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 Joséphine on

4 of 5 stars

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Book rating: 4.5 stars
Audiobook rating: 4 stars

Initial thoughts: Cinder lived up every bit to its hype for me. It is not a book I would have picked out on my own. I've seen it a lot around the book blogosphere over the past year but didn't take all that much notice. But even I'm not immune to excessive gushing, so when it was a Kindle daily deal, I bought the ebook. Then this week I noticed I could get the audiobook on Audible for $1.99 as well, so I got it. My main regret with this book is that I hadn't read it sooner. I loved it, even though it was pretty predictable because the originality of this sci-fi retelling made up for it. The other gripe I had was with the audiobook because the pronunciations weren't always fitting for the setting: China, even if set in the distant future.

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  • Started reading
  • 19 October, 2014: Finished reading
  • 19 October, 2014: Reviewed
  • Started reading
  • Finished reading
  • 19 October, 2014: Reviewed