Scarlet

The Lunar Chronicles, Book 2

By: Marissa Meyer

Narrated by: Rebecca Soler

Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the best-selling 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.

©2013 Marissa Meyer (P)2013 Macmillan Audio

Great!

I really love the story. I think Marissa Meyer did a great job on this book. The narrator was pretty good but she stumbled on a few words but still, ten out of ten would recommend!

Political Intrigue done well

Where does Scarlet rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

In the top 10 - Rebecca Soler is an excellent voice actor

What did you like best about this story?

The twists and turns and the way Meyer incorporates the fairy tales into modern political intrigue

Which character – as performed by Rebecca Soler – was your favorite?

All of them.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It was more an edge of your seat kinda thing.

Good

The story was great. The voice artist has a nice voice but Scarlet's French accent wasn't consistent but that wasn't too annoying to still enjoy the book.

I love this series

The Lunar Chronicles series is fantastic and I highly recommend all the books! Book 2 picks up where book 1 left off with Cinder, but also introduces new characters and new places. I enjoy how the story lines weave together.

Strong female characters, creative retelling of well known fairy tales, sci fi, believable and relatable characters!

Fun book!

Interesting, fun story. Nice play with classic fairytale characters. Looking forward to the next book in the series!

Great characters

I like the way this book round you into the multiple different characters, so that you were invested in their lives 

A post-apocalyptic rendition of Red Riding Hood

I have heard various re-imaginings of different fairy-tales. What Marissa Meyer is doing with the well loved stories from childhood is something special. She weaves it together in such a clever way that one might think it should never have been separated.

Don't get me wrong, the Lunar Chronicles is not a strict retelling of the classics. It is the tales stripped down to the bare minimum and woven into a post-apocalyptic futuristic setting (after the fourth World War) in which both the earth and the moon are inhabited by the human race. However, there are significant differences between the "earthens" and the "lunars". The lunars have evolved into a sub-species with some special abilities, part of which is interfering with the bio-energetic fields of other "earthens" Like in the classic fairy-tales seeing is not always believing, but in a more sinister way.

The classic fairy-tales are used by Meyer to tell the story of princes Selene, a dethroned cyborg princess, who only after realising who she is, must decide if she will take up her inherited role thus fighting of the lunar threat of Levana, the dictator queen of Luna (the moon). Marissa Meyer blends Sci-Fi, Fantasy and classic fairy-tales into something that might have an equivalent in DC Comic's Fables.

There is enough elements from the fairy-tales, to expect that the story-line will reflect the pace, plot and intrigue of the "original" tales, but also enough new elements to keep you guessing. I caught myself comparing the Scarlet constantly to the classical Red Riding Hood.
Yet, in some ways the Red Riding Hood you will meet is more like Sookie Stackhouse in the beginning than the "innocent" little girl in tamed versions of the story. (I would not be surprised if "True Blood" inspired Meyer's version of the lovely girl with the red cape.)

I thought the way Scarlet linked to the previous book in the Lunar Chronicles was cleverly done. When Meyer foreshadows something, so far in the series, you must take it just as serious as when George R.R. Martin is doing it. (I hope this technique does not become so predictable as the later works of Trudi Canavan.) Currently this is where the most entertainment value lies in this story. The foreshadowing is cleverly thought through. In the Lunar Chronicles that which is, is not what is seems to be... For me, this is the stuff of real fairy-tales and this is where the power of the story lies thus far.

Rebecca Soler's reading is superb. She has the ability of changing her voice to create a mind picture of what she is narrating, though her accent is clearly American. She brings the characters to life in very convincing ways.

This series might do for fairy-tales what Stephanie Meyer's Twilight Series did for vampires. It might recast them in the mind of Global Culture so that one cannot talk about the subject matter without referring to it. The story might be focused on adolescents, but is entertaining enough to entrance everyone. Thus far, I am enjoying Marissa Meyer's refreshing take on some of the classic fairy-tales.

Nice merge

I have to admit that it's kind of ingenious the way the author has merged into very different story lines. This second book was as good as the first.

Love this series

I am a huge fan, even though I am not usually drawn to science fiction. This book and so far this series has kept me on the edge of my seat. I highly recommend.

loved it!

Loved it! Just as good as the first book! On to book three now. Great characters l, they all blend well together.