I read the first novel in this series, Cinder, quite a bit ago so I apologize if I get some details wrong, or if I accidentally spoil something. But not really, because these books have been out for a while. SO I APOLOGIZE FOR NOTHING.
Anyway, spoilers ahead, probably.
Cinder, of course, was based on the fairy tale Cinderella. A young woman, Lihn Cinder, works as a mechanic in order to supply her step-mother and step-sisters with money and comfort. She’s also a cyborg, just like in the real Cinderella (you have to read between the lines to really get that from the fairy tale). She meets the emperor’s son, Kai, at some point and of course they fall into a quick infatuation with one another. I guess it’s love. Or “love.” Who knows, they’re teenagers.
The evil Queen Levana, ruler of the Lunars, becomes fixated on capturing Cinder at the end of the first book. Cinder, as we find out, is an escaped Lunar and (though not everyone realizes this at the time) the long lost Princess Selene. Cinder is taken into custody so Queen Levana (who had Princess Selene killed many years ago, or so she thought) can deal with her in her own way. I don’t think it’s going to be pretty. /end Cinder.
I think I made all of that sound way more confusing than it actually was. Sorry.
Scarlet begins with Cinder in jail, needing to escape. Not to worry, though, as Cinder’s fairy god-doctor fit her with a fancy new robot hand before he taking off for Africa, encouraging her to escape and join him there. Escape she does, with new buddy (“buddy”) Thorne, and his fancy ship. But they don’t go to Africa, because Cinder is afraid of what that would mean. She’s afraid to accept the fact that she’s the true Lunar ruler, because it means kicking Levana off of the throne.
We’re introduced to Scarlet in this novel (duh, it’s her name in the title), who is based on Little Red Riding Hood. She soon meets her Wolf but has better luck with him than the real Little Red Riding Hood did. Scarlet’s grandmother has gone missing, and Scarlet is desperate to find her before anything terrible happens to her. She and Wolf head out to find her together and, as you’d assume, her story and Cinder’s story merge along the way. It’s really quite fun.
I don’t have a lot to say about this one. Like Cinder, it was a fun read but I have a feeling I won’t remember much about it by the time the next book (Cress) becomes available at my library. I don’t LOVE love these novels but I find them entertaining enough to keep reading. I know that doesn’t sound like a glowing endorsement but they are fun to read, if only because fairy tales are fun, did you know?
