Scarlet 3.85/5 ★★★☆☆

Marissa Meyer

In this futuristic retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, Scarlet and her grandmother sell fruits and vegetables to the locals of Rieux, France, until Scarlet’s grandmother disappears. Only Scarlet believes her grandmother didn’t just leave, but was abducted. With no one but the mysterious and newly-arrived street fighter to help her, Scarlet heads to Paris in search of her grandmother and the secrets that got her abducted.

I just finished Scarlet, which is book two of The Lunar Chronicles, and I just figured out why I read these books so quickly, despite being unsure how much I like them. It’s not that the plot is gripping me. It’s these characters. I really love the characters. I wouldn’t care what is going in the story, as long as I am reading about these people. Each one has unique traits and its fun to get to know them and watch them interact with each other. So far I have not met a single main character I haven’t loved reading about. The plot is fine. I like the way the story connects to the fairytales they’re taken from. And I love seeing how the Lunar gifts fit with the stories but the whole “Evil queen sending an army to attack” blah blah blah is whatever to me. At least it isn’t boring. I’m definitely glad I read the second one and I am dying to meet Cress in the third book. I also can’t wait to get to know more about My current faves. Aah! These characters stick. I love it. Might have to change my ratings. We’ll see. 

I still have some complaints. The story once again felt like introduction rather than real plot, but less so this time. I could kind of tell where the plot picked up and it was a good deal before half way. And I didn’t feel like the ending was as anticlimactic and rushed as the first one felt. So I definitely think the books and writing get stronger in each book. We’ll see how my theory holds up for the third.