Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder (Lunar Chronicles, #1)

by Marissa Meyer

Sixteen-year-old Cinder is considered a technological mistake by most of society and a burden by her stepmother. Being cyborg does have its benefits, though: Cinder's brain interface has given her an uncanny ability to fix things (robots, hovers, her own malfunctioning parts), making her the best mechanic in New Beijing. This reputation brings Prince Kai himself to her weekly market booth, needing her to repair a broken android before the annual ball. He jokingly calls it “a matter of national security,” but Cinder suspects it's more serious than he's letting on.

Although eager to impress the prince, Cinder's intentions are derailed when her younger stepsister, and only human friend, is infected with the fatal plague that's been devastating Earth for a decade. Blaming Cinder for her daughter's illness, Cinder's stepmother volunteers her body for plague research, an “honor” that no one has survived.

But it doesn't take long for the scientists to discover something unusual about their new guinea pig. Something others would kill for.

Reviewed by thepunktheory on

4 of 5 stars

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Full Review on: my Blog ThePunkTheory

It's incredibly hard to pull of fairy-tale retellings. Most of those end up a cheesy copy, unimaginative or simply weird. However, Marissa Meyer surprised me by kicking off The Lunar Chronicles with a fascinating modern version of Cinderella.
One of the reasons this works so well is because Marissa Meyer doesn't attempt to stick too closely to the original story. There are many moments where she hints at something but still strays far enough from the fairy-tale to deliver something completely new.
You have no idea what to expect and I can guarantee, Meyer will surprise you numerous times. It's easy to see how much effort and heart she put into this book (and it really pays off)!
Despite the story definitely having sci-fi elements, the characters are still so very relatable and not even the weirdest thing she mentions feels out of place.
The only thing that bothered me is the whole love-story part. It annoys me a bit that whenever we get a strong, interesting female character, there's always needs to be a man she can fall in love with. But granted, you can't do fairy-tales without a prince. So I'm prepared to overlook this flaw, as I really really really want to know what happens next!

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 9 September, 2017: Finished reading
  • 9 September, 2017: Reviewed