Rating: ★★★★☆
Publication Date: February 5, 2013
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Genre: YA
Pages: 452 pages
Goodreads
You might have missed it, but I LOVED Cinder and so it's no surprise to see a review of Scarlet on here so soon after. Marissa Meyer had me hooked and I couldn't wait to see what she was going to do with these characters!
Just like with Cinder, I struggled to get into this book. The beginning was once again slow, with too much time spend on one character and too much information that isn't interesting thrown in the mix. Setting up the mundane lives of characters can be important, but the, for example, great focus on Scarlet selling her vegetables just wasn't interesting and didn't draw me in. Maybe it's because I read this book right after finishing Cinder, but it was too slow and it took me a few days to get through the beginning.
However, just like with Cinder, once you persist through the beginning, there is a very enjoyable story. Scarlet is a great character, who is very different from Cinder and yet never compared to her. Both girls are allowed to show their strength and weakness in this story and it's very rare that this happens without it being a competition. This made the book enjoyable and made it easy to get invested in each character.
The plot was original and full of twists and turns I didn't see coming. The best addition to the cast was Thorne, who builds up a friendship with Cinder and is able to guide her through this book. Thorne is an attractive guy, Cinder is a beautiful girl, and yet there's never any romance. Other YA authors, take note - it is possible! Their friendship is funny and endearing and I really enjoyed reading about it.
This book was amazing once again. Not only did we meet a bunch of new and enjoyable characters, we also got to know Cinder better and see how her journey developed. Though it's not an easy thing to merge two different storylines together, Marissa Meyer does an amazing job in this book and creates something that will really transport you out of your own life.