Reviews with content warning for War - Scarlet

[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."

Content Warnings

janaya's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional tense 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? No

3.75

Content Warnings

tiana_king's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious tense 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

5.0

This book was much faster paced than the previous one and had a lot more action. In short it is awesome. More of the mystery of Cinder gets unraveled and new interesting characters come into play. Excited for what happens next.

Content Warnings

theteamsreader's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny hopeful mysterious medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

My favourite book in the series! As a direct continuation to its debut Cinder, Scarlet only manages to further the intrigue and incredible world building that emerges from this science fiction. Plus, alongside even more loveable characters and plot lines, and a pace and story that slowly drags everything together, a reader, once upon opening, will not help but be drawn in. Recommended for anyone who loves a good science fiction, with cocky spaceship captains, bioengineered soldiers, and a farm girl pilot who knows her way about a shotgun. Anyone who loved the characters and story of the first book will be charmingly surprised as old favourite characters take centre stage alongside as well.

Content Warnings

gattolinos_nerdy_nook's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

Continuing with my reread of the Lunar Chronicles is Scarlet. I think Scarlet is a strong sequel to Cinder, but also not how I would think most sequels would go. It feels like a mixture of a sequel, as the plot progresses and we do follow Cinder and Kai at times, but also like a companion novel as we follow Scarlet and Wolf for majority of the time.

I love the characters introduced in this book. Scarlet, Wolf, and Thorne are all great, with their stories and interactions. On top of the characters we see a bit more into what the Queen Levana's Luna is like as well as other places on Earth. The book also does a fun job of pulling Cinder and Scarlet together and sets up well for the next book.

I'm very much enjoying the reread and recommend giving this series a go if it has been your radar, but haven't had a chance to pick it up.

Content Warnings

cammiem8's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Not quite as exciting as its predecessor, but still holds up as a decent YA scifi, though the red riding hood connection is a little more forced than the other adaptations in the series.

Content Warnings

jfield351's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a good book, probably better than the previous one in the series.

Even though I thought I would hate it, I actually ship Wolf and Scarlet so hard HAHAH.

Content Warnings

t_swizzle's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

Content Warnings

More...