Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder by Marissa Meyer
The Lunar Chronicles #1
Release Date: January 5, 2012 (UK)
Publisher: Puffin
Source: Publisher
Rating: Essential

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.

In this thrilling debut young adult novel, the first of a quartet, Marissa Meyer introduces readers to an unforgettable heroine and a masterfully crafted new world that’s enthralling. - Goodreads

My favourite part of Cinder was the world that Meyer has created to tell this fascinating story. The history of this futuristic universe is rich and thoroughly developed, which makes the sci-fi completely believable. The historical aspect of the novels was introduced by being woven into the story, and didn’t feel out of place or forced.

The links to the fairytale of Cinderella were prominent, and yet they were not over the top. Cinder lives with her wicked stepmother and her two stepsisters. She has to work as an engineer to feed the whole family, while her stepmother spends her hard earned money on luxurious items. The prince is also present throughout, and we even have a mouse like in the Disney movie (kind of).

I was very intrigued by the Lunar colony, and I enjoyed reading about how those people were living. I loved their evil yet beautiful queen, and I cannot wait to see what happens with her in the next books in the series because she’s a fantastic antagonist – and also pretty scary!

Cinder was a brilliant female lead. She was strong, reliable, and she doesn’t give up. She’s also able to look after herself, which is a great quality to have. She doesn’t rely on her stepmother, or anybody else, which also adds a lot to her story. Cinder tries to hide her situation - or her cyborg-ness - from Prince Kai, and I was holding my breath waiting for him to find out about her. I felt so much love for this character, and I would have hated for her to get hurt because society doesn't accept cyborgs like her.

I wasn’t too fond of the love interest, Prince Kai, because I didn’t feel as though he was as well developed in comparison to Cinder. This left me a little bit disappointed, although that is probably because as a reader I was spoilt with the awesome Cinder, and I had very high expectations. Nevertheless, Kai is still pretty awesome, and it was really interesting when I had the chance to read from his point of view.

I absolutely cannot wait for the sequel to this novel. I look forward to seeing what Marissa Meyer can do next with both Cinder, and the other fairytales that are going to be woven into the upcoming stories. I’m dying to know where Meyer will take us next. She is a brilliant writer and I would recommend this book to everyone!

Books in this series: 

0.5. Glitches

1. Cinder 

2. Scarlet (Little Red Riding Hood) [2013]

3. Cress (Rapunzel) [2014]

4. Winter (Snow White) [2015]

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