"Scarlet" by Marissa Meyer

**Spoilers!**

In the book, Scarlet, by Marissa Meyer, she continues to expand the story and world she set in Cinder, the first book in the Lunar Chronicles. Scarlet focuses on a retelling of the "Little Red Riding Hood" fairytale, introducing Scarlet Benoit, a young woman whose grandmother has mysteriously disappeared. Soon, Scarlet realizes that this mystery is much larger than just her grandmother, and enfolds years of agression and tension built up between Earth and the Lunars, as well as the one person who could stop the threat of war. The missing Lunar, Princess Selene.

I finally read it! Yeah me!

So this book has been sitting on my Nook for weeks, and last week, I finally started to read it. I was so excited, and the book lived up to my expectations greatly.

As I mentioned in the first Lunar Chronicles book, the books are futuristic retellings of some of the most familiar fairytales, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Snow White. One of my favorite part of these books so far is the imaginative setting revamp. The world of the five nations in future-Earth is so vivid and well planned out. The prejudices, actions and thoughts of them as a society have been really thought out and still resonated clearly in Scarlet, which was interesting. I thought maybe because it was a whole different country, and each country was so large, the cultures would vary largely country to country.

One thing I did want to learn a little more about was France, specifically, in the book. We learned a lot about New Beijing in the first book, and had vivid imagery to go along with the new culture we learned about. Though this book was still descriptive, I wanted to learn more about Paris, farmland area France, and customs of the French in this universe.

Another thing I wanted to see, though less of, is the Wolf-Scarlet romance. I enjoy the relationship, and it was fun to see grow, and I have nothing against it, it was a little cheesy to see the last couple scenes with them and even the middle of the book. They barely know each other, but almost seem ready to get married. I get that the Prince Kai-Cinder relationship couldn't continue as a key plot point, but it kind of set the mood of the story. This is a series about girls not obsessed with love, ready to do what is important overall first. Scarlet is a strong character, but how fast she changes from not trusting Wolf, at all, to being head-over-heels for him, seems completely out of the character established at the beginning of the book. The Wolf and Scarlet relationship made this feel a little bit like Twilight. Oh no!

Overall, I still loved the book, and would recommend it to fans of the Hunger Games, fairytales, and sci-fi. Please, if you find this interesting, read the first book first. It won't make much sense otherwise!

"Cinder" by Marissa Meyer

**Slight Spoilers!**

Cinder, by Marissa Meyer, is a futuristic sci-fi retelling of the classic fairy tale Cinderella. Cinder is a cyborg mechanic in New Beijing far in the future. Adopted by her current family from Europe when she was eleven, Cinder has been forced to work for her stay since her adoptive father died fromt the fatal disease lemutosis, or the blue fever. Lemutosis has reached epidemic outbreak levels in the Eastern Commonwealth.  Cinder, with her natural affinity for technology, has risen to become the best mechanic in New Beijing, even with her second class citizen position as a cyborg. When the handsome and charming crown prince Kai comes to her shop with an android containing mysterious intel, she begins to learn that not everything is as it seems about her past.

I LOVED this book so much. For one thing, I love spins on stories. Creative retelling is something I like. It adds a new level to the story. I find that it's also just really fun to read and point out the little reference to the story. I also like spin-off books for this reason. Meyer creates a vivid world that I just want to know more about. Even stuff in real life I wouldn't really be interested in I want to know, like details about the history of each country (all 7 of them), where their borders end, their full relationship with the Lunars, and whether they colonized any other planets. I really liked the characters in this book as well. Cinder is strong as a character, but also has normal wishes and wants. Because she's a cyborg, it makes you want to root for her even more.

The book, because mainly of the cyborg issue, deals with discrimination as well. I would think that people who were part-mechanical (cyborg), though they would be strange, would be accepted. Cinder says in the book all cyborgs were basically just the way they were because of a nearly fatal accident. I would think that because they're not using their condition for their personal advancement, no one would have a problem. This is a little like the discrimination after the Civil Rights Act was passed. The African Americans were still treated badly, though now, legally, they could do whatever white people in American could. I guess even in the future, people are afraid of what they don't understand.

Just a note, I love that the author was a Sailor Moon fan fiction writer before she even published this book, which is her first book. I love the subtle Sailor Moon references too... people with "magical" powers who live on the moon... have a lost princess who lives on Earth... it's awesome.

The next books are equally as exciting as this one. Though, since it's a new series, I have to wait for them to come out (which is the problem with reading new series), they're supposed to be about Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, then Snow White. I'm getting pumped just thinking about it...

I can't wait for Scarlet, the next book in the Lunar Chronicles, to come out in February 2013. I already pre-ordered it, but I'm dying without knowing what happens. I have literally read the first chapter preview twenty times. I recommend this to fans of Wither, Hunger Games, and other futuristic books that follow that pattern... except this one has better characters and background.