On Lunars: A Review of Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Cinder was my favorite book of 2013. I loved the sci-fi world, loved the very original style of fairy tale retelling. I was beyond eager to read Scarlet, and the bar was set very high.

This book alternates focus alternates between Cinder and the newly introduced Scarlet. Scarlet's grandmother has been taken by a mysterious gang, who believe she knows something about the Princess Selene. Scarlet is determined to get her back, so when former gang member Wolf offers to lead her to them, she goes with him willingly. Meanwhile, Cinder must escape from prison with Thorne,  a fellow convict who offers her a way out on his spaceship. She must decide where to go first--to Africa to find the doctor who provided her means of escape, or to find Scarlet's grandmother, who might have answers about the past Cinder can't remember.

What I liked about the first book, I continued to love about the second. The world building is brilliant, fun, and easy to immerse yourself in. It's the kind of science fiction that would appeal to readers that don't normally like science fiction. It's very accessible.

Cinder is an appealing character, with her intelligence, guts, and unusual skill set. In this book her Lunar powers start to grow in ways that even she doesn't fully understand. Thorne is a fun addition, sort of a wannabe bad boy with a great sense of humor. He and Cinder have great report, and they're entertaining, although I became nervous that the author would try to make him the third point in a love triangle. Please, God, no. But, as of now, that's not the case. Scarlet, meanwhile, is a farm girl with no remarkable talents to speak of. She's likeable, though, because of her determination to find her grandmother and her willingness to see Wolf's best side. I liked Wolf, a lot. He's less predictable than the other characters, in both personality and nature. I found myself very curious about what he actually is, as well as what his motivations were.

One of my disappointments with this book was how little time we spent with Emperor Kai. We mostly just experience his stress over ruling and dealing with Queen Levina, plus his conflicted feelings for Cinder. Not a lot in terms of insight or character development.

But the main issue with this story is the fact that the larger arc of the story does not progress as much as it could have. That's not to say that nothing happens, but...not as much as I would have though or liked. I got the impression that the big action was being saved for future books, and that this is just a bridge book. That's fine, I guess, I just wanted more--I'm greedy like that.

It's a very good, very entertaining book. It would never stand on it's own, and it raises more questions than it answers. However, I found it far above average in the page-turner category, and I highly recommend it. 4.5 stars.

Watch This! Top Ten Best Romances in the Disney Universe

Disney movies. They are so iconic and so deeply imbedded in our culture that they are often the first stories children are exposed to. To extend that thought, they are probably the first love stories most of us are exposed to. Now, I'm not saying that's a great thing. It's a point of fact that Disney treats love in the most sanitized, watered-down, and in some cases slightly sexist manner possible. But they exist, and they are romance, so we have to talk about them. Because I say so.

Having said all of that, you might imagine that this "Best" list is more of a "Least Awful" list, but...that's mostly not true. Mostly.

#10: Sleeping Beauty (1959)

This is one that I've only seen a handful of times, and I actually had to rewatch it closely to decide if it really belonged on this list. It made it by virtue of the fact that it's not only intentionally a romance, but the romance actually has some (some, not a lot) set up and pay off. The set up is that Phillip and Aurora are promised to each other upon Aurora's birth. Aurora is cursed and then hidden away as a peasant girl, under the name Briar Rose. Sixteen years later, Phillip meets and unknowingly falls in love with Briar Rose. It's love at first sight and there's not much conversation, but there is a big battle with a dragon, and that's romantic, right? Right.

#9:Cinderella (1950)

You know, Cinderella gets a lot of bad press. I'll own to the fact that Sleeping Beauty deserves its reputation as one of the least pro-feminist stories of all time--the heroine literally does nothing except fall asleep. Cinderella though? She's just a sad, lonely, and frankly very patient girl who would like to go to a dance. And then she does. Good for her. Do I buy that she instantly falls in love with the prince and he's so enamored with her in return that he upends the kingdom trying to find her--after one dance and presumably a little conversation? Well no, not by real world standards, but it the logic of the 1950s Disney universe it's fine. I always imagined an epilogue to this story where the prince (Jesus, he doesn't even have a name) and Cinderella have to talk and come to terms with this insane attraction between them, and the ramifications of marrying outside their social standings, and they make it work in the end. That's how I justify the story to myself.

#8: Tarzan (1999)

This is one of those Disney movies I always tend to forget about, until I look at a list and I'm reminded--oh, yeah, Disney did Tarzan. I think it's because when it came out, I was at that weird age where I thought I was too old for children's movies and I didn't yet appreciate the idea that adults can enjoy them, too, and so I didn't see it until long after it came out. But I do like it. And, of course, it's on this list because of Tarzan and Jane, who are surprisingly sweet together. I put it low on the list because I've always felt that the chemistry between them is based largely on the fact that Jane is literally the first and only human woman Tarzan has ever encountered, and that kind of circumstantial togetherness is always a bit unsettling to me. Outside of that context, would they even like each other? I don't know, but it is an interesting story for all it's flaws.

#7: Lady and the Tramp (1955)

Why, yes, I did put non-humans on the list. Judge me if you will, but watch this movie and tell me it's not adorable. Go ahead. Yeah, I thought so. Lady and the Tramp is a classic opposites attract tale about a hero who shuns the idea of a home and a heroine who dearly loves hers. They go on adventures and have a little tryst, and eventually a happy ending. The spaghetti scene alone earns it a spot on the list (incidentally, eating pasta that way is far less romantic in reality).  And I'm pretty sure there's a secret baby plot in there too.

#6: The Little Mermaid (1989)

I struggled quite a bit with where to put this on the list because, truth be tole, this is probably my second or third favorite Disney movie of all time. But in terms of how well it works as a romance? It's pretty shallow, at least initially. Ariel's impulsive and obsessive need to be with Eric is based entirely on appearance. Any attraction Eric feels for Ariel is based on her pretty, pretty voice. This is all redeemed when they end up spending time together while she can't talk, and it becomes apparent that they have a legitimate connection.

#5: The Princess and the Frog (2009)

This might actually count at my second non-human romance on the list, since they spend the majority of the movie as frogs. This is a movie about working hard to achieve goals while not ignoring the importance of finding love. It's actually quite heavy handed with that message, but it's not necessarily a terrible thing. I like the adventure and the time that Tiana and Nevine share, and I like that they both work for their happy ending.    

#4: Aladdin (1992)

This is likely the most "boy oriented" movie on the list, but it nevertheless counts as a romance. Pretty much everything Aladdin does is motivated by a desire to get the girl. It's yet another case of two people who like each other regardless of social rank, and it addresses the issue more effectively than most. I like that Jasmine, despite not being at the center of the action, is not a wilting flower and does, in fact, display a mind of her own. It also happens to have one of the most memorable and romantic love songs in the Disney universe.

#3: Tangled (2010)

This movie is one of the most watchable, fun children's movies I've seen this decade. And, although the romance isn't necessarily the main point, it's there and it's spectacular. Flynn and Rapunzel get to know each other over their journey (witness, Flynn telling Rapunzel his real name), they fall in love, and they make huge sacrifices for each other. It's cute and funny when it needs to be, serious at other times, and everything comes together to make a very satisfying story.

#2: Up (2009)

Am I cheating with this one? Hell yes, I am. Up is decidedly not a romance, at least most of the movie isn't. But the first ten minutes or so? Oh God. Two people meet as children, become friends, fall in love, and share a big dream that they never quite get to realizing. But they have a life together, and they're mostly happy despite some huge disappointments. I cannot watch this part of the movie without crying. Everything that's happens after that point is motivated largely by that relationship and those dreams, so I actually think it is fair game to count it on this list. It's brilliant, and a testament to the principle that a simple love story is often the best.

#1: Beauty and the Beast (1991)

If you've been following this blog for awhile, this one probably doesn't surprise you. This is my very favorite Disney movie, and it likely ranks in my top 10 favorite movies of all time. But do I really think it's the most romantic? Absolutely, I do. It's a story about getting to know someone on a deeper level, and loving them based on an emotional connection rather than physical appearance. The Beast has to learn to be a decent person, and Bell only comes around to him after he figures out that he needs to treat her properly. It's pretty much a perfect movie in my mind, and I can't say enough about it.

So that's the list, folks. Feel free to agree and disagree with me in the comments. Have a romance-filled day.

On Glass Slippers: A Review of A Kiss at Midnight by Eloisa James

A Kiss at Midnight is a Cinderella retelling set in Regency England. I'm going to come at this review from the approach of comparing it to other versions of Cinderella that I've read seen (a good handful), tell you what changes were made, what was kept the same, and whether the book was better off because of it. If I graded this as a plain old historical romance, I suspect the grade would come out very different (not necessarily better).

Positive Comments:

Kate is our Cinderella figure. She lives with her stepmother and stepsister, her parents are dead, and she's pretty much a maid--the usual drill. Most Cinderella's that I've seen are passive heroines--patient, kind, and hard working. Kate has significantly more backbone. She stays in the maid role not because she can't get out, but because she wants to protect the other servants and tenants from her stepmother's inept employment. I like strong heroines, and even though I didn't agree with all of Kate's decisions, I liked her.

Instead of meeting the prince at a ball, Kate spends a good amount of time in his castle (4 or 5 days, I believe). That means that, unlike in the original fairy tale they actually get to talk and get to know each other. A bit. It's not perfect, but the effort was made to actually build up the romance, and that's a good thing.

The stepsister, Victoria, is not evil, just kind of dim. Victoria isn't a rival for the prince's affections, because she's already in love and engaged. Kate and Victoria have a fairly typical sister-sister relationship that allows for some affection in the end, and I prefer that to hateful rivalry.

The mice are replaced with three small dogs with unique personalities. They didn't really serve a purpose in the story, except for one of them being a plot catalyst, but I thought they made cute sidekicks.

Critical Comments:

Kate has Daddy Issues. In the original story, Mom dies, and Dad remarries so that Cinderella will have a mother figure. In this version, Dad marries his mistress, who he's kept for years. It's revealed fairly early on that the stepmother's daughter, Victoria, is biologically his. Naturally Kate is upset by her father's infidelity (I can relate). There are some really uncomfortable themes that spring out of this, though. First, Kate repeatedly says that she want's someone just like Daddy, minus the cheating...Really Kate? Must you be such a cliche? I guess it's good that she's self aware about the whole thing.

Anyway, Kate meets Prince Gabriel and after some verbal bantering she starts to get the hots for him. It's revealed that he's had his way with his share of the ladies--he has a wondering eye, just like Daddy! And then we learn that Daddy once gave up on a marriage to a girl he loved in favor of one with buckets of money. Guess what the prince is doing? Marrying a girl with a big dowry! These parallels are drawn intentionally, and it's supposed to help build up tension so that we want Gabriel to do the right thing and NOT end up like Kate's father. Honestly though, it kind of killed the romantic glow for me. I really felt like her attraction to him had some deep rooted psychological implications that I'd rather not see creep into my fairy tale romance, thank you very much.

I felt like the romance between Kate and Gabriel was only just passable. They have chemistry, but it seems incomplete to me.  They spend a ton of page time apart. Even their first sex scene together is interrupted. So yes, it's more than you usually see in the Cinderella fairytale, but it still isn't enough.

Lastly, instead of a fairy godmother, we get a regular godmother named Henry. This is a personal opinion, not any flaw in the writing, but I just didn't care for Henry. She's kind of brash and worldly, when I would have preferred someone a bit more maternal. But this is a small flaw.

Does this book work as a fairytale? It's ok. It's trying way to hard to be cynical and realistic, and that takes the fairytale feel out of the equation. As retellings go, it isn't the worst I've seen. I would definitely recommend it more to historical romance fans than fairytale fans. 3 stars.