Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

8 reviews

noellegrace8's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad tense fast-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

5.0

What a great second book! We're given new characters that are just as vibrant as book one, and the plot really picks up. The beginning can be a little frustrating/disorienting as you get used to who is who, but it is quickly intriguing. It's obvious that the plot was clearly laid out from the inception of these books because of its intricacies. Some people may be frustrated with the lack of Kai in this one, and it is more gory than book one. Sometimes the new characters can be a bit toxic, but it also makes them interesting.

I do not factor audiobook narrators' performances into in my overall star rating of a book, but I would give Rebecca Soler a 4.5/5. She did better with this one than the last, with a bit more variance in her emotion, although it still drones or falls flat in parts. Her accents were quite good, actually allowing me to know who was talking when. However, I started to wonder why Scarlet has a French accent (typically, though sometimes Soler forgets to use it) but Kai, for instance, has an American one even though he lives in New Beijing.

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modernhobbitvibes's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

2.25

Nearly stopped reading when the twenty year old flirted with the sixteen year old, but my own inner sixteen year old wanted to know what happened to the wolf-hybrid soldier man, so I stuck it out. Not sure if I'll be finishing this series though. Insert Jupiter Ascending joke here.

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thumbeleia's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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diana_raquel's review against another edition

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

2.75

[buddy reading]

"I think I realized that I would rather die because I betrayed them, than live because I betrayed you."

[Disclaimer: Shortly after finishing Cinder I discover that this series is considered to be a problematic series. According to some people, The Lunar Chronicles series has an offensive Pan-Asian setting that homogenizes Asia and evokes Japanese imperialism and Marissa Meyer uses honorifics in the wrong way. I think these are valid concerns, but I'm not gonna further my opinion on the matter. Look, I'm a white European girl, I'm not the right person to talk about this issue].

Well, that was disappointing. Like I said in my review of Cinder when I started this series I wasn't expecting much out of it. But then, I loved Cinder. So I was excited to start this book. The Little Red Riding Hood is one of my favorite fairytales and I usually like its retellings. However, this one was disappointing.

The story can be interesting, but I hated Scarlet. We just see her concerned about her grandmother and Wolf. So we don't get to know her as a heroine. And because we don't get to know her, she became too irritating and tedious. I think that the narrative tried to show Scarlet as a reckless heroine but didn't deliver it. Every time I was reading her POV I was rolling my eyes. I found Scarlet to be irritating, tedious, and, sometimes, cringy. And although I liked Wolf, he's not sufficient to make me like their storyline.

The only thing I actually liked in this book was the storyline of Cinder and Kai. Their storyline is much more interesting and Cinder is the true heroine of this book (look, it may be Scarlet's story, but the real badass was Cinder). And Thorne is my new favorite character. I hope to see more of him in Cress. Their storyline is the only thing that prevents me from giving an even lower rating.

I'm pretty sure that this book suffers from "second book syndrome", and the only thing that kept me from DNF'ing was my reading buddies. None of us liked this book, and if it weren't for them, I don't know how I even would finish.

I hope that Cress is better.

"It would be easy to abuse a person when they never recognized it as abuse."

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t_swizzle's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional 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

5.0


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vereadsbooks's review

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adventurous funny 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? Yes

2.0

 Rating ★★☆☆☆

“I lied to you about a lot of things....but I meant every apology.”

Little Red Riding Hood is one of my least favorite fairy tales. I was very excited to read Scarlet, after reading Cinder. I was really hyped about this. I guess having very high expectations backfired on this book.

“But you're the only one, Scarlet. You'll always be the only one.”

We follow Scarlet, who tries to find out why her grandmother went missing. In her quest, she meets a street fighter named Wolf, who helps her to find her grandma. We also follow Cinder, who tries to stay underground and figurate out what she is supposed to be.

“But I'm a wanted fugitive, like Cinder." Thorne continued. "They do realize I'm missing, don't they?"
"Maybe they're grateful," Cinder muttered.”


I did not expect such large participation of Cinder in the plot of this book. Although it was nice to spend time with her and company. I feel that Scarlet was relegated to a subplot within her book.

“Wolf, are you asking me to be ... your alpha female?"
He hesitated.


The characters felt flat and not well developed, especially Wolf. He is supposed to be the alpha male, and I thought he would be a more impulsive, smug, and dominant guy. Instead, the character is much more docile and submissive. I wish we could see more of his backstory and not just little pieces because It was hard for me to care about him.

“I really am sorry for shooting you."
"Are you?"
Her touch lingered as it reached the end of the bandage, checking that it was still securely tied. "What does that mean?"
"I suspect you would shoot me all over again if you thought it would help your grandmother."
She blinked up at him, almost surprised to discover how close they were standing. "I would," She said. "But that doesn't mean I wouldn't be sorry about it afterward.”


Regarding Scarlet, she is a very impulsive and strong mind. But kinda annoying. I guess I was expecting a more innocent and naive Scarlet.

I hope to see how things evolve in Cress. 

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maria_pell's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0


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zoeelora's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0


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