Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles # 2) - Marissa Meyer
Book 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.
After reading Cinder, I knew I had to have my hands on the next book in the series. Seriously, a book that's a fairy-tale re-telling of The Little Red Riding Hood - set in the same place and time as Cinder? So, I ordered the book straightaway from the library, and got to reading it the next day. It was a bit disappointing, not the story, the actual physical copy of the book, it seems that the previous borrower had taken this book to the beach. This resulted in a book with a very uncomfortable grip feeling - yes, sand was everywhere!
Anyway, Scarlet and Wolf, little red and the big, bad, dreamy - wait what... wolf?! What a twist, Marissa Meyer pulled me in with the first story in the series and then came up with this book. Despite the rave reviews that I kept seeing on Instagram, I knew deep down that this book wouldn't live up to the hype - unfortunately, I was right. As a kid, I loved hearing the story of The Little Red Riding Hood and the idea of this book made me excited.
I didn't get what I expected, that's for sure. Between the sandy, gritty cover of the book, and the actual story, I felt a little, well, cheated. Scarlet's story was intertwined with Cinder's and I enjoyed that aspect, but I felt that I wanted more backstory and details that would thicken the plot. Just like the first book, there was humor, adventure, and even love. Some books are hits or misses, but this one was somewhere in between... it could've been a hit for me, but I was left wanting more.
Rating: ★★★★☆