Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

50 reviews

jerry_pov's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


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sporemiette's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

the whole omegaverse schtick really got on my nerves and the prose isn't all that good so it was a bit of a chore to read through. at least the first book had an interesting premise and strong characterization, while the characters in this installation felt corny and cliche. i did not buy the romance between scarlet and wolf, especially since every few chapters there was another layer to the betrayal onion. at least Thorne is here... whatever, here's hoping that cress is better.

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lagiven's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Scarlet is a fun book in how it twists the tale of Red Riding Hood, and Meyer does a good job at subverting the tale so that even though you know how it ends, you doubt it. There's lots of action which makes this book go by fast, but it's still setting up the main conflict with out much action being done by the characters to address said main conflict. 

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tkatt20's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

While I did enjoy this book more than the first one, I still feel like it was missing something. The characters are extremely interesting and the addition of Thorn, Wolf, and Scarlet kept me entertained through the whole story. While  I did enjoy the direction of the plot in this book  compared to the first in the series, I'm still feeling like the world building is lacking. I would have loved this book so much more if there were more details on the history and technological advancements of the earth since it set in the future. I wish I  knew more about the androids and how the medical field advanced enough to support the creation of cyborgs. I also feel like there could have been more information on the wars and the people on Luna.

I still find myself unsure of whether or not I want to continue this series. If I do it will only be to see everything wraps up, I love the characters and the plot but I just wish I didn't have so many question. It is a fantastic series and it is probably a good choice for others, it just might not be for me. 

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theespressoedition's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

Who's afraid of the big, bad wolf? Certainly not me - not when it comes to Wolf and Scarlet.

This book was my favorite of The Lunar Chronicles the first time I read the series, going on 10 years ago now. I've never been a huge fan of The Big Bad Wolf or Little Red Riding Hood (or whatever you want to call the story), primarily because I didn't find it interesting. However, Marissa Meyer knows how to make every fairytale more interesting. Give me mind-controlling aliens, cyborgs, and wolf-men any day and I'm gonna be totally hooked.

Unlike my reread of Cinder, I found this story to be better the second time around. It's an easy read, as all of the books in this series are, and I loved how quickly I got invested in the story - despite knowing what was to come. There were certain scenes that clearly stuck out to me the first time I read these books because I vividly remembered them and had those "OH YEAH! This is happening now!" moments - and that made it extra much fun to read them again. Other moments were less captivating, originally, yet I thoroughly enjoyed them during this reread.

I'll admit, it's a little hard to write a review on something I've already read because the emotions aren't new. But I will say that this book holds up over the years and it only made me look forward to moving on to Cress!

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talkstofish's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Book 2 of the Lunar Chronicles reimagines the classic fairytale Little Red Riding Hood. We are introduced to a new character, Scarlet - a confident young woman with a very different personality to Cinder. The plot centers around her grandmother who is missing, and a mysterious stranger named Wolf who sets out to help her bring her grandmother home. Woven throughout, we also see Cinder and Kai's point of views as they struggle with the aftermath of Book 1. Cinder seeks answers about her past, while Kai deals with the impending threat of war with the Lunar colony. We are also introduced to a new character, Thorne - a suave deserter of the American military who happens to captain a space ship.

Overall, this book definitely felt like a stepping stone in the series. It definitely felt like it was introducing characters to set up the next parts of the series and plot, rather than being interesting itself. It can't be read stand alone, but it's fine for continuing the series.

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empathephant's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Initial DNF review:
The characters just didn't capture my attention in the same way and I was frustrated that I wasn't getting more of the Cinder storyline.

Final review after I finished it:
This turned out to be really good and adventurous. I learned to like the characters. I think there was a bit of a plateau of interest the first time around that caught me off-guard. I wasn't as interested in the setting of the new book and I wanted to know what was going on with Cinder, not learn about new characters and have exposition. Once I pushed past that part the second time around, though, it was great, and the series keeps getting better, so I'm glad I did!

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therobinjoyce's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I was awaiting the second installment of the lunar chronicles with much anticipation but I will not lie and at it was wholly gripping or enthralling. It took a good 60% of the book to finally grip me and the first half made me fall asleep mid-chapter...twice!

The continuation from book 1s character took far too long to be reintroduced and the action could have been far much more ramped up. There was a innate sense of predictability to the majority of the story but all in all it was a decent read.

I did particularly enjoy the interactions and character relationships between Wolf and Scarlet and their story was very compelling and intriguing.

If I'd read this as a teenager I probably would have loved it far more than I did reading it for the first time as an adult.

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theartsybookwitch's review against another edition

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medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

https://booktriggerwarnings.com/index.php?title=Scarlet_by_Marissa_Meyer

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nytephoenyx's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

While I liked SCARLET well enough, it doesn't hold a candle to CINDER. I think that this was a necessary installment in the overall story because it moves the characters all closer to the incoming climax, adding resources and providing new information, as well as the introduction of Scarlet and Wolf... but I just didn't love Scarlet or Wolf, and their story took up a good chunk of this book. Which makes sense! Because this book is called Scarlet.

I really liked that SCARLET had a self-contained story from Scarlet's perspective as well as pushing the series plot forward. I felt Scarlet was a well-written character, so don't misconstrue my relatively meh reaction as a judgement on the writing here - I thought it was well-done, I just wanted more of Cinder and less of Scarlet. And that's okay, by the way. We don't all need to love all the characters. I think that Marissa Meyer wrote her really well and the romantic storyline made sense based on what we know about Scarlet and I have no complaints about the writing or style.

Looking forward to moving on to Cress where we meet yet another important character and weave another fairytale into this futuristic world. I think the series as it stands is a really good and creative and I love it.

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