Scarlet | Book Review

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In a nutshell: No sophomore slum for NaNoWriMo champion-turned published best-seller Marissa Meyer. This book might even be better than the first!

So it's been a long time since September when I read (and loved) Cinder. Enough time for me to remember - "yeah, I read that and I think it was pretty good." So when Scarlet came out, I was like - "cool. I'll get around to that one day." And when it was ready for me to pick up from the library, I was like - "cool. I've got three weeks. I'll read it after I read all this other crap." And then after I read all this other crap, I was like - "cool. I guess I can read Scarlet now." And when I started Scarlet, I was like - WHY DID I NOT START READING THIS SOONER?!

Color me: Warm and fuzzy. This scifi/fantasy futuristic dystopian fairytale-retelling really hit the spot perfectly after reading two terrible light books and three great but heavy ones. This was the ideal blend of action, adventure, humor, drama, friendship, and romance for my sad cold little heart.

Writing Technique: ★★★★ I think Meyer stepped up her game a little bit this time around. What I really admired here was the pacing. Cinder was not nearly so action-based (as far as I remember), so I really wasn't expecting it. But as this series' story evolves (and more fairytale characters are added!), there's a lot of danger, intrigue, and crazy-crazy! And Meyer nails the fight scenes by crafting well-paced sentences. She nails the entire story by pacing out well-crafted scenes and chapters. Honestly, I feel kind of proud.

Also - dialogue. Thorne is my absolute favorite character. He's freaking hilarious. And I can't figure out which fairytale character he's supposed to be. (Best bet: he's Rapunzel's guy... {and with a little Wikipedia research, I'm 98% sure I'm right. The clue is in the Rampion!!!}) The dialogue between Thorne and Cinder is electric, jumps off the page. Way to go, Meyer!

Plot/Story Development: ★★★1/2 So these books are great as part of a series. But on their own, I feel like I've only read part of a book. One-fourth, to be exact. The plot here picks up where we left off with Cinder (yay!) as well as introduces new a plot involving new characters Scarlet (Little Red Riding Hood) and Wolf (...the wolf...). This episode functions to bring those two storylines together, get Scarlet on board with the World-Saving Mission and get Cinder amped up to embrace her role as Earth's Last Remaining Hope.

Character Development: ★★★★ Cinder is gradually figuring out her next move as the missing Lunar princess. Scarlet's whole life is about rescuing her grandmother. Both of them have a lot to learn about themselves in the process and hard decisions to make along the way. And I think they learn a lot. Wolf also has some..."personal issues" to deal with too. Kai's story continues, but he's not developing all that quickly. He needs to get in the know on a lot stuff real soon here. Thorne mostly just has to sit there and be hilarious. I don't think he'll learn much of anything until he meets Cress in the next book (side note: can't wait for that!!)

Message/Theme: ★★★1/2 Good v. Evil, family, friendship, love, destiny, true heroism (What is worth dying for? What is worth letting others/loved ones die for? What is worth killing for?), sacrifice, war, and probably other stuff. This isn't a book to read for message though. This is a book to read for real entertaining fun.

Rating: PG-13 for violence and gore

Overall: ★★★★ I loved this book. It sucked me in and spit me out wishing for more. Everybody should read this series because it's just dang good fun. And who doesn't love deciphering retellings, figuring out who's who from the fairytales they learned as a kid...?



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Cinder | Book Review

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A dystopian retelling of Cinderella wherein she is a cyborg living in futuristic China?! UM, stop reading my diary, Marissa Meyer!

I thought this was a good idea when I read the blurb, but it still wasn't that pressing of a need to read it. I finally bought the audiobook, and dang, do I wish I had read this sooner! This book hit all my buttons. I love-love-loved it and that ending came WAY too fast for my taste. I'll be eagerly awaiting Scarlet every day until its February release date.

Here's my take.
Writing technique: ★★★1/2 Meyer did an amazing job of making Cinder's world real and interesting. Despite all the tech speak, I felt I followed along with the cyborg and android descriptions well without it feeling too much like manual. I loved the characters she created in Cinder, Kai, and Iko (especially Iko). She writes well without being too fluffy.

Character development: ★★★ Cinder's discovery of what and who she is in this story is fun. Predictable, but interesting nonetheless. She is a lot more than the frumpy helpless step-daughter of the traditional story. She's strong and quirky and determined. Kai also was far more dimensional than Prince Charming (but really - that's not hard to do!). But his character development didn't quite resolve in this story. I look forward to see what he's like in Scarlet.

Plot/Story development: ★★★★ I looooved that this was NOT really a love story. It's a cyborg story, and an alien story (think The V!!), and a dystopia story with the constant threat of Plague and War... Much of this book's plot was predictable and obvious, but much wasn't. And it was still very enjoyable to watch everything unfold. I really wish it had ended with just the tiniest bit more resolution. That's a weird place to end a story if you ask me.

Message/Theme: ★★★ Hmmm... There could be a message against racism in here (cyborgs and Lunars are highly discriminated against). There is of course the Do The Right Thing Even If It's Dangerous message. And the Embrace Who You Are message. And the Stand Up For What You Believe In and Don't Give In To Bullies Even If They're Bigger Than You. You know, the usual.

Audiobook Performance: ★★★★ Rebecca Soler was a great narrator. She perfect Cinder's sarcasm and wit as well as Iko's and Peony's animated quirkiness and Audrey's, Pearl's, and Lavanna's pure evilness and Dr. Erland's accented eagerness and Kai's normal teenage boy-ness and every android's mechanical drone-iness... She was a stellar voice to the characters. I only wish she had read the more actiony scenes with more urgency.

Overall: ★★★★★ I adored this novel. I swallowed it whole. I love-love-love it. I know if I average my more objective ratings above, I will not get 5 stars, but I loved it too much to give it less. Subjectively, this is a new favorite.



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