Scarlet by Marissa Meyer (The Lunar Chronicles, bk 2) YA

SCARLET (Feiwel & Friends, 2013) picks up where CINDER left off, with the cyborg mechanic trying to escape from both prison and the evil Lunar queen Levana. But now Meyers stirs in the story of Scarlet Benoit as she tries to track down her missing grandmother half a world a way. Does the handsome street fighter Wolf know more than he's letting on, or just he just want to help? And what is the connection between Scarlet and the lost princess Selene?

This second installment of THE LUNAR CHRONICLES adds Little Red Riding Hood, her grandmother and the big bad (or is he good?) wolf to the mix. The fairy tale element to these stories is purely a foundation, using the characters as a launch pad while avoiding cliches. Meyer's Sci/Fi dystopian world is dark and well-painted, but remains on Earth -- I keep hoping at some point the story will take us to the moon colony. (CRESS comes out in February, so we shall see...)

These are not typical fairy tale girls -- Cinder and Scarlet take charge and don't wait around for handsome princes to save them -- in fact, Prince Kai might need saving himself. New boys Wolf and Thorn add even more fun and tension as Levana's secrets begin to emerge.

The second book is always tough -- but Meyer shows her first was not a fluke. These are stories ripe for the big screen, with a unique familiarity that makes them a blast to read.