Review: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer and Giveaway (Scarlet Audiobook)

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

ARC received from Feiwel & Friends (Macmillan)

Release Date: 2-5-2013

Reviewed by:  Middle Sis Jenn

The Sisters Say:  Shocking, Salacious, and Seriously Awesome!

Cinder returns in the second thrilling installment of the New York Times-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 and 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 has no choice but to trust him, though he clearly has a few dark secrets of his own.

As Scarlet and Wolf work to unravel one mystery, they find another when they cross paths with Cinder. Together, they must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen who will do anything to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner.

So, I read Cinder and Scarlet in the last few weeks, and while Cinder was good, it didn’t blow me away.  BUT Scarlet did!  It more than blew me away—It smacked me in the face with its awesomeness!!!  From Chapter 1, I was reeled into this futuristic world, and for the entire 450 pages, I didn’t want to be anywhere else.  Scarlet is mesmerizing—be prepared to enter a world dripping with malice, encounter characters laced with deceit, and discover love breaking its bonds.

Like I said in my Cinder review, I really like the world that Marissa has created.  It’s futuristic, yet it retains many similarities to our own world, so it’s easy to relate.  But the technology is what sets us apart—and this future is intricate and captivating.  I love seeing the different advances that have taken place and how they have affect society as a whole.  The androids and cyborgs create a different dimension that separates Marissa’s world from other dystopian novels.  I look forward to the next two books in the series, as they take place in separate parts of this new world.

I really liked that this book focused on Scarlet.  At first, I was kind of wary because she was completely new character, and I didn’t know how it was going to fit in with Cinder’s story, but the two plot lines merged fantastically.  The story is told in alternating perspectives, so we get to see Scarlet as she travels down her road in search for her grandmother, and on the other end, we also get to watch as Cinder travels down her own road of self-discovery.  I will admit, I enjoyed Scarlet’s story much better.  Scarlet was strong-willed and determined, but still all too human.  She falls prey to human vulnerabilities, and I liked seeing how others had to come to her aid.  She was strong, but needed help at times, and that made her open herself up to new relationships.

I absolutely loved Wolf because he’s my YA type!  Troubled and broken, broody with secrets.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again—that’s the best YA guy in my opinion.  I love knowing there are secrets behind their actions because I love mystery in a guy, and there is definitely mystery surrounding Wolf.  He’s strong and over-protective, domineering and a jerk-face at times, but that just adds to the tension that he creates with Scarlet. 

In Cinder, I though the plot twists were extremely obvious, and while I still saw most of the twists in Scarlet coming, they weren’t laid out as openly.  You kind of had to stretch to see them.  Still, I’m hoping for a little less predictability in the future.

If you’re a fan of Kai (which I’m not a huge fan of), then you might be disappointed in this book.  He only shows up a handful of times, and those times are really not very lengthy.  I was perfectly fine with this because he is a bit too goody-goody, nice guy for me. 

Lastly, I will say that the blurb isn’t written the best.  It makes it sound like Scarlet and Wolf are meeting up with Cinder and that most of the book will follow them together.  This wasn’t even close to the case.  They run into each other very late in the book—the rest of the time they are on their own. 

Overall, this was a fantastic read, and I would highly recommend it to fans of dystopian worlds. 

Scarlet + Wolf = Jaw-dropping, edge of your seat fun!

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Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Published by Feiwel and Friends

On Shelves Now

Reviewed by:  Middle Sis Jenn

The Sisters Say:  Charming (as in Prince….hehehe), Captivating, and Cool

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

So, I finally broke down and read Cinder because I have an ARC of Scarlet, and I needed to know what all the hoopla was about.  I really enjoyed it; however, it had been put on such a high pedestal that I don’t think it could have ever lived up to the hype for me.  I was expecting it to just blow me away, and I ended up just getting another good YA book.  (Now, Scarlet, on the other hand, did blow me away!)

I am kind of new to fairy-tale retellings, only having read a few, so I really enjoyed that part of this story.  I loved how Marissa had taken the classic characters and morphed them into something new and different, yet echoing the sentiments of the originals.  I especially loved what she did with Cinder, making her a cyborg in a world where cyborgs are looked upon as little better than scrap metal.  She was a pariah, yet she didn’t let that hold her down.  Cinder knew exactly what she wanted, and even in the face of adversity, loss, and unimaginable revelations, she kept her focus and her strength.  I found myself cheering for Cinder to succeed and win the guy.  Cinder herself was by far the best part of this book—so unique, and I really loved her personality as it shined through the pages.

Now, I’m not sure I understand the fandom behind Kai.  I remember during our Crush Tourney this past summer that so many people loved him, but I just don’t see it.  Yes, he’s this Prince Charming guy, but other than that, there wasn’t anything striking about him.  He just seemed to be this normal guy in a not so normal situation and place in society.  He seemed weak with the Lunars (although most people are I will admit), and I just wanted him to be more…confident and charismatic.  I’m hoping that in the future books he will grow into his position more, and stop worrying about what the world thinks/wants. 

I really enjoyed the world that Marissa created—futuristic in some ways, but in other ways, the same as ours.  Earth is being ravished by a deadly plague, and as a result, fear and panic are overwhelming.  I could feel the tension and the uncertainty in Marissa’s words, and her world seemed to come alive around me.  I loved the androids and technology that Marissa described, and I look forward to seeing more of it in the future.

I wish that it would have been a little less predictable.  But maybe Marissa wanted us to be able to predict what was going to happen, I don’t know.  However, I like when I am surprised by the ending or a revelation in the book, and unfortunately, I did not get a surprise in this one.  I saw everything coming, and that was without knowing anything about the book in the first place.  Here’s to hoping that the next books will leave more in the shadows.

Overall, this was a great and fun read.  Is it one that I will rush over to my friends and demand they read at once?  Not normally, but having read Scarlet and knowing what is coming, I just might do it anyway. 

Want more Cinder?  It's also available in audiobook format!  Check out a sample here

Teaser Tuesday: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB over at Should Be Reading!

To participate all you have to do is:

•Grab your current read

•Open to a random page

•Share "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page

•BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!

(make sure what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)

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Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Release Date: 2-5-2013

Published by: Feiwel and Friends (Macmillan)

 

 

"Table legs screeched against tile and then the fighter had one hand wrapped around Roland's neck, lifting him clear off the floor."  ARC, pg. 19

 

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So, I finally read Cinder because I had an ARC of Scarlet and I wanted to see what all the hoopla was about.  While I'll admit it was good and I can't wait to get further in to Scarlet, I'm not sure I'd classify it as drop down amazing.  Still, I'm glad I read it, and now with Scarlet...this Wolf guy--yum.  Mysterious.  Rebel.  Can pick up a man clear off the floor.  Ohhh, I like him already.

Teaser Tuesday: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB over

To participate all you have to do is:

•Grab your current read

•Open to a random page

•Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page

•BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

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I recently got this book in the mail, and I'm very excited to read it! Cinder is the first of The Lunar Chronicles ( a quarter which will also include "Scarlett," "Cress," and "Winter") and is a reboot of, you guessed it, Cinderella. The publisher says it's "a little bit fairy tale, a little bit Terminator, and totally genius."

"He was the fantasy of every girl in the county. She should have stopped thinking about him the second the door had closed. Should stop thinking about him immediately. Should never think about him again, except maybe as a client--and her prince. And yet, the memory of his fingers against her skin refused to fade." --Pp. 128

"He released a shaky breath when they had gone. "Did you feel her?" he asked, barely above a whisper.

"Of course," said Torin. His eyes were drawn to the ship, but he could have been staring at Mars for all the focus in his eyes. "You resisted her well, Your Highness. I know it was difficult."

Kai brushed his hair off his forehead, seeking a breeze, any breeze, but it didn't come. "It wasn't so hard. It was only for a moment."

Torin's eyes met his. It was one of the few times Kai had seen true sympathy in that gaze. "It will get harder." --Pp. 186

Cinder will be available January 3, 2012!