I really enjoyed this second book in Marissa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles. It is told from three points of view - Scarlet's, Cinder's, and Emperor Kai's. Prince Kai's part is smaller as he is stuck at home dealing with Lunar Queen Levana. We first meet Scarlet Benoit when she is delivering vegetables from her family's farm to a local restaurant and receives a notice from the police that they are closing the case of her missing grandmother saying she left of her own free will or possibly committed suicide. Scarlet's grandmother has been gone for three weeks and Scarlet is certain that she didn't leave of her own free will. The first things we notice about Scarlet is her anger and her determination to find her grandmother. We also get a sense of the fear that is beneath the anger. Then Wolf enters the picture. He rushes in to protect Scarlet when some of the patrons begin saying unkind things about her grandmother. Wolf is an interesting character both because he is a soft-spoken street fighter and because he seems unfamiliar with common things. For example, he has never eaten a tomato. He asks Scarlet for a job but she dismisses him because of her single-minded focus and locating her grandmother. It isn't until a bit later that they team up to head to Paris to rescue her grandmother.Meanwhile, we meet Cinder when she is escaping from prison just ahead of being turned over to Queen Levana. Along the way she gathers another fugitive—Carswell Thorne—who stole a spaceship when he left his country. Thorne provides a bit of comic relief to the story as he is a vain, self-aggrandizing sort of person. However, he does have access to a ship so Cinder takes him along on her escape. Once out of prison, Cinder is torn between following the path set for her by Dr. Erlander which will eventually lead to her overthrowing the wicked Lunar queen or trying to find a safe place where she can just live and follow her own dreams.The two story threads come together when Cinder and Thorne head to France to try to find Scarlet's grandmother who was a part of Cinder's escape from Luna after her aunt Queen Levana attempted to murder her when she was a small child. Scarlet and Wolf have gotten to Paris to learn that her grandmother has been kidnapped by agents of the Lunar queen who want to find Cinder. Scarlet also learns that Wolf is a Lunar operative who had been sent to question her. She feels betrayed by this boy that she had come to trust and maybe love. But where does Wolf really stand? Whose side is he on?The story is filled with daring escapes, exciting adventures, tough decisions, romances, and heart-breaking loss. I can 't wait for the third book to find out what happens next. The one disadvantage of reading a book in advance of its publication is that it will be soooo long until the next book is available.
