Book Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

[therhinofam]

The first in a series of distopian novels which take timeless fairy tales and spin them into modern stories, Cinder takes readers through the modern day retelling of Cinderella. Set in a future wrecked by 4 World Wars and a plague running rampant around the globe, we are introduced to Cinder, a cyborg in a society where cyborgs are considered second class citizens. She is an accomplished mechanic, fixing all manner of technological gadgets, including a droid brought to her by the Crown Prince of the Eastern Commonwealth, Price Kaito.

True to the fairy tale, Cinder is basically a slave to her stepmother and step sisters, of which only one is wicked. Cinder is also prohibited from attending the upcoming ball, which will take place around an upcoming festival. Arriving for the festival is Queen Levana from the moon colony. The queen takes her cues from the wicked queen in Snow White; using glamour on the people so they see her as beautiful and ignore how she mercilessly controls them. In contrast however, Queen Levana shuns mirrors, which behold the truth about her appearance.

While there is no "happily ever after" and the conclusion of the book, there are 3 more books in the series. I felt these were wonderful books for the age range and the modern retelling of the fairy tales was very cleverly crafted. Marissa Meyer's did an impressive job with her first novel. I will be continuing the series!

[amybo82]

I love to read retellings and reimaginings of fairy tales, so this book definitely appeals to me. Thanks to the great reviews in this forum, I've added it to my to-read list! Keep the excellent recommendations coming!

[Stuck_inabook]

This book was an easy and enjoyable read. I plan on continuing the series. The characters are likable and the story is fun.

[11-22-63sk]

Cinder is one of the best I have read! scarlet is really good too

[LeahSwenor]

I hope no one minds if I add my own review as well! I just really loved this book!

Read from 10/20/14 – 10/23/14
4/5 Stars.
Wow, alright.
So, Cinder.

Cinder is a mechanic. It makes perfect sense, given that she has been doing her own repairs for most of her life. The book opens with Cinder pulling off her own foot. Not a real foot, thank goodness, but a cyborg foot. Cinder was in an accident when she was eleven. An accident that left her half woman, half machine. Much to her displeasure, she had been left with a mechanical hand and leg, as well as various other non-human internal body parts, and thus dubbed a Cyborg. Cyborgs aren’t very accepted in New Beijing. But Cinder is used to that. Her adoptive father died when she was young and she was left with her evil stepmother who hates her for what she is. Now, to top off all of her problems, The plague is spreading like wild fire, The evil queen of the Lunars (who live on the moon) is threatening war on Earth, and Cinder is losing everyone who is even remotely close to her.
This book is, by far, one of the most creative and imaginative books I have ever read. A cyborg Cinderella? Who thinks of these things? I was skeptical when I first started reading, because, well, to be honest, it just seemed like a weird concept. But oh my stars, I was beyond impressed with the way this concept was carried out!
The book is split up into parts. The first section of the book, in all honesty, didn’t captivate me. It DID interest me, but I wasn’t frantically turning pages far into the night. But once I got to the second part things started to speed up. The further into the book I read, the more I enjoyed! It just kept getting better and better! Until suddenly, and heartbreakingly, I was at the end of the book.
Now, to give you an idea of how SPECTACULAR the ending to this book was, I, immediately upon finishing the last chapter, ran to the library for the sequel. I have never in all of my life done such a thing. I didn’t originally plan on reading the other four installments of this series, but now I don’t think I’ll read anything else until I do!
With a unique story and a creative twist on the familiar, Cinder is a beautifully crafted book full of great twists (even those you see coming from a mile away) and one of a kind characters.

[LivreAmour217]

A futuristic version of Cinderella, eh? I will have to check this one out, as I usually enjoy fresh renditions of the fairy tale classics!

[ashley_claire]

I've never really been into fairytale re-tellings, but I really liked this book. The only thing that put me off a bit was the ending. I purposely didn't look at many reviews about the book before reading it because I didn't want to spoil it for myself. I thought the series was four totally separate stories, so when it just ended out of nowhere I was a little annoyed. I wish her story was wrapped up in the first book instead of continuing into the next book, Scarlet. But I am interested to see how the author manages to weave these different fairytales into the same book.

[Eyre-thee-well]

This sounds excellent. I love fairy tales reimagined, but ina futuristic world? Very creative!

[Norma_Rudolph]

I may have to read this one.

[literarycat]

Cinder was a random pick at the local used book store for me. I have found a recent interest in everything fairy-tale like.I picked it up off the shelf and read the description. I will admit that I almost put it back, but at such a steal of a price, I decided to buy it any way. It follows the story of Cinder, a character loosely based on Cinderella, a cyborg in the future. There are also Lunar people, and futuristic technology. It sounded like a jumble of random story lines that could in no way make a decent book. I was proven wrong. It turned out to be an amazing story with an excellent character base, between robots, aliens, cyborgs, and royalty, there was a character for all kinds of readers to enjoy. It was a mixture of romance, sci-fi, technology and machinery talk,adventure, and suspense. It could have gone wrong in so many ways but Meyer did an excellent job with this story. I had to run out and buy the second book in the saga!

That is exactly how I found the book, I t was random find at the library and I really enjoyed it. How did you like the second book? I've read up to the third book, I haven't gotten the fourth from the library. Great reviews through this post by the way.

[falloutlunartic]

I am going to pretend to be civil while I talk about my favorite book series ever! ( *squeal* ) Okay. Seriously though, Marissa Meyer is a genius. I mean, come on; girls who fix machinery, hack computers, and shoot guns that are simultaneously manifestations of fairytale princesses! (!!!!!) Pure gold.

Marissa Meyer also understands the rest of us fangirls and seems to know exactly what we want and how we want it even if it means hURTING A CHARACTER TO GET THERE. *clears throat* Ahem. Sorry. Anyways...
Meyer can build a realistic world without excessive details and metaphors, and that takes skill.

Bottom line: READ THIS. (please?)

[Chakshu]

I really enjoyed this book! I didn't think I'd like this book at first but I was wrong. It's the first book in the lunar chronicles series (4 books).
This book is a retelling of the fairytale Cinderella if you didn't already guess that by the title. It's set in the future, after world war four in new Beijing, China. The main character Cinder is a cyborg. She's one of the best mechanics in new Beijing. Like in the fairytale Cinderella, her stepmother is cruel to her and she's treated badly by people because she's a cyborg. To be honest, the plot twist in this book which I'd heard many things about was really obvious from the start. It isn't my favorite book in the series but it's still a great book. It's fast paced, is action packed and you can easily finish it in one sitting

[mariaestrada]

This series is definitely one of my faves!!

[Chakshu]

Yes!!

[Amyluue]

About a girl who lost all of her memories before the age of thirteen because of a horrifying accident she lost both parents in. Now cyborg living with her step mother who never wanted her. Cinder is the sole provider of the household income by being one of the best mechanics in New Beijing. Who knew she'd end up meeting Prince Kai while working at the market one day who seemed to need her help.From this point on this book just exploded with all kinds of twist that captivated my interest so well I finished this book in days. One of the best starter books of a series I've ever read. Definitely sets you up for the next book and a cliff hanger ending that killed me inside. Couldn't seem to put it down. Fell in love with characters. Felt a burning hatred for characters. Can't wait to see where this story continues to go. Fabulously twisted retelling of Cinderella.