{YA Review} Cinder by Marissa Meyer

{YA Review} Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #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. (Blurb via Goodreads)

{Details} Hardcover, 1st Edition, 387 pages. Published January 3rd 2012 by Feiwel & Friends. Source: library

{Rating} 4/5

{Review} When Cinder first came out in January of 2012 I saw bloggers going ga-ga over it and now that I've read it I definitely agree, it has lived up to all the hype. Meyer has written a clever series, it's original while being one of the best known fairytales.

It's also awesome. Cinderella is a cyborg. And then it gets even weirder. Read it to find out the weirder, that's a major spoiler. Cinder is a great heroine, she's strong, smart, loyal, selfless, kind. I wanted to be friends with her, I wanted to give her a hug, I wanted to follow her on her quest.

And because this is Cinderella (but better because Cinderella is a cyborg!) there's a Prince Charming, Prince Kai. The 'charming' element is debatable at several points but he's a good guy. A good but imperfect guy. Even when I wasn't too happy with his choices I empathized with Prince Kai, he's trying to do the best, weighing his needs against the needs of the rest of the world. He saw the Cinder no one else saw. He saw past the grease and the grime and her job as a mechanic to see the girl beneath.

It's an absorbing tale. There are moments of humor, of fairytale love, of family and moments of heartbreak, of loss and grief and the devastating truth.

The Lunar Chronicles is a four book series, yay because I love the world and the characters, but over four years? Really? We have to wait that long? That's torture. The only advantage of being so late to jump on the bandwagon is that Scarlet has already been published. I managed to wait a whole week before diving into that one. Now if only it was February 2014 when Cress comes out.