Scarlet by Marissa Meyer is the second book in The Lunar Chronicles. We pick up with Cinder, trying her best to escape prison and stay as far away from the evil Queen Levana as she can. She has been labeled a criminal and is wanted on and off Earth.
Meanwhile in France, Scarlet Benoit is desperate to find her missing grandmother. When a chance encounter puts Scarlet in the path of Wolf, a street fighter with secrets, she has no option but to place her trust in his nearly feral hands. The two are drawn closer together as they hunt down Scarlet’s grandmother.
When these two worlds collide, secrets unfold and this unlikely crew of allies must do what they can to bring down Queen Levana and in doing so, save Prince Kai and the world.
Will Scarlet find her grandmother? Can she trust Wolf to help her? Will Cinder be able to master her Lunar gift and will she commit to her destiny and reclaim the Lunar throne?
Oh man, this one was good. The whole thing was entertaining as hell. I just loved Scarlet and Wolf’s storyline. I loved both of their characters and the way their bond evolves. Scarlet is a strong, self sufficient female who wasn’t quite as annoying as I sometimes found Cinder to be in the first book. And Wolf, is he good, is he bad, will he ever stop moving–one thing we do know, he is adorable in a rugged bad-ass way. I just loved his territorial protectiveness of Scarlet.
All of the characters seemed to evolve and became more likeable in this book… except Kai, he was sort of miserable in this one and didn’t actually do much. Cinder gained a lot more personality and there is something charming about her fellow escapee, Thorne. I also enjoyed that we learn a little more about Lunar society and the way the world works in the series.
One thing I am missing from this book is a little backstory into Queen Levana. Why did she try to kill her niece and really, why is she so evil? We get a little hint toward the end of this book that answers are coming but without a little more depth, she doesn’t seem all that scary to me.
Overall, this was an entertaining read. Every time the chapters would switch between Cinder and Scarlet, I’d be like nooo go back and then I’d get sucked right into the current chapter… it was a vicious cycle. As an audiobook, this one gets 4 stars from me.
That’s all for now!
-M-