SCARLET by Marissa Meyer-REVIEW

SCARLET picks up right where CINDER left off. The excitement and adventure of the first book continues from Page 1 and doesn't let up until the end. Meyer masterfully weaves together the story we fell in love with in the first book with the new storyline involving new characters.

This time Marissa Meyer twists the story of Little Red Riding Hood into a thrilling science fiction tale.

Scarlet, a girl who helps run the family farm, sets off to discover the mystery of her grandma's disappearance and meets a rough and dangerous street fighter named Wolf. Little does she know that her journey to find her grandmother will lead her to the middle of the mystery about Princess Selena's true identity.

Scarlet and Wolf add a lot to the understanding of the complex political situation between Earth and the Lunar Empire. I enjoyed getting to know the new characters, but was always glad when the story took me back to Cinder and her new struggles. I loved Cinder's sidekick, Captain Thorne. He provides some humor in the very stressful situations Cinder finds herself in while escaping.

SCARLET has it all. Suspense, adventure, friendship, and romance. I can't wait to see what Marissa Meyer does next. CRESS will be released in 2014 and pull from Rapunzel and WINTER (2015) will incorporate bits of Snow White. I'm dying to see how she works all these fairy tales into this complicated dystopian, science fiction world.

 Little Red Riding Hood complete with hood and a Big Bad Wolf!

Scarlet and her grandmother are farmers. They sell their produce to the local stores and taverns in the nearby town. When Scarlet first meets Wolf she is startled by his looks, yet drawn to him. They are soon thrown together in the search of Scarlet's missing grandmother.

In the meantime Cinder is working at escaping prison before the Lunar Queen Levana has her put to death. Cinder and renegade Captain Thorne set out to find why Cinder is so important to the Queen and to hopefully find out more information about the dead princess Selena.

Both Scarlet and Cinder find secrets about themselves that have been kept from them for years. Will they be able to grasp who they each are before it is too late for the people of earth?

Scarlet was every bit as good as Cinder! I was not disappointed...well maybe a little bit at the ending, but only because Scarlet ends with a HUGE cliffhanger! I enjoyed reading Scarlet's story and her attraction to Wolf(there are a couple of sigh-worthy tender moments!). But I also enjoyed jumping back into Cinder's story and to read how both Scarlet and Cinder's lives collide. A bit of romance, a bit of suspense all set in a dystopian world~doesn't get much better than that!

It is always fun when both of us can agree on a favorite book! We both have put this on our favorites list and are eagerly anticipating future additions to the series.