I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #2
Published by Feiwel & Friends on 1/1/13
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Retellings, Romance, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 464
Format: Ebook, Paperback
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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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.

Short and Sweet Review

In France we meet Scarlet Benoit whose grandmother has disappeared. Scarlet is looking for any clue that could lead to where she is but she doesn’t realize the kind of danger her grandmother could be in until she meets wolf. Wolf is from Luna and has been modified and is in Queen Levana’s army. Scarlet reluctantly teams up with Wolf to try to find her grandmother and ends up running into members of wolf’s pack who are looking for information about Princess Selene that Scarlets grandmother would have. Cinder on the other hand is breaking out of prison and that’s where she meets Captain Carswell Thorne. Together Cinder and Thorne escape and make it to his ship and they end up going to France because Cinder is also trying to find Michelle Benoit for information about her past.

Every book in this series just gets better and in this sequel we meet Scarlet, Wolf, and Thorne. Scarlet just has a fire about her she’s not afraid to do what’s right and she’s not going to back down. We learn that there’s things that even Scarlet didn’t know about her grandmothers past so she’s surprised but she’s still determined to save her. Wolf is an interesting character he was made to serve the queen but he wants to break away, which is why he helps Scarlet. I think the bond that Scarlet and Wolf form is cute, they really look out for each other. Carswell Thorne is like comedic relief. Thorne is a serial flirter and it’s funny because not everyone is trying to be wooed by him and sometimes he doesn’t get it. We see Scarlet and Wolf go around France looking for her grandmother and fighting off others who have been modified like Wolf. Cinder and Thorne on the other hand are fugitives who are trying to evade capture. I love that we also get to see more of Iko but this time she’s the ship that Cinder and Thorne are in.

Now we have a few more characters joining Cinder and each character is important to helping Cinder take down Levana. I’m just excited to read Cress next and see where our characters will end up!

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #1
Published by Feiwel & Friends on 1/1/12
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Retellings, Romance, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 400
Format: Ebook, Paperback
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth's fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She's a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world's future.

Short and Sweet Review

Cinder is a futuristic retelling of Cinderella. We follow our main character Cinder who is also part cyborg and lives in the commonwealth of China. Cinder lives with her stepmother Adri and two stepsisters Pearl and Peony. Cinder also has a super cool android named Iko. Anyway Cinder works at the market as a mechanic and is basically the breadwinner for the family and is treated like dirt by everyone except for Peony. One day Prince Kai comes to Cinders market stand to ask for help fixing his android. The sparks between Cinder and Kai fly and Cinder knows that she doesn’t really have a chance with a Prince so she tries to fight off her feelings but he does ask her to go to the ball with him. Cinder is obviously told she can’t go to the ball and unfortunately her sister Peony ends up getting Letumosis a disease that has killed millions. Cinder is blamed for this and Adri signs Cinder up for the cyborg draft which subjects cyborgs to be tested on to find an antidote. It’s there that the head scientist realizes that Cinder is not only a cyborg but Lunar and she needs to keep a low profile because Queen Levana of the Lunars is coming to the Commonwealth and she won’t want Cinder alive, because Cinder may be the only one who can stop her. It’s interesting to see how some Lunars have powers and others don’t. Cinder never knew she was a Lunar until she met Dr. Erland who was able to tell her things about her past that she didn’t know, like she’s the lost Princess of Lunar!

Cinder is such a fun and different take on Cinderella. I loved the futuristic elements and that Cinder is a mechanic and a cyborg. Iko is a great sidekick to Cinder. There was a lot of world building and it’s great. We’re introduced to some characters that are going to be paramount in the next three books in the series and just rereading this book I see a lot of things that I may have missed the first time around. The Lunar Chronicles is one of my favorite series and Cinder is just setting everything up for what’s to come in the next installments. This series is a lot of fun and I love retellings and it’s going to be fun rereading this series and seeing where Cinder will end up and who she’ll meet.