Audiobook Review: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

TITLE: Scarlet

SERIES: Lunar Chronicles, Book #2
AUTHOR: Marissa Meyer 

NARRATOR: Rebecca Soler
PUBLISHER: Macmillan Audio
PUBLICATION DATE: February 5, 2013

FORMAT: Unabridged audiobook, 11 hrs and 19 mins
GENRE: Young Adult, Fantasy, Science Fiction/Dystopia
ISBN: 9781427229649

Cinder returns in the second thrilling installment of the New York Times-bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She's trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother and 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 has no choice but to trust him, though he clearly has a few dark secrets of his own.

As Scarlet and Wolf work to unravel one mystery, they find another when they cross paths with Cinder. Together, they must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen who will do anything to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner.

MY REVIEW: 

I received this audiobook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive any compensation for my review, and the views expressed herein are my own.

The second book in the Lunar Chronicles series was really good!

The story begins the day after Cinder’s attendance at Prince Kai’s ball, and the news footage of her fall down the palace steps has been broadcast over the entire globe. Scarlet Benoit is an 18 year-old young woman, who lives with her grandmother in Rieux, France. Her grandmother has been missing for the past two weeks, and the only clue is her identification chip which has been left behind. The police have written off the disappearance as a likely suicide, since most people who want to disappear will cut out their ID chip. Scarlet doesn’t buy it. She knows her grandmother would never abandon her, and she is determined to find her.

Scarlet meets a hungry young man named “Wolf,” who has a penchant for Scarlet’s homegrown tomatoes. He asks for a job as a farmhand, but Scarlet doesn’t really need one. Scarlet returns home one day to a ransacked house, and she finds her father searching for something. His arms have scars all over them, and he is utterly hysterical. Wolf happens to be with Scarlet and, when her father sees the tattoo on Wolf’s arm, he freaks out and tells Scarlet that Wolf is “one of them”- one of the men who abducted her grandmother and are holding her hostage for something they think she has. Wolf insists that he is no longer a part of the gang and that joining it was the biggest mistake of his life, but he offers to take Scarlet to the gang’s headquarters where he believes they would be holding her grandmother.

Meanwhile, back in the Eastern Commonwealth, Cinder is trying to find a way to escape from her cell before Queen Levana can take her back to Luna.

I absolutely loved Cinder when I listened to it last year and couldn’t wait to find out what happens next. I was curious how Meyer would tie the fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood to Cinder’s, and she did it brilliantly! I do not want to give away any spoilers, so I will just say that I was really impressed how Cinder’s path and Scarlet’s path become tangled together.

I really enjoyed Scarlet, though not as much as Cinder. Still, it was a solid book in the series. One big disappointment for me was the absence of Dr. Erland, who I adored in Cinder. I really missed his presence, and I hope that Cinder will be reunited with him in Cress which is expected to be published in 2014. On the plus side, I thought the budding romance between Scarlet and Wolf had more chemistry than Cinder’s relationship with Prince Kai. Meyer kept me on my toes, wondering whether Wolf was good or bad! 

Narrator Rebecca Soler is so good! I love her French accent, and she has the right amount of sass to bring attitude to Cinder’s and Scarlet’s characters without coming across as annoying. Her vocalizations make all the characters easily distinguishable, and her exuberance brings excitement to the story.

MY RATING:

4 stars!! It was really good, and you should add it to your TBR list! A big thanks to Raincoast Books and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to review this audiobook!

This book qualifies as: 
#21 for my 2013 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge
#21 for my 2013 Read-a-Latte Challenge
Bonus #3 for my 2013 Where Are You Reading? Challenge 
Book #3 of Category #4 for my 2013 Global Reading Challenge
#4 for my 2013 Mammoth Book Challenge   
#11 for my 2013 ARC Reading Challenge  
#17 for my 2013 Women Challenge   
#1 for my Sophomore Reading Challenge 2013 
#5 for my 2013 2nds Challenge 
#6 for my 2013 Sequel Challenge   
#17 for my 2013 Books-in-a-Series Reading Challenge
#12 for my 2013 Audio Book Challenge
#12 for my 2013 Audio Book Challenge
#6 for my 2013 Young Adult Audiobook Challenge 
#12 for my 2013 Let Me Count The Ways Reading Challenge: Audio Version 
#13 for my 2013 Free Reads Challenge  
#1 for my 2013 Wishlist Challenge 
#14 for my 2013 Literary Exploration Reading Challenge  
#14 for my 2013 Genre Variety Reading Challenge  
Task #7 for my 2013 Sci-Fi Reader Challenge
#9 for my 2013 Young Adult Reading Challenge  
#8 for my 2013 YA/MG Fantasy Challenge  
#3 for my Dystopia Reading Challenge 2013

#1 for my 2013 Fairy Tales Retold Reading Challenge 
#1 for my Telling Tales Challenge 2013 
#1 for my 2013 Classic Double Challenge

#18 for my Monthly Mix-up Mania: 2013 to 2015 Edition     
#3 for my 2013 Colorful Reading Challenge
#3 for my 2013 The Color Coded Reading Challenge  

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