Scarlet Review: A grander & better—yet unbalanced—sequel
This review is dedicated to my wonderful girlfriend April, who brightens my life every day. Thank you for recommending this lovely book series: it's shaping up to be one of my favorites of all time!
Cinder was a wonderful novel, and even with such a diabolically rough cliffhanger, I just had to read this book. You got me—the cliffhanger that made the book not feel quite like a standalone story still reeled me in for this second outing. And it certainly helped that people said the series gets better and better! Once I started Scarlet and knew I was reading a book about a fellow redhead, French speaker, and Toulouse enjoyer, I was locked in. Retelling Little Red Riding Hood with the genius of Meyer was bound to be good, but did it live up to her Cinderella reimagining? That's what I, Brighton Nelson of The Reel Ranker, will be discussing in today's review. Thanks so much for joining me, and I hope you enjoy your time on the site!
Let's start with the negatives. First, I wish more time had been spent building up Scarlet as a character and Toulouse as a city. It just felt like Meyer cracked the code in Cinder for the perfect pacing calibration of how much time she spent on character and setting versus action.
And, as much as I relate to Scarlet more and think she's more likable, Cinder just got more to work with and is certainly a better character. I like that Scarlet is more of a nobody and is only related to somebody who's more of a somebody, but I wish she had more unique traits than wanting to save her grandma. Scarlet has plenty of personality, but she doesn't have as many interesting motivations as Cinder.
Scarlet's biggest kink to iron out was that it rushed through things Cinder didn't, and the book suffered for it, feeling like it was forced to be an equal length when it needed about 20 more pages sporadically throughout to develop things a bit more.
However, I will add: Meyer did a much better job of exploring Scarlet's emotions than Cinder's in the first book. While Cinder is more emotionally subdued and less impulsive, it still seems like Cinder randomly forgets about things that happened to her—Scarlet doesn't have this problem. I also think this book handled Cinder's emotions better than the last.
My only other "negative," which isn't really a negative at all, is that Kai and Queen Levana weren't as present here. Of course, this makes sense, but I was sad. More so, I was sad at the exclusion of the Doc. Obviously, he's not supposed to be back at this time, but he was my favorite character, so... I'm excited to see where his character goes down the line: I need more of his antics! At least Iko got good page time here—after what happened in Book 1, I thought she'd be out of the game for much longer. Thank heavens not; I love her!
Anyway, to the positives. Overall, Scarlet was as good as the first book and, while that could change depending on the day, for now I think I slightly prefer this novel for its higher-stakes fun, grander plot, world expansion, and because I'm obsessed with multi-POV books done right. And? This was a multi-POV book, done right.
While I was hoping for a little more development for Scarlet, I'd say without a shadow of a doubt that I was equally invested in both Scarlet and Cinder's storylines. I hope this perfect balance continues as we add Cress & Winter into the fray. I've heard those two books are even better than these first two, and I'm pretty sure that if that ends up being true for me, this will become one of my new favorite book series, and Marissa Meyer will become one of my favorite authors!
Scarlet had a lot more action, and the physical stakes have become as strong as the emotional stakes, which wasn't quite the case in Cinder, which felt so small in scope until the climax. Not that there's anything wrong with a small scope; I just thought the stakes hit harder here.
Scarlet also utilized the Little Red Riding Hood themes more subtly than the last book, but it also took a more innovative approach. Making it a dark, gritty, near-nihilistic search for her grand-mère was fantastic. Though, as a learner of French, I did find it a little interesting that "grand-mère" was one of the only French terms used here... I was hoping for a little more.
Scarlet also has a much better romance than Cinder. While Kai and Cinder have some solid banter—I love how their relationship plays out through curiosity and never really crescendos into anything too sensational for a YA novel—Scarlet and Wolf have a much more beautiful relationship. It's a little corny, with the whole "alpha" thing, so it's never too out of place for a YA novel. However, it feels a lot deeper and more meaningful than the more crush-like nature of Kai and Cinder's. Not that I'd want to change that relationship, because it works for their characters, but by design, I was much more invested in this relationship. The fact that they bond through mutual survival, vulnerability, and loyalty is more interesting than the twist on the Cinderella story in the first novel. My girlfriend says I'm Wolf, and she's Scarlet, so, apparently, I'm biased towards this one. But, updating this after I finished the series, they didn't quite have my favorite relationship.
I still think I'm Wolf with a twinge of Winter and a smattering of Cress, but she's still up in arms on that one. Which proves why she has a globule of Cinder's abrasiveness within her, does it not?
The introduction of Captain Carswell Thorne might even be the best part of the book. Fiendishly similar to Jansen Friedh from Lost Odyssey, one of my favorite characters of all time, he's got all the suave, depth, and layers... but quite a bit more PG. He steals every scene, being hilarious, charming, swag, arrogant, and a perfect lighthearted foil for Cinder's often excessive pragmatism. While he flourishes significantly in the next book (coming here again from the future!), he is an absolute vibe.
And, along with Thorne? The trusty Rampion, another of the best additions. This home-base addition is exactly what this series needed, and it makes the final convergence of the two plotlines all the more satisfying. Seeing all four of our leads come together was an absolute treat. Also, Iko being the personality chip within the Rampion was a brilliant touch. I was worried about how she would be utilized after her... disassembly in the previous novel, but she's even better here, and her banter with Thorne made her character even more hilarious than ever before.
And, finally, while I did have gripes with the mediocre worldbuilding of Toulouse compared to New Beijing (though the worldbuilding of the Benoit farm is still very solid!), the worldbuilding regarding Luna was a much-needed addition, and it added a lot to the stakes. Learning about the splinter-cell, bio-engineered wolf-hybrid soldiers raised the stakes from tumultuous political intrigue and Levana's wrathful pursuit of the crown to something more otherworldly and mythic. This would expand in future novels and go on to make Winter a masterful display of lunar chaos (future me is back?).
The Brighton's Bookshelf Verdict
Brighton's Bookshelf Score - 9/10
Letter Score - S
Scarlet does many things worse than Cinder, but many things better. As for me, due to my bias au français and my adoration of multi-POV novels, I have to say Scarlet rises to the top. Marissa Meyer continues her reign as a wonderful storyteller, mixing fairy tales, lunar magic, gritty stakes, and scintillating romance into a supreme spell of a story.
Interested in checking out more Marissa Meyer book reviews? Or some of my other fantasy, sci-fi, and YA novel reviews? Check them out below!
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