Cinder by Marissa Meyer | Book Review
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“. . . it unfolds with the magic of a fairy tale and the breakneck excitement of dystopian fiction.” –Publisher’s Weekly
Contents
Book Blurb
My Review
About the Author
Book Blurb
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.
“Lunars were a society that had evolved from an Earthen moon colony centuries ago, but they weren’t human anymore. People said Lunars could alter a person’s brain—make you see things you shouldn’t see, feel things you shouldn’t feel, do things you didn’t want to do. Their unnatural power had made them a greedy and violent race, and Queen Levana was the worst of all of them.”
My Review
I loved everything about this book and it’s definitely on my list of top reads for the year! Cinder is a sci-fi retelling of Cinderella in a futuristic Asian setting with amazing characters.
I don’t know what I love more, the world building or the characters! Both were amazing, as were the plot and setting. This is one of those books you can breeze through and still want more when you get to the end. Though I admit, I was a little disappointed it ended with a bit of a cliffhanger. If I had the next book, I would have dove straight into it. Now I need to go get it.
In a quick summary — everything about this book is good! If you like sci-fi and/ or fairytale re-tellings, go read this now.
Plot
At its heart, this is still a love story about a prince and a girl who wants to go to the ball — but it’s also so much more. Cinder isn’t some lovesick girl waiting for a prince and a fairy godmother. She has so much stuff going on; the ball is the last thing on her mind — her sister is dying of the plague, her step mother takes all the money Cinder earns from her mechanics business, she’s trying to fix an antique car, trying to hide the fact that she’s a cyborg from the price, and trying to get to the bottom of a conspiracy against the Empire. It’s all good stuff!
Characters
Cinder is such a well-written character. I love her so much. She is the sort of character you want to stick with and see her succeed. The detail about mechanics, tech, and cyborg stuff is awesome. Her life has so many parallels with Cinderella, but it’s also all so different. It’s clever how the author invented such a unique world but also wove in the original story that we all recognise.
Cinderella’s relationships with others are really well done. Her defective AI robot sidekick Iko is so much fun. She is quirky, hilarious, and has some brilliant lines.
The doctor is a great character. For some reason I keep imagining him as Dr Phlox from Star Trek. I can’t get this image out of my mind even though he isn’t described the same at all lol. I think I’ve just been watching too much Star Trek, so that’s how I’m always going to see him now. Anyway, I really liked him and all his secrets that get revealed slowly though the book.
The relationships with her step-mother and sisters were each believable and clearly defined. I liked Peony — such a sweet character!
Price Kai and Cinder had great banter. I liked the vibe between them, and it was a lot of fun to read and see them bump into each other all the time. There was good tension because Cinder was hiding so much from the prince, and this made it interesting. He just seemed like a genuinely good guy and was an instantly likable character. I can’t wait to see more of these two in the next books!
World Building and Setting
I loved everything about this. It actually felt like it was the real world, but in the future. The Asian setting was fun, it has hints of traditional Chinese and Japanese culture, but also a lot of interpretation on how the world might have changed in the future after several world wars and merging of cultures. The marketplace still had a Beijing market feel about it, it captures the smells and atmosphere pretty well.
There were no info dumps or confusing parts, despite it being a complex new world order with a detailed history. It was all well explained and woven into the plot and I liked the rival society of Lunars on the moon. The Lunars are pretty creepy, but also mysterious, evil, and slightly magical.
The detail with the cyborg parts and how all the technology worked was really well done, too. What make this good was that it all seemed pretty feasible, as if it was a possible future for the world.
Summary
This is the most unique retelling of Cinderella I’ve ever read and it’s such a well-written book. I’m off to buy the box set for all the books now! I love the author’s writing style and I know I’ll love the rest of the series; it seems like a safe bet. If you love sci-fi, YA, or fairytale retellings, I suggest you go check out this book.
“She was a cyborg, and she would never go to a ball.”
About the Author- Marissa Meyer
Author Marissa Meyer
Marissa Meyer is the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of The Lunar Chronicles, Heartless, The Renegades Trilogy, and Instant Karma, as well as the graphic novel duology Wires and Nerve. She holds a BA in Creative Writing from Pacific Lutheran University and a MA in Publishing from Pace University. In addition to writing, Marissa hosts The Happy Writer podcast. She lives near Tacoma, Washington, with her husband and twin daughters.
Check out Marissa Meyer's websites- Marissa Meyer Author and The Universe of Marissa Meyer
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