Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Book: Cinder, Marissa Meyer

Series: The Lunar Chronicles series #1

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Release Date: January 3^rd, 2012

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.

Rating: 5 stars

This is my third re-read of this book, and it was just as amazing as the first time I read it! I really don’t know why I waited so long to read this book. I'd bought it on my Kindle because I liked the sound of it but never got around to reading it. Maybe it was because I knew it was based on Cinderella so thought it’d be too predictable and boring? I honestly don’t know. I can tell you this: Cinder is NOT predictable and boring; it’s surprising and exciting.

Its set in the future: Asia, now called the Eastern Commonwealth. Beijing has already been destroyed between now and then after two more world wars and is now called New-Beijing. Cinder is a cyborg; half-human, half –robot.

It’s got all the elements that Cinderella possesses: a girl living with her uncaring, heartless guardian/stepmother Adri, who is ashamed of this half robotic creature her husband adopted. Then her husband dies so Cinder is stuck with a guardian who treats her like a slave. She has one cruel stepsister, Pearl; however her other stepsister, Peony, she surprisingly has a very caring and sisterly bond with. It was nice to see Peony stand up to her mother and sister whenever they badmouthed Cinder. It has a handsome and sexy prince known as Prince Kai who is totally smitten with Cinder (who totally doesn’t understand why a prince would be interested in someone as ordinary as her). And we have (I think) a fairy godfather (???) in the form of Dr. Erland, a scientist who understands Cinder better than she does.

In this version, Cinder is a mechanic, living an ordinary life, trying to make a living with her android robot (and only friend) Iko. All the money she makes has to be given to Adri as she is her legal guardian. There is a plague epidemic called Letumosis that has killed almost all of Earth’s population. Scientists still haven’t found a cure for it, and they’ve resorted to using cyborgs (treated as lowly creatures) to use as test subjects. Also, people now live on the moon and are called Lunar. They are ruled by the unfair and unjust Queen Levana, who usurped the throne after killing her sister and niece. Lunars are known for using magic to brainwash people to see what they want and make them do their bidding, and Queen Levana is known for brainwashing Lunars into worshipping her, and she has moved onto her next target – becoming empress of Earth by marrying the Emperor and raging war on the rest of Earth.

Cinder lived every boring day as usual until a very special guest appears at her booth with a broken android – it’s Prince Kai! They immediately have a connection even though Kai has no idea Cinder is a cyborg. That meeting changes Cinder’s life forever. From inviting Cinder to the upcoming ball to nearly kissing her in an elevator, Cinder’s life gets turned upside down in more ways than one.

And it was epic to read! There were so many emotions running high throughout this book, I couldn’t keep track of them all! I loved all the characters, hated the bad guys yet couldn’t help but admire how well they were written. And the symbolism with Cinder’s foot and the glass slipper was brilliant (you’ll know when you read it).

An amazing version of one of my favourite fairytales.

I would definitely recommend reading this. Right now.