Review-Scarlet

Last year I read Marissa's debut novel, Cinder, and I just fell in love.  Marissa is a local author and I had been to two of her signings before I finally decided to read her book (bad me), and once I finished it I needed book two.  Now that I've finished book two I need book three...like, NOW!  I was hesitant about book two introducing an entirely new set of characters and an entirely new plot with the plot of Cinder not being finished, but I gave her the benefit of the doubt and read on.  I loved it!  The fact that we got to see things from the POV of Scarlet (Little Red Riding Hood), along with Cinder (Cinderella) and Prince Kai (Prince Charming), was really great, and how she managed to weave the plots of the two heroines together, it was just brilliant.  We also got to see old characters (IKO!), and we got to meet two new sexy men, Wolf (rawr!) and Thorne (there should be a Captain in there somewhere), which I approved of greatly.  I enjoyed watching Cinder grow as a character throughout the book, and despite only having just met her, Scarlet grew a lot too.  There is something to be said about a girl who will do anything to protect the people they love, and those that reach their limits but push a little further.  Scarlet was spunky and hot-headed, but that only made her more lovable  and Cinder, back in all of her glory, has grown more bad-ass.  Bravo Marissa, the story you have crafted is intriguing and fresh, and your characters are more than just the one-dimensional ones you sometimes find in stories these days.  I personally can't wait to see what you come up with for book three (it really can't come fast enough) and I might even say you outdid your first novel with this follow up.  This is not one of those books where you can just jump in at the second book in the series, but with Cinder out in paperback you really don't have any excuse to not go out and give the first book a shot.

5/5 dust spirits

*Thanks to Macillan (Feiwel & Friends) for providing me with an ARC (at ALA Midwinter) in exchange for an honest review.