Summer Reading Response - Scarlet

          Scarlet, my first choice book that I read this summer, was everything that I wished for. Scarlet is the second installment in "The Lunar Chronicles" series. Scarlet follows a new addition to the roster of main characters: Scarlet Benoit. Her inspiration as a character, as well as most of her story, stems from the "Red Riding Hood" European fairy tale. Scarlet herself also happens to wear a red hoodie, further connecting the two stories. Scarlet, however, was not one of the deepest characters that I came across in the novel and the series. She isn't necessarily shallow or superficial in any way, but she did not fully meet the standards set by characters such as Cinder, Carswell Thorne, or even Wolf, another character introduced in Scarlet who has his origins in "Red Riding Hood". I have never thought of her as a poor character, but never as the best.

          I'm sure most of you know the general story of the "Red Riding Hood" fairy tale, but for those who don't, the tale simply follows a girl in a red hood and cape who journeys through a forest to find and visit her grandma; however, a wolf stops her in her journey and tricks her into thinking that the wolf wants to help her by finding her grandma, but the wolf secretly knows that he already ate her grandma and so wishes to eat Little Red Riding Hood as well. Scarlet follows its origin story extremely well, except for relatively minor changes. To me, however, Scarlet follows the fairy tale a little too well. I thought that although the story was intriguing in its own ways, Marissa Meyer could have made slightly larger changes plot-wise. Despite my small complaints, I still was able to enjoy the novel to its fullest extent and I have no regrets whatsoever for reading it.