I liked this much better the second time! That might be because it benefitted from the context of all the rest of the books in the Lunar Chronicles, which I LOVE. My favorite part of this book were still the scenes involving Cinder, her new partner-in-crime Carswell Thorne (who is SUCH a fantastic caricature of the gorgeous, devil-may-care rascal), and now Emperor Kai, though.
I do admire the fact that all four of the heroines of this series are so different, though. Cinder is the most traditional female heroine: smart, sarcastic, unsure of herself, girl-next-door (who just happens to turn out to be a long lost princess). Scarlet is an assertive, gorgeous badass who takes matters into her own hands, both when it comes to hunting for her missing grandmother, and also in her attraction to Wolf. She’s likable, but it’s hard to identify with a character like hers. It’s also hard to identify with her attraction to Wolf, a Lunar special operative whose DNA has been blended with that of a wolf to give him both animal instincts and animal characteristics. But, since Meyer wanted to use the fairy tale as a jumping off point, and if Wolf was going to be both the love interest and the villain (sort of), Scarlet kind of had to be who she is to make it work.
I do really like how Scarlet’s and Cinder’s stories intersect though! That took some serious narrative skill!
My rating: ****
