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 Mackenzie on

5 of 5 stars

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Second Read: End December 26, 2015

Just as good the second time around.

First read: January 8-10, 2012

Original Review: http://ohfortheloveofbooks.blogspot.com/2012/01/cinder-and-review-slump.html

Cinder is a compelling re-telling of Cinderella with a sci-fi twist. A re-telling that I absolutely fell in love with.

Cinder is a great character that was determined to get her freedom. You see, Cinder is a cyborg, a person worth nothing in New Beijing. Her adoptive mother despised her as did one of her stepsisters. She didn’t know why she was what she was, she didn't remember anything before her surgery, but she did know that she wanted to get away from her “family”. I admired her heart and her hard-working attitude. She was spunky and sarcastic, yet honorable.

Iko, her sweet android was a great addition. Her personality chip made her humorous and realistic and I'm glad that Cinder at least had a friend in her.

Prince Kai was absolutely endearing. He would never give up when it came to getting Cinder to notice him. I absolutely adored him and his charming smile. He was modest when he didn’t think he would make a good emperor, but he even proves himself wrong with his wisdom and love for his people.

Although this is a re-telling, it wasn’t what I expected. When I think Cinderella re-telling, I thought that the first half of the book would be about how she is mistreated, then she would go to the ball, meet the prince and live happily ever after with a few differences in there….WRONG! Honestly, If I hadn’t been told that this was a re-telling, I probably never would have even guessed. But don’t get me wrong, that made me love it even more! Meyer kept true to the basics of the story. Cinder is the mistreated daughter who is pretty much a slave and there is a prince, but that’s pretty much where the similarities end. Marissa Meyer takes the story on a completely new and unique path. There’s a plague, cyborgs, and a crazy queen from the moon. There’s action, adventure, and heart. And although there was one part of the plot I saw coming from the beginning, it didn’t bother me that I knew because I thought the idea was great! This new take makes for an absolutely stunning debut and I can’t believe I must wait an entire year for the next book.

Cinder is an extremely intriguing story of a cyborg Cinderella with more than one twist. It is a prime example of addiction. After reading this, I have come to the conclusion that it is unfair that I must wait a year for the next novel. It should be law that the authors must write and publish all of the books in the series at one time so that we, the readers, don’t have to suffer that awful thing called “anticipation”.

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  • Started reading
  • 26 December, 2015: Finished reading
  • 26 December, 2015: Reviewed