Cinder Review

Cinder is the first installment in the Lunar Chronicles written by Marissa Meyer. The genre is science fiction and fairy-tale retelling. 

"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. "~Goodreads

(Why are the summaries on Goodreads different from those on the backs of books sometimes? The back of the book mentioned a secret others would kill for-- much more interesting than this.)

Cinder is a great main character. She's got this strange sense of humor, experiences the shortcomings of society and pushes through them with great difficulty, and not to mention practically forbidden love. Cyborgs dating princes are a no-no. I think I can officially also say that Kai is my favorite fictional male ever. He's not the perfect prince -- his hair is always in his face, which makes his all the more likable in my opinion -- and he's really sweet and cares for people. I totally ship Cinder and Kai and hope they work out their relationship issues in the next books.

When I first started reading Cinder I was really iffy about it. I wanted to like it more than I did, and even half way through the book I had no clue what I was going to rate it. It was the last ten chapters or so that really sold me. Why was I so indecisive? I was fed up with Levana, Adri, and Pearl. Especially Levana and her thaumaturges (is that even how you spell it?).I was tired of guessing the plot twists and whatnot. The Lunar monarchy is so twisted it was making me sick. But I loved those chapters at the end, and Peony and Iko probably helped some too.

Despite Cinder being futuristic, it definitely reflects what our world today is like. Humans look down on others because they're different. Why do they need to be looked down on because they're cyborg, or us because of what we look like? Fiction books do teach lessons, that's for sure.

The copy I was reading also had the short story, Glitches. I liked seeing what Cinder's life was first like before she became a "rebellious" teenager. Peony was great; she doesn't care that Cinder is a cyborg. I really wish there had been a bit more on Garan though. I also think it would be cool if we got to read about the certain event before the surgery.

I want to read the rest of the books. However, I mainly want it from Cinder or Kai's perspective, even though Scarlet seems pretty cool. We'll just have to see, though I probably won't get to them soon.

"That's the thing about mirrors, they have an uncanny way of telling the truth."

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