Scarlet

Starred review from January 7, 2013
Returning fans of Meyer’s Cinder will gladly sink their teeth into this ambitious, wholly satisfying sequel. Linh Cinder has learned that she is Princess Selene, a Lunar who was supposedly murdered by her treacherous and powerful aunt, Queen Levana, but in fact survived. Meanwhile on Earth, Scarlet Benoit and her former military pilot grandmother, now smalltown farmers in France, have recently become the target of a ruthless pack of wolflike humans who, if they don’t get the information they want, will probably kill them. Meyer’s plot is intricate and elaborate as she leaps between Cinder’s and Scarlet’s narratives, leaving readers anticipating their eventual intersection. Scarlet is a headstrong and loyal heroine, determined to save her grandmother (who has gone missing) while reluctantly falling for the protective but bloodthirsty Wolf, who might have been hired to kill her—or might be in love with her. Meyer portrays each scene with precision and rising tension, leaving readers with another mesmerizing journey. The third book in the Lunar Chronicles, Cress, is scheduled for 2014. Ages 12–up. Agent: Jill Grinberg, Jill Grinberg Literary Management.

May 1, 2013

Gr 9 Up-In the second title (2013) in Meyer's "The Lunar Chronicles," listeners are introduced to Scarlet Benoit, a teenager in rural France whose grandmother has been missing for over two weeks. She's certain that her grandmother has been kidnapped and will do anything to find her, even place her trust in the mysterious and dangerous street fighter Wolf. Meanwhile, Linh Cinder has escaped prison in New Beijing with the help of a roguish thief named Thorne and is evading authorities in a stolen spaceship while she decides what to do about the revelation that she is really Princess Selene, the true heir to the Lunar crown. Rebecca Soler gives another solid performance of the futuristic fairy tale series. Her youthful voice is well cast to narrate the concurrent stories of the two teenagers, seamlessly navigating between the story lines. She gives Scarlet's dialogue a slight accent, helping to distinguish her from Cinder, and voices supporting characters with their own nuances. Soler's narration succeeds in conveying the plot's building tension. She fully inhabits the passionate, headstrong, and determined Scarlet, while also expressing Cinder's struggles with the tempting powers her Lunar heritage make possible and her hesitancy to lead a revolt against evil Queen Levana. Fans of Cinder (2012, both Feiwel & Friends) will be completely satisfied as action and romance abound and the stakes are even higher in this installment. Listeners will be clamoring for the next two titles in the quartet.-Amanda Raklovits, Champaign Public Library, IL

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2013
Meyer adapts "Cinderella" and "Little Red Riding Hood" to create folktale/sci-fi-hybrid stories set on a futuristic Earth. In Cinder, the title character is an orphan cyborg mechanic who discovers she is the key to stopping the evil Lunar queen, Levana. As a fugitive in Scarlet, Cinder searches for answers about her past; this leads her to Scarlet, whose grandm're is being held by Levana's genetically engineered wolf-like army, assembled to destroy Earth's inhabitants. Meyer's retellings feature large casts of characters and chapters told from alternating points of view, making it no easy feat to translate these first two series entries to audio. But Soler's narrations, both confident and well paced, flow effortlessly. She masters major characters' voices: Cinder's is sardonic, with a slightly stilted cyborg tone; trusty and lovable sidekick android Iko gets a high-pitched, robotic modulation; the voice of Cinder's love interest, newly crowned Emperor Kai, exudes both authority and youthful uncertainty; Scarlet's voice has a hint of a French lilt; and Queen Levana's is eerily smooth. Soler is also very effective at quick transitions between accents in dialogue-heavy scenes. The combination of Soler's superb performance and Meyer's captivating storytelling creates a pair of tour-de-force audiobooks. cynthia k. ritter

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)