Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, book 1) by Merissa Meyers
Genre: Young Adult Sci/Fi (AKA Dystopian)
Edition Reviewed: eBook
Amazon: Paperback | Kindle
Goodreads: Cinder (1)
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.
Review:
The idea of a Sci-Fi Cinderella tale enchanted me from the get go. The reviews came pouring in and everyone loved it! More importantly the Goodreads friends reviews’ I trust praised the book. Then the series kept getting more and more love as each new title released. It was more a poor choice to not purchase the series, that led me to keep putting it off. (That and my fuddy reading year.) So after the first few sentences I was in love.
There's enough twists and flavors of Cinderella to appease my fairytale remake-loving-soul, while having plenty of originality. You know this really doesn't feel like a “dystopian” this is a futuristic sci-fi. And I'm thankful for that. There's been two more World Wars, people live on the moon called Lunars, humans on earth are facing a mysterious plague with no cure that has devastated the population, and the aforementioned Lunars may attack the earth because of they're evil queen. What I love the most is that on top of all that is tons of political intrigue! Not to mention the mystery of the lost/dead heir of the moon, THE Queen Levana may actually have a cure only if her terms are met, the threat of world domination, and such!
Prince Kai is a heartthrob (even reminds me of the Disney Cinderella's warm personality) and Meyer tries to genuinely build emotions up and make them fall in love. Linh Cinder (AKA Cinderella, best re-name ever!) happens to be a cyborg! Come on the cover tipped you off. Cinder also happens to have a fun side kick Iko, which is probably the best robot in sci-fi ever! Sadly robots and cyborgs are not considered people and it adds a very gritty feel to the world. The story takes place in New Beijing and I love the Asian influences to the story. Every new aspect of the book had me frantically turning the pages for more! More-more-more!
That being said there were some huge gaps in the world building. The smallest gripe is that there is never a true description of the characters. A few hair colors are tossed out, but nothing. Though some of the Lunar guards did get pretty good descriptions and another girl who I think will pop up later. To me I want a complete image of the characters in my mind: how they look, personality, emotions, and all the real stuff. So it left me continuously thinking that both Kai and Cinder were Asian. At one point Cinder does hint that all the nationalities are one, lands have mixed and mingled. Which is awesome. There are hints of kimonos, chopsticks, and stuff. But then there are ball gowns . . . and other stuff. The concept that the home nation still has influences over a mixed society and they've all blended together is—not actually established. My mind kept trying to fill in the blanks.
Also! How did, and when, was the moon made livable. Are the people definitely from earth but because they live on the moon they evolved into “magical” beings. Also, if Cinder can blend into other “countries” if she were to leave new Beijing is the rest of the world just a blend of nationalities. What were the other two World Wars about? Again basic world building stuff. I need more. I want the world to be so well developed that I can completely believe it.
My last issues are about the treatment of Cyborgs. There's a lottery going on that “randomly” picks Cyborgs to be tested for a cure for the plague, because they're not really people. They're property and other people can actually own them. At one point it's even revealed that a worker had to get some cyborg parts after an accident. Which led me to wonder about Vets who might have to have cyborg parts after injuries. Yes, the world has been at peace for well over 100 years. But there are soldiers and “peace times” do not guarantee no conflicts. So does that mean the people who are protecting citizens become loathly creates in the eyes of the very people they're protecting? Even more is that Cinder is cyborg and some scary, down right chilling, things happen to her because of it. Then after a little time and shorter conversation it's all swept under the rug. Even after the big reveal brings to light that the cyborg girls that seemed to keep getting picked in the lottery where indeed not “randomly” being picked. It also bothered me that at no moment was human rights/civil rights or any struggles that humanity has made in the past for equality was never discussed or brought up. No factions that want to help the minority.
That's the problem. Cinder has some amazing ideas here. Meyer is stepping up the game with world wide (and moon) politics and grander story telling outside of the basic fairytale. The follow through should have been solid. Now that I know that the next book also continues Cinder's tale I feel even more about the world and Cinder's story being more developed. More details should have been added to Cinder. Maybe I'm just spoiled, and I'm sure a lot of readers are going to say I'm picky. But when you present something this good I want it to go all the way!
Those frustrations aside, I can't deny that I do love the world Meyer has created—world building holes and all. The characters are all compelling, which is why I want to be able to picture them!! No I mean it. Cinder left me frantic to find out what would happen next, how much would follow the classic tale and the threat of none fairy tale like events. Cinder pulls off some dark elements and I really appreciate it. So far my favorite retellings have always had some grit and not always happy things to reimagine a new kind of magic. It will be said any talk of magic in Cinder is actually science. This is a sci-fi book and I like that even while the Lunars may seem to have magic like powers it's still based in science. In the end Cinder is one of the best genre fusions and reimagining of a fairy tale . . . in quite a while. In the end this quote here should tempt you:
“She was a cyborg, and she would never go to the ball.”
Words I've always dreamed of seeing strung together in one sentence.
Sexual Content: There is some mild fantasies and mild sexual humor in general.
3/5- Adored it, just a few minor details held it back.
| Previous book(s) in series: | ||
| Reviewed on BW: | Amazon: | Goodreads: |
| Glitches (0.5) The Little Android (0.6) Cinder (1) The Queen’s Army (1.5) Scarlet (2) Cress (3) Fairest (3.5) The Princes and the Guard (3.6) Winter (4) | Glitches (0.5) The Little Android (0.6) Cinder (1) The Queen’s Army (1.5) Scarlet (2) Cress (3) Fairest (3.5) The Princes and the Guard (3.6) Winter (4) | Glitches (0.5) The Little Android (0.6) Cinder (1) The Queen’s Army (1.5) Scarlet (2) Cress (3) Fairest (3.5) The Princes and the Guard (3.6) Winter (4) |
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