Cinder (Lunar Chronicles, book 1) by Marissa Meyer
I give this book a 4.
Cinder is just as the book and cover suggests, a futuristic
retelling of the classic Cinderella story, but there is the brink of a great
space war looming in the background. It tells the story of a cyborg teen, a
mechanic, commonly referred to as Cinder. There is a mean stepmother and
stepsister, but there is also a nice stepsister. There is also a scary plague
and some crazy curfews and rules about life as a cyborg. So when Cinder has a
chance encounter with the charming Prince Kai, the last thing she wants is for
anyone to know about it, especially not him. No one can know that the Prince
has associated with a cyborg peasant, but before long, that’s the least of
Cinder’s worries.
I’m a fan of fairy tales and all their retellings, so it
would have to take quite a bit for me not to like this story, but even with my
own personal bias, I think this is a really good story. It is very creative and
imaginative. I think what I like most about the story is that Cinder isn’t
presented as just another girl. I know she’s a cyborg, but she’ll still a
person. What I mean is that, deep down, in most Cinderella stories the girl
really does want to go to the ball and dance with the prince and have
butterflies flutter across the sky, but that’s not Cinder. Her youth is gone
and she has too much else on her mind to even think about the ball, but that
doesn’t mean she hasn’t wasted a few moments thinking about how cute the prince
is.
Then there is the matter of the plague, the threat of war,
and the moon people. I was very impressed with the way the multiple conflicts
mingled in this story. The whole idea of the traditional love story is almost
put on the back burner as the rest of the story takes over. I unfortunately
have read too many books and seen to many movies to be kept in the dark about
Cinder’s greatest secret. I figured it out pretty quickly, but I was still
impressed with how it came together. I have a feeling there will be more action
in the follow up story, simply based on the amount of intrigue and conflict in
this one. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to continuing this story.
This review has been posted to GoodReads.
If you’d
like to obtain a copy of this book, try these links: Amazon
| Barnes
& Noble.
