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ameydireads's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
"She was tired of everyone deciding her life for her. She was ready to figure out who she really was — not what anyone else told her to be."
This book presents us with two major storylines. First we meet a new character, Scarlet, who resembles Little Red Riding Hood and lives in the European Federation. Her grandmother is really the only family she has ever known and now she's missing. She decides to find her grandmother herself and right around that time she meets Wolf, a peculiar character.
At the same time, Cinder escapes prison together with another prisoner, Carswell Thorne. She explores her new-found powers and struggles with the morality of it.
"She didn't want to be one of those Lunars who took advantage of her powers just because she could. She didn't want to be lunar at all.”
It was so difficult to put this book down. The chapters weren't very long and it was easy and interesting to read. If there was no need to sleep, I would have finished reading this book in one go. It's been a few months since I read the first book and I forgot some details.For example, the royal android mentioning the name "Michelle Benoit" and that they discover a photo of Queen Levana's secret army. So I didn't instantly connect the dots and it seemed like two separate stories but I love how it gradually came together!
On to the sequel!
This book presents us with two major storylines. First we meet a new character, Scarlet, who resembles Little Red Riding Hood and lives in the European Federation. Her grandmother is really the only family she has ever known and now she's missing. She decides to find her grandmother herself and right around that time she meets Wolf, a peculiar character.
At the same time, Cinder escapes prison together with another prisoner, Carswell Thorne. She explores her new-found powers and struggles with the morality of it.
"She didn't want to be one of those Lunars who took advantage of her powers just because she could. She didn't want to be lunar at all.”
It was so difficult to put this book down. The chapters weren't very long and it was easy and interesting to read. If there was no need to sleep, I would have finished reading this book in one go. It's been a few months since I read the first book and I forgot some details.
On to the sequel!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Xenophobia, Grief, and Abandonment
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape
lis4so's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Kidnapping, and Classism
Minor: Addiction, Torture, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
psliz's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
a bit insta-lovey for me but love the characters’ paths beginning to cross
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Murder, and War
Moderate: Confinement, Torture, Violence, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
Minor: Suicide, Blood, and Kidnapping
diana_raquel's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
[buddy reading]
"I think I realized that I would rather die because I betrayed them, than live because I betrayed you."
[Disclaimer: Shortly after finishing Cinder I discover that this series is considered to be a problematic series. According to some people, The Lunar Chronicles series has an offensive Pan-Asian setting that homogenizes Asia and evokes Japanese imperialism and Marissa Meyer uses honorifics in the wrong way. I think these are valid concerns, but I'm not gonna further my opinion on the matter. Look, I'm a white European girl, I'm not the right person to talk about this issue].
Well, that was disappointing. Like I said in my review of Cinder when I started this series I wasn't expecting much out of it. But then, I loved Cinder. So I was excited to start this book. The Little Red Riding Hood is one of my favorite fairytales and I usually like its retellings. However, this one was disappointing.
The story can be interesting, but I hated Scarlet. We just see her concerned about her grandmother and Wolf. So we don't get to know her as a heroine. And because we don't get to know her, she became too irritating and tedious. I think that the narrative tried to show Scarlet as a reckless heroine but didn't deliver it. Every time I was reading her POV I was rolling my eyes. I found Scarlet to be irritating, tedious, and, sometimes, cringy. And although I liked Wolf, he's not sufficient to make me like their storyline.
The only thing I actually liked in this book was the storyline of Cinder and Kai. Their storyline is much more interesting and Cinder is the true heroine of this book (look, it may be Scarlet's story, but the real badass was Cinder). And Thorne is my new favorite character. I hope to see more of him in Cress. Their storyline is the only thing that prevents me from giving an even lower rating.
I'm pretty sure that this book suffers from "second book syndrome", and the only thing that kept me from DNF'ing was my reading buddies. None of us liked this book, and if it weren't for them, I don't know how I even would finish.
I hope that Cress is better.
"It would be easy to abuse a person when they never recognized it as abuse."
"I think I realized that I would rather die because I betrayed them, than live because I betrayed you."
[Disclaimer: Shortly after finishing Cinder I discover that this series is considered to be a problematic series. According to some people, The Lunar Chronicles series has an offensive Pan-Asian setting that homogenizes Asia and evokes Japanese imperialism and Marissa Meyer uses honorifics in the wrong way. I think these are valid concerns, but I'm not gonna further my opinion on the matter. Look, I'm a white European girl, I'm not the right person to talk about this issue].
Well, that was disappointing. Like I said in my review of Cinder when I started this series I wasn't expecting much out of it. But then, I loved Cinder. So I was excited to start this book. The Little Red Riding Hood is one of my favorite fairytales and I usually like its retellings. However, this one was disappointing.
The story can be interesting, but I hated Scarlet. We just see her concerned about her grandmother and Wolf. So we don't get to know her as a heroine. And because we don't get to know her, she became too irritating and tedious. I think that the narrative tried to show Scarlet as a reckless heroine but didn't deliver it. Every time I was reading her POV I was rolling my eyes. I found Scarlet to be irritating, tedious, and, sometimes, cringy. And although I liked Wolf, he's not sufficient to make me like their storyline.
The only thing I actually liked in this book was the storyline of Cinder and Kai. Their storyline is much more interesting and Cinder is the true heroine of this book (look, it may be Scarlet's story, but the real badass was Cinder). And Thorne is my new favorite character. I hope to see more of him in Cress. Their storyline is the only thing that prevents me from giving an even lower rating.
I'm pretty sure that this book suffers from "second book syndrome", and the only thing that kept me from DNF'ing was my reading buddies. None of us liked this book, and if it weren't for them, I don't know how I even would finish.
I hope that Cress is better.
"It would be easy to abuse a person when they never recognized it as abuse."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Medical content and Death of parent
janaya's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Violence, and War
Minor: Death
tiana_king's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book was much faster paced than the previous one and had a lot more action. In short it is awesome. More of the mystery of Cinder gets unraveled and new interesting characters come into play. Excited for what happens next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement and Kidnapping
theteamsreader's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
My favourite book in the series! As a direct continuation to its debut Cinder, Scarlet only manages to further the intrigue and incredible world building that emerges from this science fiction. Plus, alongside even more loveable characters and plot lines, and a pace and story that slowly drags everything together, a reader, once upon opening, will not help but be drawn in. Recommended for anyone who loves a good science fiction, with cocky spaceship captains, bioengineered soldiers, and a farm girl pilot who knows her way about a shotgun. Anyone who loved the characters and story of the first book will be charmingly surprised as old favourite characters take centre stage alongside as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Gun violence, Police brutality, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Abandonment
gattolino_nn's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Continuing with my reread of the Lunar Chronicles is Scarlet. I think Scarlet is a strong sequel to Cinder, but also not how I would think most sequels would go. It feels like a mixture of a sequel, as the plot progresses and we do follow Cinder and Kai at times, but also like a companion novel as we follow Scarlet and Wolf for majority of the time.
I love the characters introduced in this book. Scarlet, Wolf, and Thorne are all great, with their stories and interactions. On top of the characters we see a bit more into what the Queen Levana's Luna is like as well as other places on Earth. The book also does a fun job of pulling Cinder and Scarlet together and sets up well for the next book.
I'm very much enjoying the reread and recommend giving this series a go if it has been your radar, but haven't had a chance to pick it up.
I love the characters introduced in this book. Scarlet, Wolf, and Thorne are all great, with their stories and interactions. On top of the characters we see a bit more into what the Queen Levana's Luna is like as well as other places on Earth. The book also does a fun job of pulling Cinder and Scarlet together and sets up well for the next book.
I'm very much enjoying the reread and recommend giving this series a go if it has been your radar, but haven't had a chance to pick it up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and War
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Addiction and Torture
cammiem8's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Not quite as exciting as its predecessor, but still holds up as a decent YA scifi, though the red riding hood connection is a little more forced than the other adaptations in the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Kidnapping and War
Minor: Sexual assault
A character is threatened with sexual assault but nothing happens