Review: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Scarlet

Author: Marissa Meyer

Publication Date: February 5th, 2013

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends

Genre: YA/Romance/ReTelling/Dystopia

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Synopsis:

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.

My Thoughts: Marissa Meyer has mastered the ReTelling genre! You will not find any others in the genre  that are nearly as unique, imaginative, adventurous, and creative as The Lunar Chronicles. Meyer has breathed the most fresh breath of air possible into stories that we all know so well. She has all but turned these stories on their heads and emptied their pockets and stripped down to their bare essentials. She then rebuilt them in a way only she can, with every page and character becoming something even better and more astounding than it previously was.

I'm sad that it took me so long to read this. I read Cinder last year and I absolutely loved it. You can read my review for Cindre here. It should not have taken me this long to get my hands on the sequel, and if it weren't for my great friend Jenn here passing me on  her copy I would probably still have it on my to read list. So big thanks to Jenn for being so generous and giving me the encouragement I needed to get this book read!

Scarlet is a female heroine we all can't help but love. She has a  fierce loyalty to her loved ones and a determination that never quits. I fell in love with  her just as easily as I fell for Cinder in the first book. Both are female leads you will be rooting for right from the start.

I was especially happy to find that Cinder was in this book. I had assumed that it would be a brand new re-telling with all new characters. This is because I have a habit of not reading the synopsis to sequel books because I just love being surprised too much and I don't want the slightest surprise to be given away. But yes, you can imagine my delight when Cinder was amongst the pages. This delight only intensified to the max as Cinder's and Scarlet's stories intertwined.

The way Meyer has weaved these two fairy tales together is nothing short of incredible. She obviously has a gift for this genre and I would say her books are the yardstick that all others in the genre are measured against. You don't want to miss out on these books. If you have not looked into the Lunar Chronicles yet you seriously need to hop on that train! Pick up these books and prepare to fall in love with the stories you've always known, only this time around, they are revved up, and totally kick ass!