Cinder

by Marissa Meyer
Published: Feiwel and Friends, 2012
Pages: 390

There's a reason Cinder is great mechanic, she's also a cyborg.  When the young Prince Kai, starts to show interest in the sixteen-year-old mechanic, Cinder has no reason to believe that a prince would be remotely interested in her.  Besides, he is busy looking for a cure for the plague that inflicts hundreds of people in New Beijing and around the world, including his father.  So when Cinder suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic conflict, she has to uncover her murky past to save the planet's future.

This retelling of Cinderella is great!  I love fairy tales and Cinderella is one of my favorites.  Knowing the story of Cinderella, I knew what was going to happen, but finding out how it happened was the best part of this book. I thought Marissa Meyer very cleverly intertwined the classic story into her post World War IV sci-fi technological age.  I was intrigued by the characters, settings and the society.  It was fascinating to read!

What I loved about the characters was that they felt completely new, despite being shells of a popular fairy tale. Cinder is an awesome cyborg, who makes a living fixing machines and androids, but on top of that she has a brilliant personality.  She is independent and smart, but she still struggles with fitting in like any teenager might.  It is very easy to relate to her and the other characters too.

I am a self-professed slow reader, but I flew through this story in three days!  I cannot wait to read the second book in The Lunar Chronicles to see where Cinder goes from here.  I will be very sad to have to wait for the rest of the story, I'm sure.

Stars: 4.5/5

Praise:

"Author Marissa Meyer rocks the fractured fairy tale genre with a sci-fi twist on Cinderella"
     --The Seattle Times

"...this series opener and debut offers a high coolness factor by rewriting Cinderella as a kickass mechanic in a plague-ridden future.
     --Kirkus

"There's a lot of moving parts in this fresh spin on "Cinderella," the first in a four book series."
     --Booklist