Scarlet | Marissa Meyer

Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the 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 or 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 is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.

I'm not going to lie, I was fairly disappointed with this book, to me it seemed like a filler book, simply bridging the gap between the first and third book. 

As this is the second book, I will be going into a spoiler-filled discussion, however if you haven't read this series and are a fan of fantasy/dystopian books, I highly recommend this book. If you want to know a bit more about the world, I'll link my spoiler-free review of Cinder as well

Spoiler-Filled Discussion

Starting off this book, I was a bit hesitant since I knew we were going to have another character added to the plot and all I really wanted to do by this point was follow Cinder and her adventures. But even halfway through the book, I still didn't love Scarlet, or her plot line. I loved her grandmother's connection with Princess Selene/Cinder, but the entirety of the book felt like a wild goose chase.

Scarlet was chasing her grandmother, while Cinder was right behind her, going to all the same places. 

I also thought it was really ironic how no one was able to put the pieces together that Cinder was Princess Selene. Everyone has been waiting for this Princess to take Levana's throne, but no one thinks that it is at all suspicious how viciously Levana was tracking and searching for this seemingly "useless" Lunar-cyborg. Levana's fury at her escape should have been the first clue. It's so frustrating that nobody sees the obvious. 

We were introduced to several new characters in this book, the main ones being Wolf, Scarlet, and Captain Thorne. Thorne was the only one that I liked. Scarlet didn't even compare to Cinder, and I didn't love her personality. Wolf honestly scares me. I'm embarrassed to admit this, but it took a while before I actually realized that he was the wolf from Little Red Riding Hood. 

I know what you're thinking: 

But in my defense... ok I have no defense. 

That correlation made their relationship just as uncomfortable. They were way too passionate way too fast and, there was nothing adorable or awkward about their relationship, so what's the fun in that? 

Generally I didn't love this book. The characters were meh, and the plot seemed to endlessly go in circles. I did like that we got to see bits and pieces of Kai, I'm excited for some more action to ensue.

What was your favorite part of the book? Let me know in the comments below! I think mine is anything with Thorne, he was fantastic comic relief, I definitely want more of him in the next book.