Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Published February 5, 2013 by Feiwel and Friends
#2 in the Lunar Chronicles
5 Stars

Goodreads Review
The fates of Cinder and Scarlet collide as a Lunar threat spreads across the Earth...

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.

Review:  Scarlet is the second book in the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer.  I read the first book, Cinder, last year when it came out and I absolutely loved it.  In fact it was my second favorite book of 2012 so to say that my expectations for Scarlet were high is a bit of an understatement.  However I'm very pleased to report that Scarlet definitely lived up to my expectations!  The Lunar Chronicles is quickly becoming one of my favorite YA series.  (FYI this review might have some spoilers for Cinder, so you have been warned).

Scarlet picks up directly after the ending of Cinder.  What's interesting in Scarlet is instead of just following Cinder's story we are following three different characters, Cinder who is busting out of jail, Prince Kai who is trying to deal with the evil Queen Levana, and a new character named Scarlet who lives in France and delivers vegetables from her grandmother's farm.  I wasn't too sure how I would feel about the POV changes, but I think they were done very smoothly though I have to admit I enjoyed my homegirl Cinder's story more.

I did like the new characters, espeically Scarlet and Thorne (another prisoner who escapes with Cinder and really reminds me of Captain Jack Harkness).  However because Scarlet and Cinder don't come together until the very end of the novel I don't think we get the same level of attention paid to the new characters.  I didn't buy into Scarlet and Wolf's relationship the same way I did with Cinder and Kai. 

My favorite thing about Scarlet though is the introduction to the big plot.  Cinder was an introduction to the world and the main characters but in Scarlet we really get our first glimpse at just how bad the Lunars are and how dangerous Cinder's situation really is.  I also really LOVED the ending but the "big reveal"?  Yeah totally saw that one coming lol.

Overall Scarlet and the Lunar Chronicles as a whole are some of the best YA novels out there.  The balance of the fairy tales that we all know and love with the completely new world Meyer has created is fantastic and comes together to create a wholly original story.