Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer

Amy          

Lynnie     

young adult, fantasy, sci-fi

Having enjoyed the first book in this series, Cinder, more than I did, Amy read this sequel back in May.  She finally convinced me that I should continue the series because she was enjoying it so much.  Like Cinder, which was a futuristic retelling of the Cinderella story, Scarlet is a futuristic spin on Little Red Riding Hood while continuing the story of Cinder as well.

Amy's Review

I really enjoyed this second novel in The Lunar Chronicles series. New characters (Scarlet—aka Little Red Riding Hood, her grandmother, and Wolf) were added to the Cinder storyline already in progress although, of course, the new characters had their pre-defined storyline too. I loved both storylines and the way Meyer wove them together. There was fun adventure, humor, and a little romance. Before I read this, I also read Meyer’s novella called The Queen’s Army which was Wolf’s back story. I was glad to have read that before starting Scarlet. As a reader, I felt closer to Wolf’s motivations than if I had not read the novella.

Again, like with Cinder, this novel leaves us in a cliffhanger. I’m looking forward to reading the next in the series!


Lynnie's Review 

I read the first book in this series, Cinder, about a year and a half ago with no ambition to continue the story. While I enjoyed many aspects of the book, there were many that I found entirely predictable because after all- it's essentially the story of Cinderella. My sister convinced me that the books improve with each one so I finally decided to tackle Scarlet when it became available at the library. Amy's right, this book is better than Cinder, but still had many of the same issues that bothered me last time.

In this book we have Scarlet (now, Little Red Riding Hood) who is secretly stalked, followed and coveted by (Big Bad) Wolf. Her grandmother has gone missing so Scarlet sets out to find her grandmother and whatever secrets the woman may be hiding, with Wolf in tow.

Interwoven with Scarlet's journey is the continuation of Cinder(ella)'s tale- as she is joined by Captain Thorne (the hunter?). Cinder and Thorne are also looking for Scarlet's grandmother because really, what else are they going to do that might bring these two storylines together?

The two stories do work well together and really complement each other, making this book much more fun to read than the first. There's action, humor, and romance and even though some of the characters annoyed me endlessly (Scarlet, I'm looking at you), most of the time I was eager to find out what would happen next.

I will read the next book in the series, but once again I'm in no hurry.