undercover, the storyline got predictable. He's a bad guy who has developed feelings for the person he's using, and he switches sides and saves her. That's been done before. I also didn't like one scene in the middle of the book where first, Wolf told Scarlet to give up the search, and then after, Scarlet told Wolf to give up the search. Both were scared for each other's safety and wanted to prevent each other from taking risks our of fear. Over the last few months I've come to dislike overly protective couples, so this irked me a little bit. I will admit the romance scenes were REALLY hot.

Cinder's story was rather boring. The escape scenes were really drawn out, and it took way longer than I was expecting for Cinder to escape. I don't know what to think of Captain Carswell- Cinder treats him like a bro now, but is he really on the good side? In my mind he's still a selfish convict, and I doubt that riding with Cinder and co. has completely changed his persona. Let's remember he's still a criminal, and the only reason he was coming with Cinder was to find Princess Selene for the reward. Now that he knows who Selene is, who's to say he won't change strategies?

Cinder irked me. We discussed this, Tia, but I didn't understand why she was willing to kill off Kai and kill off the rest of the world for a chance at a life with "freedom". She's the rightful heir, and she could save the lives of everyone on Earth. It was incredibly selfish of her (which is very unlike her) to think about running away. The author had to do this so that Cinder and Scarlet's paths met in Paris, but this causes inconsistencies in Cinder's character. Nice to see Scarlet finally give Cinder the talk that I'd been wanting to give to her the entire book. Cinder's head is FINALLY screwed on properly.
Kai... Oh Kai. I got so frustrated, because he was hopelessly confused and unknowing of what was REALLY going on. Which is a shame, because he's the one who makes all the decisions. He's doing everything he can, but the only way the Earth is saved is if he finds out who Selene is. And the only way that happens is if Cinder talks to him. Which is basically impossible at this point.

So overall, I liked the book, but there were things that irked me here and there. It was less predictable than the first book, but I still thought the romance between Wolf and Scarlet became predictable near the end. Some of the characters frustrated me as well. In terms of the world building I thought the individual stories were ok, and Meyer did a good job of retelling the Red Riding Hood story, but the two stories were meshed together in a way that didn't make sense.
(hide spoiler)]

I look forward to Cress.

[Tia]

(view spoiler)[ I agree with all of your points! The beginning of Scarlet and Wolf's relationship was great, but then it just started getting meh. And I'm glad that Cinder has finally accepted who she is, but I agree it did take her too long to get there, especially with the imminent war. Thorne...idk what to say about him. He kinda grew on me, but I see your point about not knowing if he'll stay on their side throughout everything. I really hope Cress is a better mesh of the stories (hide spoiler)]

When were you planning on starting Cress? I have two ARCs I have to read before the end of February, but other than that I'm pretty free to read anything ^.^

[Daniel]

(view spoiler)[ Yeah, it will be interesting to see what happens with Thorne. It's up in the air with him.
From what I've heard, Cress is the best books in the series, so hopefully we'll like it better. (hide spoiler)]

Well, I don't know what I'm reading next, but I will have access to Cress from my school library at any time. I know Rose wants to buddy read Cress too, so maybe we'll ask her and then make a decision.

[Tia]

Sounds like a plan! :)

[Daniel]

Here's my review!
Apologize, it's a bit lengthy.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Tia]

Great review! I agree with pretty much everything you said ^.^

[Daniel]

Thanks Tia!

[Daniel]

Hey Tia,
Rose says she'll be ready to start Cress maybe in a couple of days.
I'll try to get it soon- I think the library will have it on hold for me in the next few weeks.
So maybe we can start sometime next week or the week after... I'll let you know!

[Tia]

Okay! I'm ready whenever you guys are! :)

[Tommy]

I finished this book last night and absolutely loved it. And, this is me joining the discussion

(view spoiler)[I'm in an odd position of totally acknowledging that you guys make good points, but feeling totally different about them. I like Wolf as a Character, I like Scarlet as a character, I even like them together, but I am not a fan of the romance. It seems a bit toxic. "Oh, you just shot me? Well, let me reveal some really awful things I did and we can makeout!"
And I am love, love, loving the Cinder scenes. I don't think her going after Michelle Benoit was such a bad idea in the grand scheme of things, and I loved that she sincerely debated taking on the responsibility. Heck, I would have! Plus, it made her decision to go in all the stronger. (hide spoiler)]