Scarlet is the second book in the Lunar Chronicles, and boy, is it a good one! The book follows Scarlet Benoit, Linh Cinder, and occasionally Emperor Kai. Everyone’s life just continues to go down hill during this book, and its probably a bad time for me to be reading it, since there’s an outbreak going on in the book. It’s pretty funny that I picked this series back up during the era of COVID-19, but hey…
I originally read the first book a few years back, so things were a little blurry. But still, I had no problem catching up with all the different pieces to the storyline.
Characters
Scarlet:
French farmer girl! I love her!
In all seriousness, I do love the idea that her character is french, just because it makes her kind of interesting to me. I really like the french language, so this character immediately sat well with me.
I kind of felt bad for her, though. To be that close with your grandmother, and then just lose her? Yikes. It especially doesn’t help that the police didn’t really bother to help looking for her. Like, case closed? I think not! I could definitely understand this girl’s frustration and desperation when it comes to her grandmother.
Wolf:
When Wolf first appeared, I immediately fell in love with him, and it seems like Scarlet did too! (Yeah that’s definitely a lie. She was actually horrified after seeing him in a fight.) I just thought the whole “I don’t know what a tomato is” thing was really cute and wholesome. I really shipped them!
And then I found out who Wolf really was. And I (almost) lost all respect for him.
Though afterwards, he did kind of end up helping Scarlet. Either way, he also ended up being dragged along for the ride in Thorne’s ship.
Ran:
Speaking of Wolf, Ran makes me want to scream. He’s just…
Imagine having a brother like that? No thanks. He’s horrible. I’m sort of relieved that Wolf killed him, because he was quite the villain.
Cinder:
At this rate, Cinder is basically the next Houdini. I would never be able to escape prison like that, especially if I had guy like Captain Thorne attached to me like that. I can really understand why she gets all sarcastic and snippy with him.
Again, I really sympathize with Cinder. Poor girl is being treated like an outlaw and has done no wrong. Please just let her live. She’s already suffered the loss of Peony, and the loss of Kaito’s trust. She basically had to leave behind the only thing she had left of her sister, and it broke my heart. At that point, all she had left was Thorne and Iko. (And Wolf, and Scarlet, but they came along way after that.)
(Oh, yeah, and I really like her Lunar powers. Thank you, Cinder, very cool!)
Thorne:
No thanks, he’s really annoying. I would not be able to suppress the urge to throw him off the ship.
Yes, he could be helpful at times, but mostly he’s a bit of a nuisance. I do feel bad for him being left in the dark regarding Cinder’s true identity, but that’s about it. I understand that Cinder had a reason to not tell him, but I mean come on! This man is basically blindly following you!
Iko:
Honestly, Iko would be such a good best friend to have! She’s friendly and helpful! She also has her funny moments. I think Iko definitely ships Cinder and Kai. Imagine having a supportive friend like that? Sign me up!
Kai:
This poor man doesn’t know what else to do with his kingdom. He’s probably under so much stress because of Queen Levana that he doesn’t know what to do about the Cinder situation, or anything else for that matter.
Imagine being that young and having to run a kingdom? Right after losing your father? Poor Kai. The amount of stress must be borderline unbearable.
Queen Levana:
I really wish she would stop doing all this. She has the power to do so, but is so set on seeing the demise of Cinder. She’s literally going after teens. What are you so afraid of, Levana?
Scarlet’s grandmother:
Why did Ran have to kill her? I was so sad for Scarlet! Although, it’s pretty clear that she had a connection to Princess Selene from the beginning, but now its just…
There are no words to describe this discovery. Poor grand-mere suffer a horrible fate, and Scarlet witnessed it. Horrible…
Final Thoughts and Opinions
I really like the idea of a futuristic retelling of classic fairy tales, especially since they are so different from the originals. But still the whole Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood themes of this series so far make it so much fun to read.
I absolutely think I like Scarlet more than I liked the first book (Cinder), but I prefer another Marissa Meyer book over both of these. I really don’t want to compare them to Heartless, but they have similar styles.
Either way, I’m super excited to continue the series and see what other obstacles these characters will encounter!
-Lauren C.
Spoiler Alert 