Novel Review: Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1) by Marissa Meyer

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Genre: YA Sci-fi Fairy-tale Retelling

Publisher: Square Fish/Feiwel and Friends (Macmillan)

Release Date: January, 2012

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Teaser Tuesday.

Goodreads 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.

The Cover:

I love the cover of this book, and the covers on the books in the rest of this series. They're beautiful, the colors give the right feel, the font is so pretty, plus they represent the books perfectly. I love the dark background and the emphasis on the red, and how, especially the font, helps it feel like a fairy-tale. I just love it.

Review:

This is a cyborg, sci-fi, fairy-tale retelling series, starting with Cinderella. The concept is fantastic, the covers are awesome, and the insides definitely match up.

This book really shouldn’t have taken me so long to read. I started it once before, and only now several months later actually finished it. It’s a pretty easy read, and it’s very interesting, too. The writing is pretty, if a bit simple, but very easy to get caught up in. (Although it’s possible that I only think it’s simple because I read it right after Unravel Me, and the writing is particularly gorgeous in that series.)

I knew this was a series to start with, but at first I didn’t know that there were going to be different main characters for each book (at least I think that’s how it’s going to go). But then when I knew that, I didn’t know that the, at least temporarily, happy endings weren’t going to happen until the actual last book. Which is to say, that I didn’t know Cinder’s ending with her prince was going to be put off till the last book. And I was majorly disappointed, because I wanted her happy ending with Prince Kai now. But that only makes me more excited to read the next books.

I really like Cinder. I understand her predicament and her thoughts on it, and I really liked her voice and following her through all this. She doesn’t think a lot of herself, which is understandable, and I’m looking forward to her growing into her place, getting stronger both emotionally and physically.

I liked her with Kai a lot, and just liked Kai as a character a whole lot. He’s sweet and struggling and trying to make the right decision given the bad plot he’s been put in. I don’t think his relationship with Cinder was as strong, the chemistry was as apparent, as it could be, but I think it’s more that they’re just starting to get to know each other, and that it’ll grow. And I really look forward to seeing that happen.

Cinder’s family was very well done, and I really liked her sister, Peony, and Iko, their robot. They were really good for her, and it’s sad what happened, although I guess it kind of make sense, maybe. I wasn’t expecting it, though. Then there was the Snow White part thrown in that has me rather confused and really curious…

I love the world of this series so far. I’m really intrigued by the Lunars and what they can do, and I like what I’ve seen so far of Earth and how people get along (or don’t). It’s just a really neat concept, a really neat picture portrayed, and I look forward to getting to find out more about it. 

Now I really want to read the next one. I’ve heard some good things about Scarlet and Wolf that have me really wanting to read it, and I’m really excited. I want to meet the other main characters that’ll pop up in the next and third book (and I believe we actually met Cress in this one), and I’m really excited about getting to them.