Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer
What: Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer
Who: Puffin
When: January 5th 2012
How: Purchased.
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.
As always, when going into a book that everyone you know has raved about, you’re a little apprehensive. No one likes to be the black sheep, the hater of the beloved book. It’s awkward, uncomfortable. Just downright dislikable. And I hate to break it to you, guys, but …. I am NOT one of those people. I LOVED Cinder!
*insert evil laughter* You all thought I was going to say I didn’t like it, didn’t you? Well, I did. I more than liked it. Like I said, I loved it. Cinder was amazing, and just as awesome as everyone has always told me it would be.
I love the entire world that Meyer has created. I love the characters, the setting, the places, the events … pretty much just everything. It’s all so original, and unique, and I just loved it.
Cinder was an amazing female main character. She wasn’t obsessed and gushy about Kai, she wasn’t fixated on her looks. She was loyal, she was brave. She was an amazing main character, and one that I am so happy to have found. Being a cyborg isn’t easy for her, but she doesn’t spend her time whining about how she wishes she could be human. She knows what she is, she accepts it as much as she can, and she lives her day to day life. Strength in the face of adversity; something I can truly respect, and something I congratulate Meyer on bringing into this classic fairytale.
Speaking of Cinderella. The links to the original story were clear, but it wasn’t exactly a re-telling. There were new elements, new characters, new things everywhere! Which made it all the more exciting to read. We ALL know the story of Cinderella, but Cinder brings a whole new twist to it, and makes you feel as if you didn’t know the story at all. It’s quite magical, really.
The plot was intricate, but not at all confusing. There was enough action to prevent boredom, but there was enough scene setting and world building to really make you feel as if you knew what was going on. There was no info-dumping, and I felt that the pace at which the information was given was perfect. There was no questioning, no boredom, just excellent pacing all ‘round from Meyer. Another gold star for this author.
There was no insta-love in Cinder. It was just a breath of fresh air, really. Kai and Cinder couldn’t be further apart in regards to their social circles and standing in society. Kai doesn’t let his feelings rule him, and Cinder doesn’t let hers rule her, either. It’s just a realistic representation of the relationship that might have conspired between a prince and a mechanic. I just loved it. I ship these two so hard. SO HARD.
The story of the Lunars, and lemutosis are intriguing, and add a whole new depth to the original fairytale. I loved reading about the Lunars, and the evil queen witchy poo (who I obviously hate for obvious reasons), and am so excited to read the rest of this series.
I know now why everyone loves Cinder, and can proudly say: I am now a crew member of this ship club.
© 2014, Chiara @ Books for a Delicate Eternity. All rights reserved.
Yay!! Welcome to the club! I love Cinder!
Thank you! Glad to join in, haha :D Cinder was amazing!
Welcome indeed!! I cannot wait for you to read Scarlet, which is my fav of the two for reasons I cannot say cause spoilers!!
:D :D
I have read Scarlet already, and I think I know what two reasons you are thinking of! May they be Thorne + Wolf? ^.^
It may be ;) I am looking forward to Cress coming out in February.
Have you read the short stories: Glitches and Queen’s Army? I enjoyed Queen’s Army since it gives you a lot of background information on Wolf and his life before the events of Scarlet
:D Me, too! I am insanely jealous of the people who have ARCs.
No, I haven’t! But I think I need to go and buy Queen’s Army right now. Especially if there is more about Wolf!
So glad you enjoyed this one! This is definitely a favorite of mine and I even re read this book within a year, which is something I almost never do. I hope you enjoy Scarlet, too. Cress will be here very soon also and I squeal a little just thinking about it :-)
Me, too! :D
Oh, wow. I love it when you find a book that you love so much. I have read Scarlet already, and I loved it just as much as Cinder, if not maybe a little bit more!
Ah, I know! I really want to read it!
So glad you loved it! Can’t wait for you to read Scarlet. I personally liked it better than Cinder. Can’t wait for Cress to come out! I think I’ll do a marathon and reread these two when it does. (Yes I’ve already preordered it with christmas funds >>).
Me, too! :D I love finding series as awesome as this one :D
I have read Scarlet already, and I think I did like it a little bit more, mainly because of WOLF. Hehe. Ohmygosh, me, too. I cannot wait to read it. And then we have to wait another year or something for Winter D: What is the Christmas fund for, if not to buy books? ;D
Teehee Wolf :3
:D <3
I’ve been dying to get my hands on this book! I didn’t see it at B&N on my last visit there.
Did you know that this book was a winner of NaNoWriMo?
Aw, no! D: Is there another bookshop that you can visit?
Yes! I stalked Meyer’s website after finishing Cinder, and I read all about it. I cannot believe it! It gives me hope about my books, haha :D
Not nearby. Barnes & Noble is the only closest one. There was a Borders in the mall once, but that went away long before Borders went out of business.
Same here! :3
Yeah, my Borders shut down a few years ago. Very devastating. Now there is only one bookshop in my city and it has a terrible selection.
So glad you loved Cinder too! I love it for all the same reasons you mentioned in your review!
I am so glad, as well!
Great minds think alike :D
I don’t read science fiction, but I, too, loved Cinder. Great review! I love the misleading details and the beginning… (well, love is too strong of a word) ;)
I think Cinder would appeal to almost anyone with it’s amazingness, haha!
I hope I had at least someone fooled, even for a second :P
Yay! So glad you enjoyed this one too! I really liked Cinder, the lack of insta-love, and the links to the original fairy tale too. :D
Now we just need to get our hands on Cress. ;)
Great review!
Alice @ Alice in Readerland
Me, too! I love it when books deserve their hype.
I know! I hate waiting for new books in a series D: But at least we know it will be worth the wait.