Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2)

by Marissa Meyer

Hardcover, 452 pages

Published February 5th 2013

Rating:

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.

Scarlet is the second novel in Marissa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles series. Like it's predecessor, it is a fairy tale retelling, though not just of CInderella like Cinder. The novel is split between the perspectives of Cinder and Scarlet. This shift in PoV allows readers to be introduced to Scarlet, a character not in the first book, and also allows them to follow Cinder and glimpse into the head of Prince Kai. Meyer's shifts in narration are seamless and do not interrupt the flow of the story, or cause any confusion. This is such a relief because there have been a number of books I have read that have shifts such as these but the transitions are not smooth, and it's not always clear who is speaking: this was nit a problem in Scarlet.

Already being a fan of the characters introduced in the first novel, I fell in love with the new ones we meet. Scarlet is tough and bad-ass. She's a strong character, and one that is also easy to like and admire. Wolf is a difficult character at times. Being Lunar, it brings up the issue of trust: Lunars are the enemy, so how can he be trusted? Scarlet and Wolf made a good pair.....

Check out the rest of my review by clicking on the link above.

Source: ramblingbooks.blogspot.com

Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1)

Hardcover, 1st Edition, 390 pages

Published January 3rd 2012

Rating:

Synopsis:

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl.

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Why? Why did I wait so long to read this book? The number of times I saw this book at the library, picked it up and contemplated checking it out only to put it back on the shelf and walk away is ridiculous. It is strange too because I knew this was a fairy tale retelling, which I love, so why I brushed off this book so many times is beyond me. However, I am so glad I finally decided to read it.

Marissa Meyer took a well-known fairy tale and threw in a surprising twist: Cinder, the protagonist, is a cyborg living in a dystopian world. Cyborgs are not considered humans to the other people around them who do not have artificial limbs and technology embedded in their brains. It is easy to see how her life matches that of Cinderella, and really, Cinder...Cinderella...if that did not indicate to readers what fairy tale this story is based on, I would be concerned.

Cinder is clever and humorous, it was impossible not to like her. Her stepmother is the epitome of evil, and her one stepsister is pretty awful too, though thankfully Peony seemed to like.....

Check out the rest of the review by heading over to the post on my blog via the link provided above.