Book Review: Cinder

Author: Marissa Meyer
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Series: Lunar Chronicles #1
Release Date: January 3, 2012
Pages: 387
Read it in: 4 days
Source: NetGalley

Summary: 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.

LC's Take:

This book was so incredibly creative that I'm still reeling from just how awesome it was. First of all, Cinderella as a half-human cyborg in futuristic China?? C'mon now, how freaking cool is that! Marissa Meyer, you are too amazing for thinking up something this crazy and unique. Definitely my favorite thing about this book was just how wildly creative it was, and how it took a story that we've all heard a million times before, and turned it into something totally new and different.

The characters in this book were all multi-dimensional and interesting, and I loved the main heroine, Linh Cinder, who is half human and half computer-cyborg. Cinder works as a mechanic in New Beijing for her step mother and two step sisters, but she dreams of running away and making a better life for herself outside the city. New Beijing is in complete turmoil, as the people of earth are in fear of an attack from the Lunar realm of the moon, while at the same time a deadly plague is mysteriously killing hundreds of people on a daily basis, and no one has yet found the cure.

Prince Kai was a bit too wishy-washy of a love interest for my taste-- I wish he had been a stronger character, but he was still nice, if somewhat wimpy. I totally understand why Cinder was so in love with him, because he was so nice and sweet, but at the same time, I sort of hope that she falls for someone with a little more backbone in the next books. 

The world building was also amazing, and I found myself totally wrapped up in Cinder's world. It takes place in a futuristic version of China, where New Beijing is the capitol. There are not only several world governments, but also a kingdom on the moon, ruled by a tyrannical queen named Luna. Luna is dead set on marrying Prince Kai, the heir to the throne of New Beijing, and not going to lie, she was pretty scary!

If you are looking for a story that really goes outside the box and is completely different from anything else out there in the YA world, I highly recommend this book. Cinder turned out to be a wonderful fairytale re-telling that had its own unique flair, and kept my interest the entire way through.

~Cover Talk~

The thing that I love about this cover is that it makes such a statement-- just that one ruby-red shoe in the spotlight, which you notice right away against the dark background, and then the metal cyborg pieces showing through the white-stockinged leg-- I think it is so eye-catching! I also love the font that they chose for the title. I am pretty obsessed with fonts, and this one is so cool. Altogether, I love this unique cover, I think that it is really well-done!

LC's Rating:

A wildly creative and imaginative take on a classic fairytale! I really loved this book and the new, futuristic edge it had. Also, the characters were awesome. Make sure this one is on your TBR list!