"Cinder" by Marissa Meyer: Review

Cinder

The Lunar Chronicles Book #1 

by Marissa Meyer

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.

Cinder is the first book in The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. Meyer took a very well known tale and modernized it, adding in a few fantastic twists to make it her very own. To say it's unique would be a vast understatement in my opinion. Cinder is a superb reading experience from beginning to end.

The story is told in the third person perspective and follows both Cinder, our main character and Kai, the prince of New Beijing. I love when we get to delve into the heads of different characters in a book and this was no exception.  Cinder and Kai are both dynamic and interesting characters to behold and they kept me more than entertained as the story went on. 

Cinder is a truly unique character in the young adult genre. How many cyborgs do you read about? She was my first and I could not help but admire her as I followed her story. People  in Cinder's world seem to think that because she's a cyborg she doesn't have feelings but that couldn't be further from the truth. Cinder is deeply loyal, brave, sweet, smart, and spunky; she is more human in her feelings than most of the 'normal' people in her life. Then we have Kai. Yep, he's a prince and he is most definitely charming but there is so much more to him than that.  He is genuine and selfless and so many other lovely qualities that I could just keep going on and on. What I like most about his character, though, is that he acts like a regular person. He doesn't expect special treatment, he doesn't look down his nose at people. He is extremely lovable. 

This book was amazing from start to finish; fast paced, thrilling and addictive. I was completely sucked in from the beginning. I read it in a day; barely putting my kindle down and ignoring my husband's attempts to interact with me. There were a few twists thrown in that made me gasp aloud and when the end came I was left wanting more. I cannot wait to read the next installment, Scarlet which is due out on February 5, 2013. 

My Rating: 

If you'd like to listen to a clip from Cinder, here is Chapter 1 courtesy of Macmillan Audiobooks!

Marissa Meyer lives in Tacoma, Washington, with her husband and their two cats. In addition to her slight obsession with books and writing, she's big on road-tripping, wine-tasting, and hunting for antiques.

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