Book Review: Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Publisher:  Feiwel and Friends


Summary:  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've had this on my TBR list for too long and one of my goals for 2015 is to pare down my copious e-books. I'm glad I've read this one and it was a quick read but that's also a little of what made it a 3.5 versus a 4 star read for me. Perhaps I'm expecting more than I should but I quite enjoyed Cinder and Scarlet was okay but felt a bit flat. I expected more from the world-building but I have to admit that I still haven't a very clear idea of how the world is in the state it's in for our characters. Also, the writing seemed so... simple and in a way that kind of annoyed me. Perhaps the writing style was the same in Cinder (it's been quite a while since I've read that) but it really bothered me here. I know it's a YA series but this still felt too basic in writing style. I do think the fairytale re-imagining makes this worth reading no matter what though and that's likely what will make me read Cress (I also have that on my reader so I should read my money's worth anyway). I'd definitely recommend this for fans of the series and those with an interest in re-imagined stories.