Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Add to 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. 

My thoughts

When I read about Cinder before reading it I was a bit sceptical: a retelling if Cinderella set in the future, where she is a cyborg? Eh, right. But after seeing countless good reviews I decided to give it a shot, and to my surprise I liked it. Really liked it. Actually, this book was awesome, and I'm soo glad that I read it. 

There are some elements from the old tale like the evil stepmother, the two stepsisters, Cinder being unwanted and working hard, a prince, and of course a ball. I think these traditional parts of the tale were impressively incoporated in this new story. Besides these this felt very much like a story of its own and didn't feel like only a retelling. Meyer has created a very interesting future world, and the story was exciting and engaging. I loved Meyer's writing. I liked how she described things and how the whole setting and story came to life. 

I did, however, predict one of the main plots early in the story, and I was a teeny annoyed that it took so long to unravel, but I didn't mind that much because I was constantly second guessing in the first part of the book. 

I definitely liked Cinder, I think she was an awesome character. For the past five years she has lived a rejected life, doing all the work and always being complained about. She is treated like an outcast, because she as a cyborg is a second-class citizen, and she sometimes feels like maybe she isn't worth as much as humans. Despite that I think she was tough, getting by anyway with a great deal of sarcasm. She was smart, funny and loveable, and I was impressed by her will to go on, even when everything seemed against her - which it often did.

I think the best part was her easy banter with Prince Kai, which was so funny and had me laughing out loud several times. 

Prince Kai was a very down to earth prince, who was very responsible and would do anything for his country. He was sweet and kind and charming, and I liked him a lot. At one point a certain reaction of his disappointed me a bit, though. Yes, Kai, you know to what I refer. But I suppose I understood him. A little. I hope it'll be further explained in the sequel.  

Cinder was a great fairytale retelling, and if you like retellings (and even if you don't) you should this amazing book. I can't wait to read the sequel, Scarlet, which I'll hopefully get to read very soon.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆