Scarlet
Marissa Meyer
Having read Cinder, I thought I knew what to expect of Scarlet. Cinder is a faithful transplantation to a postapocalytic Earth of the Grimm fairy tale Aschenputtel, known to English-speakers as Cinderella. Interestingly, Marissa Meyer is more faithful to the original Grimm version of the fairy tale than to the better known popular versions given to us by Disney (mainly). Now, I knew from Meyer's end matter in Cinder that Scarlet was based on Little Red Riding Hood, which in the original German is Rotkäppchen.
To prepare myself for Scarlet, I therefore reread Rotkäppchen. In Rotkäppchen, the Wolf gobbles down both the Grandmother and Rotkäppchen. Then the Hunter cuts the Wolf's belly open with scissors, freeing both Grandmother and Rotkäppchen, who are none the worse for the experience. I read that and I thought to myself, Meyer will need to use artistic license in retelling this tale. Sure enough, in an interview with which the book ends, Meyer describes her use of the fairy tale material in this way:
For me, using the fairy tales as a springboard is possibly the easiest part of writing these stories. The great thing about having these archetypal stories for inspiration is that I can use the iconic moments from the tale to create a framework on which to hang all the crazy twists and world-building and character development that make it my own. I really enjoy taking those familiar elements from the fairy tale and figuring out how to give them a futuristic spin, and the rest of the story is usually built off of that.
That is, she is not necessarily retelling the fairy tale -- she is just using its "iconic moments" as a springboard from which to tell the story she wants to tell.
Now, as I've already said, Cinder was a fairly faithful retelling of Aschenputtel. But Scarlet is not really a Rotkäppchen retelling. It shares moments, and one could make a not totally unconvincing argument that the heart of Rotkäppchen is there in Scarlet.
That was an observation, not a criticism. Whatever else Scarlet is, it is a good story well-told. I enjoyed it more than Cinder, mainly because I liked Scarlet and Wolf more than Cinder and Kai. Scarlet has more fire in her than Cinder, and Wolf is a more conflicted and complex character than Prince Kai. Also, the story of Scarlet is more complex. Cinder is in there, prosecuting her fight against the Lunar Queen.
I confess to an odd feeling of disloyalty in comparing Cinder unfavorably to Scarlet. Why? Cinder and Kai are good guys, and Scarlet and Wolf have some darkness in their characters. But Cinder is a fictional character -- I certainly don't owe her my loyalty. It is absurd to feel disloyalty for liking one fictional heroine more than another. That I have such a feeling demonstrates how real these characters became to me. I look forward to meeting Cress (Rapunzel) and Winter (Snow White).