Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1)

First of all, I need to state clearly for the record that this was a totally stellar read. It reminded me quite a bit of A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan, which I read and adored a couple months ago. The stories are not the same at all, but the general idea is. Both take a well-known fairy tale, put it into a futuristic setting, and make something completely new and original with it. Cinder is, in case you couldn't guess, a revisionist version of Cinderella.

I loved how Meyer weaved in the core elements of the fairy tale, but felt free to make some changes too. For example, Cinder was adopted into a family by Linh Garan, who promptly died, leaving her in the care of her stepmother, rather than him being her father as in the original story. One of her stepsisters is evil, but the other one is actually her best friend. She attends the ball where Kai is to choose his bride, despite having been ordered not to go. All of that clearly draws the correlation to the fairy tale.

Cinder is all about dramatic irony, or at least it was for me. The book ends with a big reveal. I'm not sure whether it was supposed to be a twist, or if the audience was supposed to be sitting there shaking the book all the way through because they knew what was going on and no one else did. I suspect it may be the latter, because what happened was so obvious. Really though, I don't think the knowledge of where the overall story was heading detracted from the book at all.

The setting here is completely amazing. Earth has apparently been through some serious turmoil. It now contains only six countries. The formation of these large powers occurred during the peace conference following World War IV. Ouch. Not to mention the fact that there are now folks living on the moon. What I am not sure of is whether the Lunars were initially human, although I suspect so.

Cinder is a powerful heroine. I love how much she is not run of the mill. She has expert skills as a mechanic, is over a quarter machine, and hardly cares about her appearance. She cares deeply about the few people (or androids) she's close to and will risk herself to protect them. Plus, having a crush on the prince does not turn her into a brainless puddle of goo, something that I see a lot when the heroine hangs out with the hero of her book.

Book two promises to be even better. I have no idea where the story will go from here and cannot wait to find out! Recommended to all fans of science fiction and fairy tales.

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON http://shelversanon.blogspot.com

Confession: I am a huuuuuge fan of fairy tale retellings. The idea of taking such a well-known, beloved tale and keeping its heart and frame while reframing the story in a way that makes the readers rethink what they previously knew... Mmmm, shivers of delight. I particularly like retellings told from another (preferably minor) character's perspective, but I was eager to give Cinder a try anyways. I mean, look at that cover. Just LOOK at it!

Enough sighing over prettiness. I've read several Cinderella retellings (and watched different movies), but this is my first futuristic-with-a-cyborg-protagonist retelling. I like Cinder. She avoids the sickly sweet Cinderella stereotype that some retellings use (see: Brandy singing "I'm as mild and as meek as a mouse; when I hear a command, I obey."), but she also avoids devolving into snarling, swaggering bitterness. She's cynical but not close-minded, practical but not (too) pessimistic. Actually, if I had to compare her to another Cinderella off the top of my head, I would pick Drew Berrymore from Ever After. Sometimes, she buckles under when I wanted her to snarl back, but she also has impressive fits of defiance.

As a cyborg, Cinder is relegated to property, and as such is treated with suspicion and disdain, so there's a bit of a chip on her shoulder. Really, though only having a chip on her shoulder is pretty good, seeing as cyborgs are not only treated as property, but also used as guinea pigs in the search for a cure for a deadly plague ravaging the country. [Aside: Why does there always seem to be some mysterious plague in these kinds of books? Not that I object; I always found the Black Plague fascinating. That and the word "plague" is fun to say phonetically.] Cinder becomes one of those guinea pigs when her "step-sister" (we'll get to those air quotes in a moment) falls ill, and her step-mother volunteers her for the experiments in a fit of spite.

The plague is only one of several lines that Meyer uses to keep the plot tense and moving. There's a deadly plague and a dying step-sister; a venomous, mind-controlling Lunar queen; espionage and intrigue in the form of an Anastasia-like supposedly dead heir; oh, and a super-cute prince who brings his droid to Cinder's shop for a repair and doesn't know that she's a cyborg. Yikes!

As you can see, Meyer likes to keep her readers busy. The problem with Cinder being the introductory story in a planned series is that, naturally, many ends are kept loose and dangling by the conclusion of the book. Necessary, but annoying. Still, in general, she doesn't do a bad job at keeping all the balls in the air.

As for the characters, in a reversal of my previous reviews, I found myself far more fascinated by the female protagonist than in the prince or any of the other supporting characters. The prince himself was okay. Kai is the typical good-guy Prince Charming we're accustomed to (see: Prince Char in Ella Enchanted), though Meyer did have me on pins and needles a few times because of his good-guyness. After all, sometimes honorable "for the good of the kingdom" good takes a different path from smart-good, and Kai is utterly devoted to his people.

What I liked about Cinder's step-family is that they weren't, not really. Her step-father had found her in Europe and adopted her but then expired from the plague soon after. Get that? Step-father, not real father. Cinder starts as a total orphan, is adopted by a man of mysterious intentions, and then is shoved onto a "step-mother" who uses her to earn money. And the step-mother is the typical, witchy pain in the rear. She has her reasons, of course, but pain in the rear nonetheless. As for the step-sisters, they followed a pattern I've noticed becoming popular in fairy tale retellings. Rather than both being carbon copies of their witchy mother, at least one (as in this story) or sometimes both (as in Robin McKinley's Beauty) are genuinely nice people who adore the protagonist. The nice one in this story is Peony, the one that falls sick with the plague. The other, Pearl, stays a one-dimensional brat. If I could have requested anything of Meyer, I would have asked if 1) she would mind ditching Pearl entirely, or 2) she could have made Peony a brat as well but have Cinder love her anyways. I mean, desperately searching for a cure for someone who loves you is one thing, but desperately searching on behalf of someone you love but who doesn't love you back? That's gold, right there!

Ooh, this is getting long. Let's see, the Lunar queen. As a villain, she served her purpose. I wanted to smack her silly every time she came on the page and then sneak back and short-sheet her bed. Witch witch witch. Cinder's suspicious companion, the doctor whose name I can't remember, is spectacular. He's one of those slippery characters who's impossible to pin down until the very end. Is he good? Is he bad? Is he going to betray Cinder or help her? Love him! I have less love (but no hatred) for her quirky little android companion. She's supposed to be sassy and fun, but I just kept seeing the beautician bot from WallE.

The book is certainly suspenseful in part but not terribly subtle in its big reveal. I guessed most of the major twists long before the "tada!". Still, I'm interested to see what Meyer has planned for her other retellings and for Cinder herself, and I think this first endeavor is one that many readers will appreciate.

***Points Added For: Unique settings, being a fairy tale retelling, the whole new take on Cinderella losing her shoe, conniving doctors, stepfathers instead of fathers, practical protagonists.

***Points Subtracted For: One-dimensional step-families, dead parents/step-parents, somewhat unbelievable Lunar "evolutions" (I prefer my science to be sound; if not, just call it magic), being able to guess the twists.

***Good For Fans Of: Fairy tale retellings, cyborgs, snarky sidekicks.

***Notes For Parents: No language that I can remember, some secondhand violence (violence recounted by another character).

I wasn't planning on reading this book, at first, since it sounded a bit boring to me, but I'm glad I picked it up.

It was a fun, quick read, always with a plot that's moving forward rather than being pointless or stagnant. While I did enjoy reading it, I didn't find any of the plot to be particularly shocking or surprising, yet it still managed a bit of suspense. There's an interesting revelation maybe halfway through the book about Cinder that completely surprised me, but after that bit was revealed, I could pretty much guess everything else. Still, I liked how Meyer balanced out the romance with the plot. Despite the story's roots in Cinderella, the story's focus was not at all on the romance, but there was still enough to keep me satisfied. Also loved the setting: futuristic New Beijing (though I usually forgot that this was happening in China), with cool androids and cyborgs. Loved the advanced technological feel to it.

I loved Cinder. I thought she was a great character, struggling for her own freedom but also keeping in mind the people she cares about and sacrificing what she could for them. My only problem with the characters, in general, is that you are more or less expected to either like or dislike each one, no argument. For example, you're supposed to like Cinder, Kai, Peony, and Iko. You're not supposed to like the Lunar Queen, Adri, or Pearl. The "evil" characters especially fell a little bit flat to me, though I will say that the Lunar Queen will make a great villain for the rest of the series.

Which leads me to my next point: this is a four book series. Didn't know that 'til after I finished, and apparently, each book is supposed to focus on a new fairy-tale character, though it all takes place in the same universe. Not really sure how that'll work out, but I might not have read this book had I known I'd feel compelled to be dragged along for three more books. Because this book ends on a cliffhanger (unless you guess the surprise at the end, which isn't hard to do), you'll likely find it necessary to continue reading.

Writing style: nothing special, so I just gave it a 4.

Recommended for: fairy tale enthusiasts, dystopian lovers, anyone who can't decide what to read next.

A small note: don't be turned off by all the cyborg/android stuff, like I was originally. While it is pretty important to the story, it is no way overwhelming. So if that's the only reason you're not gonna read Cinder, find a different reason.

First point of discussion, I received this book free of charge from a Goodreads First Reads Giveaway(I know I was so excited! An arc book!). And I read the entire thing within one day. I loved it. The writing of this book just kind of flows from one part to the next (Unlike this review). And each part of the story,(divided into four parts) starts with a quote from the original story of Cinderella. The Story starts with Cinder replacing her too small foot,(she's a cyborg) and meeting the prince(of course). And it takes off from there.

Here's the 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.

I wasn't expecting much when I read this book but I got a lot more than I expected. Four Stars.
I am looking forward to reading the next installment of this series,
Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
Expected Publication 2013
"Even in the Future The Story Begins with Once Upon a Time"