Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles) by Marissa Meyer
Feiwel & Friends (February 5, 2013)
ISBN-10: 0312642962
ISBN-13: 978-0312642969
464 pages
Ages 12+
Order Here for $10.75
My Rating: 5/5
Summary from GoodReads: 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.

The Verdict: Where do I even begin? Well as noted above, Scarlet is the sequel to Cinder which was very easily my favorite book form last year. So of course I had high expectations and was eagerly awaiting the arrival of my pre-ordered copy on release day last Tuesday. 

When it arrived, I tore open the Amazon box and just marveled at the pretty cover. It even warranted an  Instagram photo. 

I still have a designer crush on Rich Deas and cannot wait to see what he does for the next two books. 

I ravaged through the book like a hungry wolf (pun implied) and felt so bitter sweet to finish it. I loved this one just as much as Cinder but it had it's own distinct taste to it as well. Where Cinder was unexpected and surprising, Scarlet is like an old friend we all know very well. In fact, it's the perfect example of truly gifted writing. To take a familiar story, one that despite having twists is pretty well forecasted from the beginning, but to still keep the reader on seat's edge without any desire to skip a single word. To have readers be more invested in the characters than plot.

It was amazing to me! Meyer kept the plot very simple and predictable, especially if you've read the mini-prequel, The Queen's Army. But I was never once bored. I wanted to eat up every word Scarlet and Wolf and Thorne and everyone else had to say. The characters were so masterfully written and developed. 

And "Yay!" to no love triangle despite the opportunity! And double "Yay!" to keeping the romantic elements age appropriate to the target demographic! I've found that to be rare in books targeted to young teens.

But I did have one problem with Scarlet...

I'm getting too old to start reading new series :(
I just don't have it in me to wait for the next book these days. I mean how can these publishers do this to us?! Release an amazing story that won't get finished until 2015. 2015! I plan to be a mom by 2015!

And I'm pretty sure I've already aged out of the target demographic.

This reminds me of the years I invested in the Shadow Children Series. I started it as a young pre-teen and then felt like an awkward ashamed 16yo buying the last book from the children's section at Borders. Or Princess Diaries which started when I was 10 and I remember feeling it when my pre-ordered copy of Forever Princess arrived to me as an engaged, independent-living, adult O_O

And now I've been bitten by the Lunar Chronicles bug. It's insanity really. I almost wish I just waited until the whole series was released to start reading it like I did with Hunger Games.

Of course there is some pride in being one of those fans from the beginning who had to eagerly and desperately wait for each volume to come out. And that's exactly what I will be doing until next February when Cress is finally released.