ARC Review: "Scarlet" by Marissa Meyer

Release Date: February 5, 2012
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Pages: 464

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."

I have to start this review by thanking author Marissa Meyer- thank you, thank you, THANK YOU. It has been SO LONG since I have felt THE FEELS and SQUEEd over a book, so long so that I had come to think that the heart-pounding/ bubbly chest feeling that I experienced when reading something so good, so cute, so flaily, and so forth, was just a figment of my imagination. You, Marissa Meyer, were able to do something that so few authors have been able to do for me and I cannot thank you enough.

As becomes evident, I LOVED this book. After finishing it I had a large smile on my face and happy tears in my eyes. Not only is this one of the best sequels that I have ever read before, but one of the best books overall. I honestly cannot think of a single complaint about it- not for lack of trying. While I had found "Cinder" to be fairly predictable, correctly guessing the entire plot within the first couple of pages, I was sitting on the edge of this seat the entire time while reading this book, never quite knowing where Marissa was going to take it next.

Additionally, going into this book I was quite concerned about how Scarlet and Cinder would compare and how they would meet up- both were flawless. While both girls have big personalities, and are physically, emotionally, and mentally strong, they are each their own unique person- Cinder quite literally trying to discover where she fits in our world (or beyond) and Scarlet doing everything in her power to protect those she loves. Furthermore, their meeting felt so natural and seamless, not jarring or obvious in the slightest.

While I loved both girls I also loved Wolf- I love that he wasn't like any other bad boy I have ever read of before. He was just so subdued and understated. While I do, for instance, find Jace Wayland's arrogance, cockiness and charm to be swoon-worthy, I also found Wolf's quietness, thoughtfulness, and childlike innocence to be swoon-worthy. Furthermore, I liked seeing Kai really step up to the plate, assuming the role that he was born for. AND I LOVED Captain Thorne. He was just so over the top that you couldn't help but fall for him (in fact, I think that I may like him even more than Kai)- I think that him and Cinder compliment one another well (just as friends though, of course)- with her dryness and his head almost as big as his ship.

All in all, as becomes evident I loved this book- "Cress" and "Winter" have quickly raised in the ranks of my "Most Highly Anticipated Books of 2014 and 2015". I highly recommend this series to everyone- with memorable characters, a flawless plot, and feelings/ emotions like no other, you can't go wrong!

Rating: 5/5

I received this book from the publisher to read and honestly review. I was not compensated in any way for said review,