Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1)

By Marissa Meyer

Published: January 3, 2012

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

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

5 Stars

Review

 (Just a warning guys: I'm really tired right now, so my writing's going to be a bit nonsensical.)

Okay, I have to say, Cinder has got to be one of my most favorite YA debut series of 2012. I'm probably being a little bias here, but I love reading about strong minded asian(!) female protagonists. You gotta admit, asian protagonists do not happen often, and when they do, it's normally pretty epic. Whooo hooo! For furthur proof, see: Mulan, Immortal Rules....don't forget the asian ninja assassins! The one thing that either makes or breaks this book for you would be that Cinder is a retelling, if you hadn't guessed from the front cover. And, as most fairy-tales are, this story is quite cliche. I really love reading different verisions of fairy tales to see what sort of spin an author takes on a well known story. Whereas most retellings take place in either modern day, or the past, Cinder takes place in the future. (oooooooh. aaaaaaaah.)

So about that cliche-ness: the story is definitely about a poor, smart girl with terrible family conditions that meets a guy and suddenly her life is turned upsidedown! What a shocker, right? "Cinderella" characters tend to be ditzy yet responsible, kind and forgiving, & caring and nurturing. Well, let's just say Cinder is a little different from the usual. Other than the robot body parts, she's just a basket full of sunshine! She's freaking half robot, for pete's sake! That's some epicness right there.By the way, half robots are totally what's chill and normal in this story yo.

I really enjoyed reading about the technogly the future world had: apparently the world became so polluted, they created hovercrafts so they didn't have to deal with all that trash on the ground by creating a magnetic field all across all the major cities of the world. (Also, apparently huge nations like China had dominated the land and now the majority was asian.)

What to say, what to say..............Actually, now that I think about it (I seriously did not plan this out guys), this book really is a mish mash of a few different well known fairy tales. Obviously, it includes Cinderella, but also sort of mixes in mecha/sci-fi/dystopian, while retaining a child-like feel by including an evil-space-witch-lady. Snow White mixed in with magical space aliens maybe?

Okay, to quit being racially bias, I really liked Cinder not only as a cool character, but someone I could really understand, relate to, and respect. I know in a lot of popular YA novels out there, some teenage girl characters aren't really depicted as how they should be. When Cinder interacts with the main love interest, Prince Kai (awesomely awesome), she doesn't go goo-goo eyes on him. She talks to him like a normal person, a fellow human being, if you will. Obviously, you can tell they'll end up together, but still, it's definitely a nice change from the submissive female sterotypes out there. (cough, cough, Twilight.)

I have to be honest with you. If you're really sharp, you'll probably be able to predict the ending DEFINITELY within the first few 50 pages, and if not, a 100 (give or take a few.) Though I had guessed what would happen correctly and could have ended it right then and  there, I kept reading because a)the writing kept me hooked and b) the characters, the feel, and the plot were just friggin' amazing.

I read some other reviews somewhere for this book, and some people said that they felt it was a bit slow and only picked up in the last 50 pages. So not true! Also, I have something to say to that. Of course it would be slow in the beginning! Cinder is going to be a 4 book series, and you can't give away EVERYTHING in the first book! Every reader should know this! You need to use the first book to explain, set the tone and story, introduce characters and explain the backstories of people. THEN, in the 2nd book will build up to the third, and finally, the last book, the 4th, will fulfill all the dreams, hopes, desires you had about the whole series. This should happen if you have an author with an amazing and brilliant sense of cliff-hangerness.

Speaking of trilogy, the next book in the series, which, by the way, you'll be itching to read after you finish Cinder, is called Scarlet and won't come out until next January I think. The third one, Cress, will be coming out the year after...2014!!!! AND. The fourth and final one, Winter, will be coming out 2015!!!!!! THAT'S WAY TOO LONG OF A WAIT.

Whelp, sorry for this scrappy review guys. I really enjoyed this book because of its simplicity, funny moments, and Prince Kai-ness. I really don't think I have any complaints for this book. It was a great read, and I think you should give it a try, too! Gotta get to bed!

Buy this book at: Amazon/ Barnes&Noble/ The Book Depository