Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Release Date: January 3, 2012
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pages: 387
Series: Lunar Chronicles #1
Review Source: Won ARC + ARC for review from Raincoast

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)
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.

In this thrilling debut young adult novel, the first of a quartet, Marissa Meyer introduces readers to an unforgettable heroine and a masterfully crafted new world that’s enthralling.

My Thoughts:
Um, I LOVED it. That could really be my whole review. I loved it, it was amazing, so please read it! However, I assume you might want to know why I loved it, so I will attempt to explain it. You should know, though, that I started off trying to write a more traditional review for ‘Cinder’ but it just didn’t work. I kept digressing into fangirl squeeing, so I’ve decided to write this one in point form. And yes, there is still fangirl squeeing present.

• Right from the very beginning I could tell I would like the book. I mean, how often does that happen?! I was swept up in the character and the plot before I knew it
• So it’s based on a fairytale (Cinderella if you couldn’t tell), yet it’s so unique. I mean, seriously. You get little hints of the original Cinderella story every once in a while and it’s almost like a wink and nod inside joke, but it’s just so original! I can promise you haven’t read a book like this before.
• Cyborg!! When I first heard that Cinder was a cyborg Cinderella I was skeptical. It sounded a little weird to me. But it’s not that weird, I promise. You’ll love it if you can deal at all with sci-fi things like androids and futuristic technology.
CHARACTERS:
• Cinder: So despite the fact of how interesting it is that Cinder is a cyborg (and a mechanic! very handy, as she can fix herself), I promise you won’t think of her as a cyborg. You will think of her as a person with real feelings and emotions just like any human and you will value her in the way that her adoptive family doesn’t (*sniffles* Cinder, I love you!)
• Speaking of: her stepmother and one of her stepsisters -- hate, hate, hate the way they treated her; I was actually in tears at one point because of a horrible thing her stepmother Adri did... you expect the behaviour because of the fairy tale, but it was still horrible to read about
• Kai. Kaiiiiii.... how much do I love him?! He’s just so nice and funny and down to earth, despite being prince and having to deal with so much attention and then so much responsibility as well
• Kai + Cinder = <33333 Seriously, these two have tons of chemistry, and it’s all so forbidden and Cinder doesn’t feel like she’s good enough (because she’s been told all her life what a monstrosity she is b/c of being a cyborg... gahhh Cinder, you are not a monstosity!).. I can’t wait to see where their relationship might possibly go
• Queen Levana: Hate. Haaaaaate. I really think that’s enough said about her, haha. But seriously, how amazing is it when an author can make you dislike a character so much?! Levana is a true villain.
SETTING:
• New Beijing; love the descriptions of the city, the market, the palace... plus the different federations on earth after World War IV... I was fascinated with trying to picture the make up of the world Cinder lived in
• Luna. So Marissa Meyer was a Sailor Moon fanfiction writer for years (um, AWESOME), and you can see that influence in her super cool creation, the moon kingdom of Luna. We don’t get to visit Luna in this book, but we hear about it, and it’s pretty fascinating.
PLOT:
• Cinderella elements: we’ve got the stepmother and stepsisters, a prince, a ball coming up at the palace, and so much more
• How it remains so refreshing and unique despite its basis on a story that everyone knows

Really I could just keep going on and on about how much I loved it, but I think it would get repetitive. I fully admit that I am stingy with my 5 star reviews, but right from the beginning I fell in love with this one, and that feeling just didn’t go away. I adored ‘Cinder’ and I cannot wait to read Book 2.

The Cover:
Not my very favourite cover, but it definitely is cool and applicable to the story.

Rating:
[5/5]

Find Cinder by Marissa Meyer on Goodreads, Book Depository, & Amazon.

So I have this kitty named Cinder and (as you can tell from the photographic evidence) she totally wanted to pose with book Cinder. The weirdest thing, though?? Book Cinder's last name is Linh, and my Cinder's middle name in Lynn (no, I totally don't even recall why/when we gave our cats middle names). Anyway, it totally made me laugh and freak out when I first read it.

Also, Tatum wants to say hi as well, because while she is bitter and jealous there isn't a YA book with her name on it (Tatum Lee, for authors taking note), she still thinks she deserves to be a part of this post.