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.
An NPR Best Book of 2013
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49 of 52 people found the following review helpful.
Brilliant sequel with all the charm of the original
By Jaylia3
If you loved Cinder, an updated SciFi-enhanced Cinderella story, you will be thrilled with its sequel Scarlet, which is just as original, engaging and heart-racingly spectacular and picks up right where Cinder left off. Cinder, the teen-aged cyborg mechanic, is in prison and has only just found out that she is the Lunar princess Selene, who almost everyone believes died in a fiery spaceship crash as a young child. Cinder's aunt, the ruthless power-hungry Lunar Queen Levana, planned Cinder's death in order to claim the Moon's throne for herself, and now she is plotting to take over Earth as well, starting with the Eastern Commonwealth governed by Prince Kai. Somehow Cinder must break out of prison to help Kai and stop her aunt, but there is an army of genetically modified human/wolf soldiers hunting her down and poised to wreak havoc in all of Earth's major cities.Fortunately, Cinder won't have to do it completely alone. Halfway around the world Scarlet Benoit, aka Red Riding Hood, is searching France for her missing grandmother, a woman who knows something about the early years of Cinder's life. Scarlet and Wolf, a street fighter with his own links to Queen Levana, join forces with Cinder, Cinder's android friend Iko and Cinder's sleazy but ultimately useful prison break partner "Captain" Thorne.What I love about Scarlet is how well it continues the story and strengths of Cinder, including its thorough world building, its clever and cohesive SciFi update on well known fairy tale characters and their stories, its plot which is both fast paced and full of complications, and probably most important to me, its characters who are learning as they go and having to work together even when they don't completely trust each other. They are all more human than superhero, with strengths and flaws, talents and insecurities. The female characters are strong, something I appreciate, and many of the characters have interesting back stories which become clear as the plot unfolds. An added plus is that the author has kept the tension high while still managing to include humor, especially using Iko, Cinder's android friend, and "Captain" Thorne, her prison break partner.Marissa Meyer has written riveting prequel story for Scarlet about Wolf and his background called The Queen's Army that can be purchased from Amazon or read online at the website Tor. I'll put a link to the website in the comments below this review.
39 of 43 people found the following review helpful.
Series vs. Serial
By Woolfhound
I enjoyed "Cinder" and I enjoyed this follow-up. Both books are well-plotted, fast-paced stories with interesting characters and situations. My complaint is that this appears to be a series, but it's not. It's a serial. The books aren't stories that follow each other, they are portions of one story... and when I finished "Scarlet" I had the same feeling I had when I finished "Cinder": "Are you kidding me?" The books just stop. If you haven't started the series, I recommend just waiting until it's complete and then reading them all, because you're really just getting a section of a larger book with each.
20 of 23 people found the following review helpful.Even better than Cinder!
By Carina
I've been wanting to read this book ever since I finished Cinder, and it didn't disappoint! Scarlet's and Cinder's stories blend so well with each other. Looking back, there are little bits of Cinder that hint at things to come in Scarlet. And everything puzzles together so perfectly, I loved it.The story starts right up after Cinder. The day after the coronation ball. And, it is action packed from the beginning. Scarlet's grandmother has been missing for a little over 2 weeks. Scarlet is very afraid that something really bad has happened to her grandmother, but the police have stopped looking for her so now Scarlet has to look for her on her own. On her quest to find her grandmother, she runs into wolf, the street fighter, who may just know where her grandmother is. (If you want to know more about Wolf, read the short story, The Queen's Army. Bits of that also ties into this book)The story also whips back to Cinder and her quest to escape from prison and get out of the grasp of the Luna Queen Levana. On her way trying to escape, she runs in to Captain Carswell Thorne. And together they go on an adventure.The new characters are great. Thorne is hilarious with his witty remarks. I found myself giggling at almost everything he said. And Wolf, even though you can never tell he is actually a good guy or a bad guy you feel for him. With his shy demeanor but his large physical appearance.The novel does subtly tie into the little red riding hood tale. Scarlet going to see her grandmother. And other parts of little red riding hood, that I can't add because it might spoil the novel.There are parts that left me on the edge of my seat. Nail biting scenes, parts where I just couldn't read anymore because I didn't want anything bad to happen to the characters but I had to keep reading to find out what really happened! Marissa Meyer does a great job blending the story with an old fairy tale but keeping it new and her own story.Next book come out next year, Cress. Which is about Rapunzel, who had a small cameo in Cinder. And I just can't wait for that one!
