Book #47: Scarlet, by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
marissameyer
Jul. 6th, 2012 06:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
grav_itySCARLET is the second of four books in the Lunar Chronicles, following CINDER. It will be released on February 5, 2013. This is an ARC review, so there are SPOILERS.
Have I mentioned lately that fairy tale retellings are pretty much MY FAVOURITE THING OF EVER? Because they really, really are. I love how authors take them and twist them, and acknowledge the problems we have/had in our cultural history, and then just GO for it. It is brilliant and awesome and I adore it. And, let me tell you, I adored this book.
Structurally, SCARLET was very interesting. We followed both Cinder in her adventures after her accidental outing at the Ball at the end of her book, and we also followed Scarlet, a french girl who is trying to find her grandmother with few leads and the questionable help of a scary boy called Wolf. We also get scenes with Kai, as he tries to grapple with the fact that he's in love with a) a Cyborg and b) a Lunar. It could have failed, but Meyer was able to tie all the storylines together in a way that really made it WORK, and by the time people started meeting up, I was completely entranced.
Best. Prison Break. Ever. Just saying. (That said, I'm kind of glad there's no one around to 'ship Thorne with? Like, except Iko? WHO IS THE SHIP, OMG THAT WAS AWESOME! Because Thorne is creepy and kind of gross.)
I also really enjoyed seeing the world outside of New Beijing. No Canada, this time, but I can hope! ;) Meyer has clearly spent a lot of time and brain space developing this future, and it really shows (right down to the line about the huge magnets underneath the ground that allow the maglev cars to work, BECAUSE THAT IS NEVER EXPLAINED IN STAR WARS AND CORUSANT SHOULDN'T WORK AND WHY AM I EVEN TALKING ABOUT THIS?). It cracks me up a lot that the Queen of England is called Camilla. Just saying.
UGH, KAI! You poor noble dude. But don't worry! Your princess is coming to rescue you. IN EIGHTEEN MONTHS. UGH, I SHOULD NOT EVER READ ARCS.
(I will totally keep reading ARCS.)
I hate Levanna. I just hate her. She has no redeeming qualities and I can't wait until she dies in a fire (seriously, she's a PERFECT fairy tale villain. I hope like heck she gets a fairy tale villain's end!), or whatever Meyer has planned. I just want to punch her in the face all the time (and the bit with the mirrors never stops being creepy).
(Side note: Cinder's step-mother was only in the book for ONE SCENE and I still wanted to punch her in the neck. UGH, what a well written awful person!)
So many powerful women in this! Powerful, flawed, kind of selfish (in once case outright evil), all the good stuff, and eventually they come into their own, and I adore it.
OMG, EIGHTEEN MONTHS! WHAT HAVE I DONE TO MYSELF?
9/10 for being brilliant original, political, having numerous awesome female characters (who make CHOICES, even!), and for not ending on a cliff-hanger!
Have I mentioned lately that fairy tale retellings are pretty much MY FAVOURITE THING OF EVER? Because they really, really are. I love how authors take them and twist them, and acknowledge the problems we have/had in our cultural history, and then just GO for it. It is brilliant and awesome and I adore it. And, let me tell you, I adored this book.
Structurally, SCARLET was very interesting. We followed both Cinder in her adventures after her accidental outing at the Ball at the end of her book, and we also followed Scarlet, a french girl who is trying to find her grandmother with few leads and the questionable help of a scary boy called Wolf. We also get scenes with Kai, as he tries to grapple with the fact that he's in love with a) a Cyborg and b) a Lunar. It could have failed, but Meyer was able to tie all the storylines together in a way that really made it WORK, and by the time people started meeting up, I was completely entranced.
Best. Prison Break. Ever. Just saying. (That said, I'm kind of glad there's no one around to 'ship Thorne with? Like, except Iko? WHO IS THE SHIP, OMG THAT WAS AWESOME! Because Thorne is creepy and kind of gross.)
I also really enjoyed seeing the world outside of New Beijing. No Canada, this time, but I can hope! ;) Meyer has clearly spent a lot of time and brain space developing this future, and it really shows (right down to the line about the huge magnets underneath the ground that allow the maglev cars to work, BECAUSE THAT IS NEVER EXPLAINED IN STAR WARS AND CORUSANT SHOULDN'T WORK AND WHY AM I EVEN TALKING ABOUT THIS?). It cracks me up a lot that the Queen of England is called Camilla. Just saying.
UGH, KAI! You poor noble dude. But don't worry! Your princess is coming to rescue you. IN EIGHTEEN MONTHS. UGH, I SHOULD NOT EVER READ ARCS.
(I will totally keep reading ARCS.)
I hate Levanna. I just hate her. She has no redeeming qualities and I can't wait until she dies in a fire (seriously, she's a PERFECT fairy tale villain. I hope like heck she gets a fairy tale villain's end!), or whatever Meyer has planned. I just want to punch her in the face all the time (and the bit with the mirrors never stops being creepy).
(Side note: Cinder's step-mother was only in the book for ONE SCENE and I still wanted to punch her in the neck. UGH, what a well written awful person!)
So many powerful women in this! Powerful, flawed, kind of selfish (in once case outright evil), all the good stuff, and eventually they come into their own, and I adore it.
OMG, EIGHTEEN MONTHS! WHAT HAVE I DONE TO MYSELF?
9/10 for being brilliant original, political, having numerous awesome female characters (who make CHOICES, even!), and for not ending on a cliff-hanger!
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no subject
Date: 2012-07-06 11:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-06 11:17 pm (UTC)Looking forward to this next one myself!