GoodRead - Scarlet

I randomly won an ARC from the US publisher of the Lunar Chronicles during their #ScarletFriday on Twitter (YEAH FOR INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING AND FOR THE PUBLISHER BEING AWESOME TO READERS!). So, after bouncing up and down like a looney tune when I got it (in a scarlet padded envelope! I LOVE when publisher do tiny details like this! Just LOVE IT!), I jumped straight into it.

After the events of Cinder, Cinder is in prison and will soon be taken to Luna. But she can't let that happen. She has to escape. But if she does, she will the Commonweath's most wanted fugitive. But she has no choice. She has to escape...

In France, Scarlet's grandmother has vanished. And the Police have stopped looking for her. Scarlet decides to find her beloved grandmother herself. But as she starts searching for her, Scarlet begins to wonder how well she knew her grandmother. And when Scarlet discovers that her grandmother was kidnapped, she has to trust a street fighter called Wolf. But should she? 

As Cinder and Scarlet's stories collide, the ruthless Luna Queen is more determined than even in her plans to rule both Luna and Earth. And she ups her game to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner...

Now, if you are aware from my previous review of Cinder (here's the review if you want it!), I wanted to read Scarlet first but was advise to read this to help with back story. And I am very glad I did. While you can easily jump straight into this as most of this book follows Scarlet, with Cinder's story popping up every now and again, it helped with the back story of Cinder. Of how she got into this situation, why the Queen Luna wants her dead and her story with Prince Kai (oh yes, fans of Kai, he has some chapters too. And there will be where you and every readers will scream "NO! DON'T DO IT!" at him). 

I adore this book so, of course, my review is going to be bias. I love how, unlike Cinder where everything hits the fan at the fifth chapter, Scarlet hit the ground running. I love how the story moves at a shocking fast pace (compare to Cinder, this moves fast. Cinder took past over a course of weeks. Scarlet takes place in a matter of days). I love that the pacing never truly lacked or went slack. I love how the new characters were introduced (oh, Captain Thorne is probably my fave new character as he bought much needed humour to some stressful situations). I love the direction this book went and went it's going with the next book in the series, Cress. I can not wait. 

However, while I am totally bias, I know some of you won't be. I know that there will be issues that will drive a few of you nuts over. Ok, let's address them. First of all, Scarlet and Wolf's relationship. It changes and evolves VERY QUICKLY and, in real life, this wouldn't happen. And, because the story doesn't stay with Scarlet (it jumps from her to Cinder to Prince Kai and, at one point, the Luna Queen herself [these changes will annoy some of you, as well,), some of you won't feel the chemistry between her and Wolf. The same could be said with Cinder and Captain Thorne, but seeing as they are thrust together and have to make do, their relationship works nicely. But Scarlet and Wolf's relationship does move very quickly. But, remember, we have two more books in this series and I suspect that we will be seeing more of Scarlet and Wolf in them so we will probably see more of their relationship as the series moves through Cress and into the finale, Winter. 

Like I said, I'm bias to this book. I adore it. I can not wait for Cress, which will be out next year (this is the disadvantage to getting ARCs - longer waits...)! Bring it on! 

GoodRead - Cinder

Cinder was one of those books that I've been a bit wary over it. I heard all the hype and I went "Really?" and I stayed away. But then I watched a video from This Week In YA where they chatted about the sequel of Cinder, Scarlet, and I got excited over this. A retelling of Red Riding Hood, set in the south of France? Now, after I saw this, I wanna know if I could read Scarlet without reading Cinder so, asking the author and a few friends on Twitter, I was told that I could, but Cinder would be very helpful. So, on pure impulse, I downloaded on my kindle and read it at the same time as Cat Clarke's Torn.

In the future, after World War 4, in New Beijing, Cinder is a talented mechanic. She's also a cyborg, due to being in a terrible accident when she was 12. Hated by her stepmother. When her stepsister catches the plague, Cinder's life is thrown into turmoil when she is trying to find an antidote while finding her life entertwined when he needs an android fixed, but she knows he's lying about why he needs it fixed. 

And, just to make things even more complex, the Queen of Luna is coming to New Beijing, wanting Prince Kai to become her husband... 

The first few chapters, I must admit, didn't grab me. I admit that. I kept getting confused with the terms of cyborg and android as no one really explained the difference and I felt that the story wasn't hitting the ground running. 

Then chapter 5 happens where Cinder's stepsister caught the plague and that's when it suddenly went full throttle. And I fell in love with it, then. 

I love how Marissa Meyer took the fairy retelling idea (Cinder is the first book in a four book series), set it in the future and then threw everything at it. Aliens, disease, robots, love, hatred. And, while I was reading this going "This is a fairytale retelling of Cinderella, so there has to be a ball", I kept finding new things and I kept getting sucked in and then, when I finished Torn, I sped through the book. And Marissa twists the fairytale to such a degree, you go "Oh, wow! That's the slipper!" and you kick yourself for not seeing it sooner! 

There was one twist near the end that I saw a few days before, and that might be interesting to see how that develops. Apart from that and the first few chapters, I think this is a brilliant retelling. I saw it in my head and I would LOVE to see this turned into a TV show or movie (hint hint Once Upon A Time!) as long as they STICK to the story and cast the characters right! NO WHITE PEOPLE! This isn't the horrible US book trailer (and no, am not going to show you that! Am going to show a better review of Cinder, though...). If you're going to turn this into a movie/TV show, get it right! 

I can not wait for Scarlet! Can we have it bought forward a few months? Please!