Cinder by Marissa Meyer

#1 in the Lunar Chronicles
Published January 3, 2012 by Feiwel & Friends
5 Stars
DAC 2012

Goodreads Review
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. 

In this thrilling debut young adult novel, the first of a quartet, Marissa Meyer introduces readers to an unforgettable heroine and a masterfully crafted new world that’s enthralling.


Review:  I know it's barely into 2012, but I already think that Cinder will be one of my favorites of the year. I've read a lot of fairytale re-tellings, but never one quite like this.  There's not just one thing about Cinder that makes it so awesome.  The setting, the characters, the twists, the writing style, and so much more all add to this unique reading experience. 

Let's talk characters.  Cinder is fantastic.  She is one of the best heroine's I've ever read.  I love how she faces prejudices against her and still tries to take charge of her own life.  She's her own person and makes her own decisions.  Some of the things that are said and done to her by her "family"are absolutely horrible, but that only makes Cinder more determined.  It's not just Cinder that's an awesome character though.  I really LOVED all of the supporting cast.  Iko, Cinder's robot BFF, is adorable and HILARIOUS.  Cinder and Iko together were some of the cutest parts of the book.  I also really liked (and hated) the evil stepmother and sister.  I think Meyer did an excellent job with these two characters because, while they are still evil beyotches, I understood WHY the were evil beyotches.  They were just flat "bad guys" they had their own motivations and reasoning behind their actions.  

Let's also talk Prince Kai for a minute.  Prince Kai is dreamy and funny with great interaction with Cinder.  I really liked how we also get to read some chapters from his perspective.  Not only does this give us valuable information about the overall story, but we also get to see Kai's struggles.  He's trying to come to terms with his father dying and the fact that he will be the next emperor, which is a huge responsibility at any time, let alone when his country is precariously close to war with a much stronger nation.

I absolutely loved the futuristic setting, AND the fact that it was set in future China!  I've been to China, so I really enjoyed reading her interpretation of how China would have evolved.

Proof!  I'm in the red coat, and yes that really is the great wall behind me.

 Cinder is an excellent start to the series.  There are going to be 3 more books, and each one is going to be a re-telling of a different fairy tale.  They are Scarlet (2013) - Little Red Riding Hood, Cress (2014) - Rapunzel, and Winter (2015) - Snow White.  This is really encouraging because in Cinder there are plenty of questions that still need to be answered, in particular with the Lunars and their evil "queen".  

In all honestly, I haven't been this excited about a book in a long time.  While I don't think I'm doing nearly a good enough job at expressing just why I love this book so much, I hope you all will look past my inadequate ramblings and just buy the book.  You won't regret it.