Marissa Meyer takes up the second installment of her four-part tale, begun with Cinder, with 18-year-old Scarlet's discovery that the police have closed the case on her missing grandmother. The author continues to move at lightning pace, and weaves Cinder's story into this Little Red Riding Hood retelling smoothly, with no need of backtracking.
Scarlet and her grandmother grow "the best tomatoes in France," according to their best client, Gilles, owner of the Rieux Tavern. And Scarlet knows her grandmother would never leave without a note, and certainly not without her I.D. chip, which Scarlet had found bloodied and wrapped in cheesecloth on the kitchen counter. As Scarlet makes her deliveries, Meyer connects the tale with Cinder's story: footage of Cinder at the ball, the culminating event of the New Beijing festival in the first book, plays on the netscreen at Rieux Tavern. Cinder's tumble down the stairs prompts comments that she's a Lunar who brainwashed the new emperor. Scarlet takes issue with the raunchier remarks, and a fight breaks out. A stranger to town, a streetfighter known only as "Wolf," comes to Scarlet's aid.
Meyer once again reimagines a classic fairy tale and delves into its darker implications. Themes of feminism, keeping one's autonomy in a relationship, coping with betrayal and good old-fashioned storytelling come together in another tour de force. The half-man, half-beast army that Queen Levana was assembling in the previous book comes to the fore here, as newly anointed Emperor Kai starts to believe he must sacrifice himself for the good of his people. Meanwhile, both Cinder and Scarlet begin a quest to uncover and accept newfound facts about themselves and their families, even as their searches bring them together. Meyer keeps the suspense high about whom Scarlet can trust. Chief among them is Wolf: "I lied to you about a lot of things," he says, "but I meant every apology."
Like Cinder, Scarlet's deep convictions keep her on the right path, despite some missteps. Meyer creates another memorable heroine, and fans will be chomping at the bit for the third book, Cress, modeled on Rapunzel. --Jennifer M. Brown
Shelf Talker: Marissa Meyer follows up Cinder, her highly imaginative retelling of Cinderella, with an equally captivating twist on Little Red Riding Hood.