Scarlet (2013)
Scarlet is a 2013 young adult fiction book written by Marissa Meyer.
Scarlet Benoit works her grandmother's farm in the French countryside, and her grandmother has vanished. The police have given up. A street fighter who calls himself Wolf turns up claiming he knows something, and Scarlet, against her better sense, follows the lead with him. Their search runs alongside another: Cinder, now a wanted fugitive, trying to break free and learn who she really is. Meyer folds Little Red Riding Hood into her Lunar Chronicles, widening the cast while Queen Levana's grip on Earth tightens. The two threads bend steadily toward each other.
Quick answers
What is Scarlet about?
Scarlet Benoit works her grandmother's farm in the French countryside, and her grandmother has vanished. The police have given up. A street fighter who calls himself Wolf turns up claiming he knows something, and Scarlet, against her better sense, follows the lead with him. Their search runs alongside another: Cinder, now a wanted fugitive, trying to break free and learn who she really is. Meyer folds Little Red Riding Hood into her Lunar Chronicles, widening the cast while Queen Levana's grip on Earth tightens. The two threads bend steadily toward each other.
When was Scarlet published?
Scarlet was published on 5 February 2013.
Who made Scarlet?
Scarlet was written by Marissa Meyer.
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Scarlet in our writing
A few thoughts on Scarlet
The fairy-tale bones and the wolfish romance echo the film Red Riding Hood, which gives the same story a gothic mystery frame. Readers who come for the found-family crew on the run should try the show Firefly, where a small ship of misfits stays one step ahead of a much larger power.
Sci-fi crews thrown together while a war closes in
Scarlet and Wolf's odd-couple search doubles as the start of Cinder's fight against Queen Levana. Illuminae and Gemina strand mismatched survivors on ships that force them to cooperate under fire, Aurora Rising throws a reluctant crew together for a mission bigger than any of them signed up for, and Firefly rides a found-family crew of outsiders across a frontier the war keeps catching up to.
Chained to a partner who might be more dangerous than the enemy
Scarlet follows a lead from Wolf despite every instinct warning her he's more than he claims. Red Riding Hood keeps its village guessing which neighbor is the wolf, Obsidian pairs its heroine with an alien who could be lying, Carve the Mark pairs its hero with someone from the side he's meant to hate, and The House of the Scorpion has its clone learn the truth about his maker.
Tyrants who rule through fear and the rebels working against them
Queen Levana's grip on Earth tightens through the same mix of propaganda and raw force found in these books. Scythe hands unquestionable authority to a chosen few who decide who lives, Steelheart and Firefight watch ordinary people plot against god-like tyrants called Epics, and Iron Widow arms its furious pilot against a ruling structure built to keep her small.