Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Publication Date: 3 Jan 2012

Series or Standalone: Series

ISBN-13: 9780312641894

Format: eBook

Pages: 387

Websites:

Marissa Meyer - Blog

Marissa Meyer - Twitter

Marissa Meyer - Goodreads

[add on Goodreads]

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

The Lunar Chronicles Series Order:

Book 1: Cinder

Book 2: Scarlet (~2013)

Book 3: Cress (~2014)

Book 4: Winter (~2015)

Overview:

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.

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 This book was not what I expected. It surprised me in a good way. At first, when I read that it was a retelling of Cinderella, I was troubled because I feared that the storyline would be predictable (which it kind of was) but in the end it all worked out and not only did it not bother me, I ended up falling in love with it.

I really enjoyed Cinder's character as well and I admired her patience since patience is something I lack, especially when I'm angry or feel like someone is being unjust which was often the case with Cinder. Although, at times I felt that she put up with more than she had to, perhaps she could have been a bit more rebellious.

I also liked Prince Kai very much even though he sometimes seemed too nice, too good to be true but isn't that sometimes one of the reasons why we read books? So what if people like Kai are so rare today in real life? It doesn't hurt to swoon over a handsome prince Charming every now and then.

I absolutely hated Adri (Cinder's stepmother), Pearl (Cinder's stepsister) and Queen Levana. Especially Adri and Pearl becasue they were more present from the beginning of the book, whereas the Lunar Queen comes into the picture much later.

Furthermore, this nook also affected me emotionally, mostly when Adri and Pearl were involved. Injustice is a topic that has always greatly affected me personally, in fact it can sometimes even make me see red from anger. So when these two witches were accusing Cinder of certain things or calling her certain things I could feel Cinder's anger channeling through me. It literally made me want to groan in frustration.

Finally, i can't go without saying how much i LOVED how the book ended and by saying that I don't mean the ending itself, but the words used, those last paragraphs. I thing they were very effective.

From what I've found, this is a book you either love or hate and i loved it.

Challenge(s): 2012 eBook Challenge, 2012 Debut Author Challenge