Gr 7 Up—Scarlet picks up immediately where Cinder (Feiwel & Friends, 2012) ended. Cinder Linh is in prison, armed with the secret knowledge that she is the long-lost Lunar Princess Selene, and that Lunar Queen Levana will do anything to get rid of her and her claim to the throne. She breaks out with a fellow prisoner, and they use his hidden spaceship to escape and figure out their next move. Meanwhile, Scarlet Benoit is barely holding on. Her grandmother has disappeared, the police are no help, and she is trying to run her grandmother's farm and figure out how to find her. Enter Wolf, a street fighter who has a distinctive tattoo and might know more than he's saying. And Emperor Kai is still busy trying to make Queen Levana happy without sacrificing his people's freedom. Meyer does an excellent job of subtly using the tale of Red Riding Hood to move the plot along and even gives readers some things to contemplate. Wolf is big, and bad, but does he mean to be? Can he overcome his past? There are plenty of viewpoints in the book, but transitions are seamless and the plot elements meld together well. This novel has enough backstory to stand on its own, but is much better after reading Cinder. The author has stepped up the intrigue and plot from the first novel, and readers will be eagerly awaiting the next.—Kelly Jo Lasher, Middle Township High School, Cape May Court House, NJ