Book Review: Scarlet

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer is a young adult fiction novel and it is the second story in the Lunar Chronicles.  It follows the dystopian idea with a classic fairy tale twist.  Scarlet takes a bit of inspiration from the tale of Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf.  The story introduces three new characters and also follows the main characters from the previous novel Cinder.  

The story starts with Cinder trying to break out of prison and ultimately has to ask the help of a fellow in mate as she is trying to break out.  The story soon introduces you to Scarlet Benoit who is searching for her missing grandmother.  When Scarlet encounters a street fighter, Wolf, who may have information on her grandmothers whereabouts she must ultimately try to trust the stranger that she is wary of.  They soon find themselves drawn to each other and as they start to unravel the mysteries, they meet Cinder and inmate, Carswell Thorne, whom is also a pilot.  Together the four will try to figure out a way to save humanity from the evil lunar queen Levana.

I have to be honest, I read this book last year, but I still remember a lot of details.  I loved this book and gave it a 5 out of 5 stars on good reads.  I loved the action, the plot twists, the bit of romance.  Yes this story has a little romance.  But I felt that the romance was appropriate and suitable for the age range the books are ultimately geared towards which I feel would be the older young adults.  I loved this book and the addition to the different characters.  I felt that the author has a clear direction in where she wants the series to go.  It's so different that a lot of the other young adult books because I feel that it has a unique take on a way of story telling and as an adult I enjoy it,  I didn't feel like the writing was dummied down in order to appeal to a younger crowd.  I honestly can't wait for the next book in the series to be released because I desperately want to know what happens to the characters that I've grown attached too.

Rating:
5 out of 5 stars

Book Review: Cinder

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder by Marissa Meyer is a young adult, science fiction, romance book loosely based off of a the classic fairy tale, Cinderella.  This book is the first book of the Lunar Chronicles series and was published in 2012.  I read this book last year in March and I have to say, I loved it!  I'm completely hooked on this series and I'm going to state this now, I will be incredibly disappointed if they turn this into a crappy movie.  Yep I went there.

The story starts off when Cinder who is a android/human hybrid trying to offer her mechanical skills.  As a cyborg she is considered a second-class citizen and can't remember her past before her life saving operation.  In the market, someone suddenly take ill and you are introduced to the event that sets everything into motion, the plague that is ravaging the population of earth.  Just like every fairy tale there is an evil queen, Levana who is a ruthless leader to the lunar people who watch and manipulate those around them.  When Cinder's beloved stepsister becomes ill with the plague, her stepmother sells her to the Prince Kai's head doctor so that they can run tests on her.  But soon she finds that she is more important to the people of Earth and also important to Kai.

I have to say for a young adult novel, I thought it had the right amount of romance.  It was enough to make my heart happy, but not over done that I would have thought that this wouldn't be apporpriate for the age group that it was aimed at.  As someone who is in their later 20's instead of their teens I was thoroughly entertained by the book.  I felt the author did an excellent job of writing, it wasn't too mature but it also wasn't patronizing that I feel a lot of young adult books tend to be.  I immediately loved the character Cinder.  A lot of the time, I find that author's find that it is easier to make their main female characters to be weak and easily manipulated.  This is not the case with Cinder, she's confused, yes, and she also doesn't originally want the burden.  I found that all of the characters were intriguing and I couldn't put the book down.  The plot moved fast enough, but not so fast that it was hard to keep details straight.  I couldn't put this book down, and I immediately bought and read the sequel Scarlet and as soon as Cress came out I bought that as well.  And of course, I am patiently waiting for the next book to come out.

I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars because I couldn't put it down and this has got to be one of the first young adult books that I have been able to get completely en captured by.  As an adult sometimes books that are in the young adult genre are not very well written, and it is not the case with this book.  I loved it from cover to cover.

Rating:
5 out of 5

Book Review: Run Catch Kiss

Run Catch Kiss by Amy Sohn

So I have to admit, this is my second attempt at reviewing this book, the first review ended up getting accidentally deleted.  And then I just ignored it for a couple of weeks.  So here is my second attempt.

Run Catch Kiss by Amy Sohn is a contemporary/humor novel based on the main character Ariel Steiner and her ambitions on becoming a a-list actress.  The novel was published in 2000, and I read it back in March of 2014 when I was on vacation. This was one of many book that I have bought from the book store I used to work at so this book probably sat on my shelf for at least nine years.

The story starts out with an eye catching line, "I was only twenty-two and already I was infamous..."  You follow the saucy character Ariel Steiner as she returns home after college as she dreams of becoming a top actress.  But unfortunately her freshman-fifteen pounds, a talent agents who isn't all there, kind of stands in her way.  But a lucky break comes in the form of writing a sex column in a trendy new york downtown weekly magazine (a la Sex in the City).  But unfortunately the writing and articles start to turn Ariel's life upside down, and when she finally falls in love, she has to decide, settle down, or continue to be the saucy and brazen sex kitten.

I have to admit, I LOVED this book.  I started to read this book when I was on vacation last year and I couldn't put it down.  I believe I read this in a day.  I was completely enthralled by the characters Ariel, there were times where I sympathized with her, laughed with or at her, or wanted to throttle her.  You see here at the beginning as a very shallow person who is driven, but when you see events not happen to her like they should, you feel for her defeat but also think to yourself, that's karma.  The main love interests was also interesting.  Even though he wasn't the main focal point, you understood what he was to her and they were to each other so that I really liked.

In the end I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars because I couldn't put it down.  It had me laughing at some parts, and feeling sad in other and also a little angry.  This was a pleasant book to read, and I think a good vacation book.

Rating:
4 out of 5