Cinder (Lunar Chronicles, #1)
by Marissa Meyer
Publishing Date: January 3rd 2012
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
From Goodreads:
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.
My Review:
I must admit, I was a little bit sceptical before I started reading this book with it being a Cinderella retelling and all, but I was so wrong. For once, I like admitting being wrong because this book suprised me, but in a good way. It is a Cinderella retelling in a way, but it is also a lot different. For me, the only things that Cinder and Cinderella have in common is a name and Prince Charming, and maybe a few other little things.
Cinder is a cyborg and an orphan. She lives in New Bejing with her stepmother Adri, who treats her like a servant, and her two stepsisters, Peony and Pearl. I liked Cinder, she was a good character. Not one of my favorites, but I liked her. She was strong and smart, she made good choices and she didn't annoy me, on contrary, she made me laugh my ass off quite a few times. And speaking of laughing, Cinder had an android, Iko who was hillarious. I hope we get to see more Iko in the next books.
Then we have prince Kai. I love that we got a few chapters from Kai's POV. It helped us understand him better and the things he was dealing with, like Lunars, his father being sick and him being the Crown Prince of The Eastern Commonwealth.
We also have the bad guys. The Lunars. Well, not every Lunar is bad, but with them being under influence of the Evil Queen Levana, we don't get to see their good side.
What I really like in Cinder is that we have tons of questions about everything, but Meyer keeps us guessing things and she is revealing piece by piece and leaving it to us to put them together. Of course, some things are clear as a day and we have to wait until the end for Cinder to find out about them, but it is probably why I decided to give this book 5 stars. There is always something happening and something that surprises me.
I would recommend this book to all dystopia and Cinderella fans because this two mixed together is pure awesome.
Great review! I bought this one months ago and I'm finally going to read it in January for my online book club. Glad to hear you ended up enjoying it when you thought you would. I love when that happens.
ReplyDelete-Kimberly @ Turning the Pages
I hope you will like it as much as I did. And it's a good thing you decided to wait until January, you won't have to wait long until Scarlet comes out!
DeleteI absolutely loved this book, but I was also really skeptical before I started reading it. Cyborgs and Lunar people? Not really my normal thing, but the story is just so interesting and well-written that I had to read the entire book in one sitting because I just *had* to know what happened!
ReplyDeleteYes, that's just how I felt, firstly skeptical, and than ended reading the book in one sitting, because there wasn't really a good stopping point.
DeleteNice review! I really enjoyed this book more than expected too, as I'm a little leery of retellings. Looking forward to seeing what happens next with Scarlet!
ReplyDeleteMy Saturday Situation
Same as I, but I'm really looking forward now to read Splintered even tough it is a retelling too. I hope it will be as good as this one. And of course, Scarlet, can't wait to see what happens!
DeleteI agree whole heartily I loved Cinder and cannot wait for Scarlet..i pre-ordered it this morning! ooh and Flawed is now on my nook! *squee!
ReplyDeleteYes, I can't wait to see what happens next!
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