Cinder
(Lunar Chronicles, #1)
By: Marissa Meyer
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Published: Jan. 3, 2012
Genre: YA
Rating:
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .
Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.
Cinder is a story about a teenaged cyborg who was an orphan until a man came along and adopted her. Shortly after her adoption the guy died and left Cinder under the care of his wife, who was not happy with having Cinder in the first place. She is not treated as a human but rather as a slave. However, unlike the Cinderella story that we’ve all come to know, there is more to this that meeting the prince and living happily every after.
The spin on the classic Cinderella story is awesome. I don’t generally find myself enjoying the retelling and I’m not a huge fan of dystopian either. So I was pretty shocked when I was instantly sucked into this futuristic world. Cinders world consists of androids, cyborgs, hover crafts, aliens and a deadly plague. The world that Marissa developed is solid and I loved that it takes place not in America but in China.
I don’t want to go into too many details and give things away because a lot happens in this story. However, I will say that Cinder is light on the romance and heavy on the dystopian. Granted, there is the prospect of romance between Prince Kai and Cinder but nothing actually develops there.
My only complaint about this book was that I saw some grammar issues. Mainly words missing or in the wrong order. It was easily overlooked but I tend to take more notice in published books than in indie or self published books.
Regardless of the little hiccups I found, I still really enjoyed Cinder. I liked how the author took a classic story and made it her own. There are some nods to the Cinderella story but don’t expect the same outline or even ending. Cinder ends on a cliffhanger that will leave you clamoring for the next book in the series.
“I’m sure I’ll feel much more grateful when I find a guy who thinks complex wiring in a girl is a turn-on.” -Cinder
Thank you for not spoiling anything for me! I’ve heard so much about this book, I finally borrowed it from the library this week and plan to read it. So when I saw your review, I was like “oh, someone else who just read it!” Because I was beginning to feel everyone but me had read this book, haha. But the story sounds interesting, so I’m looking forward to reading it.