Review: Scarlet

Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. She refuses to give up even after the police have and enlists the help of street fighter Wolf, who happens to be there right when she needs him, and sets off to Paris to find her.

In the meantime, every news station on Earth is reporting the prison break of Linh Cinder, a cyborg and a Lunar, who escaped from a high security cell, with an American Captain by her side, only a few hours after Prince Kai’s ball.

On the run from the Eastern Commonwealth’s police and Queen ‘s minions who are out to get her, Cinder treks her way across the world to France, where she hears rumours that a certain Madame Benoit may be able to her. With both Scarlet and Cinder looking out for Madame Benoit, who will find her first, the girls or the big, bad Wolf?

I absolutely love this series! I think you guys might remember me going on and on about it in my review of the first book in the series Cinder, which combined a cleverly invented futuristic society, a fairytale retelling, and Sailor Moon fanfiction. Also, if you haven’t read Cinder yet, stop now since this review will have spoilers and go grab a copy!

When I first heard that the Scarlet wouldn’t focus on Cinder’s story, but on another fairytale retellings, I was quite upset. I loved Cinder and Kai and Iko, and the world of the Eastern Commonwealth and wanted to follow the story from there. But Meyer didn’t disappoint; in Scarlet, she delivers another strong, brave female protagonist who won’t take no for an answer. She’s fearless to the point of insanity at times, and abandons everything to go looking for her beloved grand-mere, who may or may not have some information about the lost Lunar princess.

The story, as usual, was action-packed and kept me on the edge of my seat. Weaving in both Cinder and Scarlet’s stories, Meyer did a fantastic job explaining Cinder’s roots and how her journey to the Eastern Commonwealth might have began on Scarlet’s farm. Clever and inventive, even some of the obvious parts of the story took on new and interesting turns, especially with some fun new characters to liven things up.

Wolf was one of the new characters in the story, and he was a lot different from what I expected. Shy and soft-spoken, he wasn’t exactly the ‘big, bad Wolf’ I had been expecting until about 50 pages before the ending. He was full of surprises and he kept me guessing.

With that being said, Wolf and his romance with Scarlet didn’t tickle my fancy as much as Cinder and Kai did. Originally, when the chapters kept flipping back and forth between the two stories, I was annoyed because I wanted to get to know Scarlet and Wolf more. But then the chapters of Cinder and Kai made me fall in love with them all over again and not really care for Scarlet’s story. This especially happened towards the second half of the novel, when all I really wanted to read about was Cinder.

I think that’s why the multiple POVs might have worked to the story’s detriment, unfortunately. As much as I wanted to love Scarlet and Wolf, I felt myself being pulled in too many directions and not really getting enough time with everyone and everything.

With that being said, the ending is still explosive and the universe just as cleverly imagined and plotted. With the next book in the series about Rapunzel, I can’t wait to see where Meyer takes Cinder and Scarlet’s stories next.

So for that: 3.5/5.

Thanks for reading,

Ikhlas