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 Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews on

4 of 5 stars

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Cinder is a retelling of the fairy tale Cinderella, but is completely different from any other retelling I have yet encountered. It is futuristic and this Cinderella is cyborg.

I like to pride myself, that I am pretty good about figuring out plot twists ahead of time, I had Cinder's true hidden identity (even to herself) pegged 100 pages into the book. I get on my high horse and gloat but once I come down from the horse I realized that it doesn't matter, its all about the journey.

Cinder is a mechanic, Prince Kai happens upon her booth wanting his out of date robot fixed and a teenage crush begins to metastasize. Of course Cinder has two step-sisters and step-mother. Peony wants to be friends and is a stereotypical valley girl whose annoyance drove me insane. Therefore when she came down with the plague, the epidemic that is sweeping the Commonwealth I did not shed a tear. I found her evil step-family much more developed and interesting, what is Cinderella without a few evil relatives in it? Anyway, after being blamed for Peony's illness her step-mother Adri and step-sister Pearl volunteer her as a guinea pig to find a cure to the disease that is sweeping the nation.

From here on out, all is shed in mystery with awkward teenage love mingled in between. It is cute, endearing and all too true. Due to its originality I sometimes forgot that I was reading a Cinderella inspired novel. I believe this is due to the fact that it was not your run of the mill fairy tale. Earth is in jeopardy, and the united nations are racking their brains to find a solution. Can a trusty cyborg mechanic save the day? The conclusion is at a ball that ends in disaster and is far from a teenage girl's dream, but must be attempted for the common good, but on her dance and dash our spunky Cinder loses her leg with her secret being reveled (I'm a cyborg, no one could love me). Cinder ends with all the elements of the fairy tale we have all grown to know and love with a wrench at the end. I typically am not a sci-fi futuristic fan, but read so many great reviews on this novel that I had to give it a try. Now I'm hooked and await with baited breath to read its sequel.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 8 April, 2016: Finished reading
  • 8 April, 2016: Reviewed