Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Title: Cinder
Author: Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles
Format: Paperback
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Blurb:
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.
Plot: ★★★
Going into this book, I first thought it was mainly going to follow the plot and premise of the classic Disney story, Cinderella. I was pleasantly surprised to see that this was not the case. Cinder deals with so much more than just romance, and the struggles of a girl subdued by her stepmother. It deals with illness, death, intergalactic politics, racism, and so on. With that being said, there were some negative sides to the plot as well. A lot of the times, I found myself being able to predict what was coming next, easily guessing all the 'big' plot twists. This was what made the experience worse for me, and hence, the three stars.
Characters: ★★.5
The protagonist of this book's called Cinder Linh, and she's your typical young adult, rebellious, better-at-something-than-everyone teenage girl. Her type of character is fairly typical for young adult novels, the portrayal isn't something that's new. Compared to her Disney counterpart, she's much more opinionated, stronger, braver. This is a good thing. She reacts appropriately to all the obstacles she's faced with (emotionally appropriate, that is, not intellectually.), and her frustrations and emotions are portrayed very realistically. For the majority of the book, she's accompanied by the household android with a defect personality chip, Iko. The two of them make for the most fleshed-out characters in the book, along with Prince Kai later on. The rest of the characters play a vital role in the story, but mostly stay on the background for the majority of the story.
The protagonist of this book's called Cinder Linh, and she's your typical young adult, rebellious, better-at-something-than-everyone teenage girl. Her type of character is fairly typical for young adult novels, the portrayal isn't something that's new. Compared to her Disney counterpart, she's much more opinionated, stronger, braver. This is a good thing. She reacts appropriately to all the obstacles she's faced with (emotionally appropriate, that is, not intellectually.), and her frustrations and emotions are portrayed very realistically. For the majority of the book, she's accompanied by the household android with a defect personality chip, Iko. The two of them make for the most fleshed-out characters in the book, along with Prince Kai later on. The rest of the characters play a vital role in the story, but mostly stay on the background for the majority of the story.
Writing: ★★★
The writing of this book's very straightforward. It's engaging enough to keep you hooked, chapter after chapter, but not difficult to comprehend at all. It's very easy to read, and keeps you coming back for more. Simplicity is key here, and it really does wonders for the book.
Ending: ★★★
Cinder ended on a cliffhanger, which is easily comprehendible due to there being multiple entries in the series. It definitely made me want to continue reading, and I'll be picking up the next installment in the series as soon as possible to find out what happens next.
Cinder ended on a cliffhanger, which is easily comprehendible due to there being multiple entries in the series. It definitely made me want to continue reading, and I'll be picking up the next installment in the series as soon as possible to find out what happens next.
Reread-ability: Yes.
Final rating: ★★★
Overall, this book was a good read. Maybe I'm negatively biased toward it and scored it so poorly because of it being a young adult novel, but I tried my best to be a fair critic. I initially picked the book up because of the 'Cinderella' theme, and am happy I did. It was a very enjoyable read, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the books in the series.
Overall, this book was a good read. Maybe I'm negatively biased toward it and scored it so poorly because of it being a young adult novel, but I tried my best to be a fair critic. I initially picked the book up because of the 'Cinderella' theme, and am happy I did. It was a very enjoyable read, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the books in the series.
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