Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1)
Hardcover, 1st Edition, 390 pages
Published January 3rd 2012
Rating:
Synopsis:
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.
Why? Why did I wait so long to read this book? The number of times I saw this book at the library, picked it up and contemplated checking it out only to put it back on the shelf and walk away is ridiculous. It is strange too because I knew this was a fairy tale retelling, which I love, so why I brushed off this book so many times is beyond me. However, I am so glad I finally decided to read it.
Marissa Meyer took a well-known fairy tale and threw in a surprising twist: Cinder, the protagonist, is a cyborg living in a dystopian world. Cyborgs are not considered humans to the other people around them who do not have artificial limbs and technology embedded in their brains. It is easy to see how her life matches that of Cinderella, and really, Cinder...Cinderella...if that did not indicate to readers what fairy tale this story is based on, I would be concerned.
Cinder is clever and humorous, it was impossible not to like her. Her stepmother is the epitome of evil, and her one stepsister is pretty awful too, though thankfully Peony seemed to like Cinder. Cinder is also strong and determined, which is a relief since there have been way too many books like this whose main character is whiny and irritating.
Also to my relief, there was no insta-love! Woo! I had no problems with Kai, he is everything a prince should be. While the plot was somewhat predictable, I had so much fun reading the book that it did not bother me as much as predictability normally would have.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Aliens. Yep, there are aliens. They are actually called "Luna", and the Lunar Queen is a piece of work. They live on the moon, in case that was not quite obvious. I see them as aliens, others may not. But they are not from Earth, and have special abilities, so in my eyes, they are aliens. Which is a huge plus since I like aliens.
Overall, the writing of this book was fantastic, yet slightly prediactable as I mentioned before. However, the story itself is amazing and fun. Cinder is a book I would reccommend to pretty much anyone. But be warned, you might want to pick up both the first book and the second, Scarlet, if you decide to try this series. Cinder leaves readers with a cliffhanger.
(Reviews for the second book, Scarlet, and the third, Cress, coming soon)
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