Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1) by Marissa Meyer | Book Review

Title: Cinder
Series: The Lunar Chronicles, #1
Author: Marissa Meyer
Published: January 3, 2012
Edition: paperback
Pages: 387
My Rating: 5 / 5
Goodreads page

ATTENTION: This is a spoiler-free review.

Synopsis

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.

(This synopsis is from Goodreads.)

Thoughts

When I first saw Cinder, I could automatically tell that it was a fairy tale retelling of Cinderella. At first, I was a bit hesitant to read it because it seemed cheesy to me. Boy, was I wrong.

Most of the retellings that I’ve read were predictable because I knew the story that the book was retelling. It’s almost like spoiling yourself without even trying.

The major elements of Cinderella was very obvious in Cinder, but at the same time, Marissa Meyer made it her own story. For one, it wasn’t predictable like I thought it was going to be. It wasn’t cheesy, either.

Like in Cinderella (the original story, not the Disney movie), Cinder’s stepmother and stepsister, Adri and Pearl, mistreats her. Her other stepsister, Peony, is more sympathetic and is occasionally nice to Cinder.

There were times within the story that I wanted to scream at Cinder’s stepmother because of how unfair she was to Cinder. Hon, Cinder is your only source of income, so I wouldn’t be so cruel to her. She has been nothing but helpful and doesn’t deserve that treatment.

There was one big plot twist that I didn’t see coming, but when it was revealed, I couldn’t believe I didn’t see it coming.

Characters

Linh Cinder

She’s pretty cool. Is it weird that I want to be her friend? Am I the only one who has a friend crush on Cinder?

Linh Peony (Cinder’s stepsister)

She is the lesser of the evils. To be completely honest, she isn’t evil at all. I guess I consider her oblivious more than anything.

Linh Pearl (Cinder’s other stepsister)

Why.

Linh Adri (Cinder’s stepmother)

Why. Do. You. Exist?

Prince Kai 

Oh, Prince Kai, you poor, unfortunate soul (yes, I did just make a Disney reference). He has a rough road ahead of him, and he did nothing to ask for it.

Queen Levana Blackburn

You think Cinder’s stepmother was bad? Queen Levana is 100x worse. She’s like a migraine. You want it to go away when it appears, and it freaking HURTS. You know that stabbing feeling that you get sometimes with headaches? Yeah, she’s not afraid to do that to anyone that gets in her way.

Dr. Dmitri Erland

He’s… I dunno. I don’t have much to say about him.

Conclusion

I enjoyed this much more than I expected to. I give this book 5 / 5 BBC Sherlock character heads.

Until next time….