Cinder

“Even in the Future the Story Begins with Once Upon a Time”

loved the retelling of cinderella in a cool way! Cinder is a great female character and I actually like the romance!

only negative is two things
- transphobic joke??? I couldn't tell if it was or not
- writing felt very basic. not always a bad thing, just wanted a little bit more

Comecei a ler este livro e não parei! Estava na minha lista “para ler” há demasiado tempo, mas finalmente foi para a lista “lido”! É uma história muito mais interessante do que aquilo que estava a espera!

Não sou grande fã de Cinderela, mas a maneira como isto está escrito e reinventado, torna a história tão mais interessante e diferente! Não sei se já ouviram falar, mas é uma espécie de um livro futurista mas da Cinderela, mas não como a conhecemos, mas sim como uma cyborg que vive com a sua madrasta e as irmãs. A Cinder é o mecânico mais conhecido da cidade e é surpeendida quando o príncipe aparece na banca dela para pedir que ela arranje o androide dele. Bem diferente da história inicial, não é? Torna-se ainda melhor!

The first time i pick this up, i was so overwhelmed by Cinder and her cyborgness that i decided to put it down. But then, i tried again and wow. It has been a while since I've read anything without stopping. I mean, i did just read this in one day. That showed how intrigued i am with this book.

Cyborg Cinderella with superpowers. Who could've thought.
I love it!

I listen to this book in like 2 days so I went through it very quickly. I really like the idea behind the story and it definitely went into some direction that I did not expect. But at the same time, it was painfully predictable. For instance, it because immediately clear that Cinder was Princess Selene after her existence was mentioned. And the fact that it was held off until the end felt wrong since it was so painfully obvious. 

I also just do not enjoy books where characters make such horrible choices and the right decision is so goddamn obvious, like Cinder did on many occasions. She trusts no one, but also has a thing that tells her exactly when people are lying? Come on, stay consistent. Much of the story was hard to listen to for this reason. 

However, I really do like the premise of the story and will definitely be reading the sequel. Something doesn't have to be amazing quality for me to enjoy it.

I think I am a little (maybe too much) repetitive, but I really enjoyed this one. Many people recommended Cinder to me a long time ago and I still resisted but got to finally read it when the Czech audiobook was released and read it and listen to it at the same time. And I was soo surprised how good it is and how complex the world of Lunar Chronicles is. I am pretty sure that I will push the other books in the series up my “to-read list” because I am just curious how this will end... Bravo!

4.5 / 5 ★ - Porém segue favoritado.
screaming like a teenager. Again

It's a shame that I can read and listen everything and comprehend almost 100% and don't have the urge do wright in english as well; and I sure need more practice.
ANYWAY - we will do it... mixed this time. I guess.

Reler/escutar esse livro foi a maior alegria desse início de mês.
Não apenas pela leitura fluida, os personagens envolventes e com personalidades únicas, e, na minha humilde opinião, o retelling inusitado de um fairy tale tão tradicional quanto Cinderella. Mas, o que me assustou foi o quanto eu amei viver tudo isso de novo, mesmo já sabendo o final. E a quantidade de coisas, pequenas não as mais dramáticas, que havia me esquecido que ocorreram ao longo da estória para a tomada das atitudes que tiveram, e desenvolvimento de alguns casos.

O que foi apagado da mente:
- O quão Audrey e Pearl são... terríveis. As bichas são ruinzinhas mesmo. Daquela crueldade fria que apenas imaginamos em step qualquer coisa.
- O flerte real que Kai jogou na Cinder. Soltei altos “aaah, meu xóvem...” e, como sempre, me apaixonei por ele (como vai ocorrer com Thorne, Wolf e Jacin nos próximos volumes, não necessariamente nessa ordem).
- Havia completamente me esquecido que Kai ia pessoalmente entregar as luvas. E que era uma das cenas mais fofas e cheias de expectativas frustradas de se ler.
- Como Cinder era infeliz com o seu lado Ciborg - mesmo sendo esta a coisa mais incrível de todas -por não ser aceita na sociedade. É bem relacionável com qualquer característica do corpo que as pessoas não aceitam, porque não atendemos a um “padrão” estipulado por alguém, que ainda vamos descobrir quem foi o imbecil (isso no mundo real, não no Commonwealth).

Tirei 0,5 de estrelinha por haver percebido que TUDO ISSO se passou em menos de uma SEMANA - sim, 5 dias. E eu sequer consegui arrumar a cadeira com roupa limpa que está no quarto nos últimos 6 meses.
E um pouquinho pelas vergonhas alheias que a Cinder passou com o Kai (hands down para: o estado que a gata (Cinder) chegou no baile; o anuncio de seu nome como convidada pessoal do imperador e, como não poderia faltar o beijo. Não correspondido só para dar aquela pincelada de vergonha final no primeiro livro).

Mal posso esperar para reviver os demais volumes de novo.

I am torn. I loved the ideas but was disappointed at how unexplored the author left some of them. My biggest problem is that the “big revelation” can be guessed extremely easily and very early on. This takes a lot of wind out of the plot's sails. However, I did enjoy myself a lot reading this fast-paced, fresh take on the Cinderella story and will be back for the second volume in the Lunar Chronicles.
Full review at: http://sffbookreview.wordpress.com/2012/06/02/marissa-meyer-cinder/

Even in the Future the Story Begins with Once Upon a Time.

I enjoyed the book, it definitely kept me interested, but I didn't experience the same amazement as a lot of the people on Goodreads.

Having read 62% of book last night, I replied to Oana that I really loved some of the concepts in it. I though they were quite ingenious, compared to most YA literature. I could have easily adored this book just from the feeling of the first few pages.

I found the take on cyborgs and technology refreshing and I had no complaints about the writing. I liked the fact that the science fiction parts are entwined with fantasy. But I was not a fan of the chemistry between Kai and Cinder or should I say the lack of it. I thought the whole deal was very insta-lovey,and a very bad, bad one for its kind. I know that in fairy tales the “insta” is always present, but I wish Cinder would have detached itself from “Cinderella” regarding this aspect. Since the author decided to go with Cinder being a greasy mechanic, I would assume the most logical thing would have been to get them together more often, to have a chance to talk and discover each other.

By the end of the book I found a few more things that ate away at me. I thought that everything happened in such a short amount of time. The characters needed to be more fleshed out. I needed more time to know about Cinder's life with her family, with the work as a mechanic. How did she end up in this field anyways? I needed more depictions of the “New Beijing” life. More details about the Lunars. More about their special ability.

I also needed to understand why on Earth was the prince so attracted to her after talking for like 3 minutes on three occasions. And I was kind of annoyed at times with both Cinder's and the prince's immaturity. They both kept making such weird, silly, rash decisions. Could you please pause for a moment and think it over, OK? I liked that Kai stood up to the Queen, but he could learn a thing or two about diplomacy. And Cinder kept “forgetting” to fix Kai's android that it made it so unrealistic. If the prince tells you to fix the android, you fix it!

And then I just can't figure out why on Earth wouldn't the doctor just tell her she might be you know what and you know who. It was so frickin' obvious. I saw that coming from the first mention of you know who. He just kept telling her, stay away from the queen. Well maybe, just maybe she would have listed to you if you would have told her the whole truth.

And the ballroom scene was so sad and just pity worthy. Was that kiss supposed to be romantic, cause it looked kinda pathetic to me. I really wanted Cinder to be this ballsy heroine, but for a cyborg and a mechanic she was all gooey inside so many times. Please, YA heroines, can you please fall in love and remain kick-ass and maintain your instinct of self-preservation at the same time? Pretty please?

I'm confused. And disappointed. There's so much love for this book and so much hype around it that I guess I was kinda expecting to be blown away. Especially because Cinder was so full of potential, it does have some really cool ideas and I could really see this as a great novel, with some adjustments. But I'm not sorry I read it.

P.S. And I really did not get why she needed to rebuild a car running on fossil fuel to be able to get out of the Commonwealth? Especially not after the doctor sent her money. And I'm also not happy that there is no mention as to why the “cyborgs” had to belong to other humans, like androids. Why, why, why?

REREAD 2020: updated review soooon!


“4.5 stars!”

aaaah, i need Scarlet now!!! This was such a lovely book!
I liked it so much and i really want to know how it continues.

Cinder is just a really lovely retelling of Cinderella. The basic storyline was there but it was twisted into something modern and really interesting.

I thought the beginning was pretty slow. But the ending... Wow! It ended so strong and i really really want to read Scarlet immediately!

The first time I sat down to read this book, I stopped a few chapters in and put it away. The plot seemed too obvious and the characters too flat. I picked it back up a few weeks later and enjoyed it much more. It's still a pretty simple book and the supposed plot twist was obvious from miles away; the characters don't have much of an arc and the love story is pretty bland, but despite all that it was an entertaining read. If you're looking for something deep and thought provoking, this isn't your book. But if you'd like something that's fun and a quick, easy read, this is a good choice.

Sucked me in right from the start, although I'm not quite sure why; possibly Cinder's sarcastic streak, maybe the creative insertions from the traditional tale, the rapid pace certainly helped and some pretty believable fantasy world-building didn't hurt what was a marvelously innovative take on Cinderella. My only complaint is that the plot arc followed the fairy tale too closely, resulting in ending foretelling; there's probably no way to avoid this without going completely off-tale, though.

It isn't the author's fault this wasn't as good a book as it could be. This would've been such a good book IF:
1) it weren't so damn predictable; seriously, I can't be the only one that guessed that Cinder is Princess Selene. For one, it was stressed how important it was that Princess Selene was alive. There were only rumors that she was even alive. However, as we all know, if it's stated in the book, no matter how unimportant or unrealistic it may seem, it's always incredibly important to the plot and, as I like to call it, the “big unsurprising surprise.” There were way too many connections to make between Princess Selene and Cinder. Cinder doesn't remember anything from her childhood, which is highly suspicious. Gasp, ohmygosh, could she have gotten it from the fire Princess Selene was in? Not a long shot, considering she's the main character and all. Plus, this story's based on CINDERALLA. Of COURSE, she's going to be a princess or some other big-shot. But that isn't completely the author's fault. I guess I'm just annoyed she didn't get to this “big surprise” earlier in the story; it would've saved a whole bunch of time.
2) Kai and Cinder's relationship wasn't so aggravating. GAHHHHH there's so many things getting between them it makes me want to throw a lamp at someone. Their failing relationship can't be completely blamed on outside forces (AKA the bitchy stepmother, stepsister, Queen Levana). Kai and Cinder are driving a wedge between themselves, too. Seriously, buck up already Cinder. If Kai doesn't like you for being a cyborg or a Lunar or whatever, then just dump his sorry ass. Or, in this case, just ignore him. Your low self-esteem is killing me; I need more witty one-liners. I can't take all this looking-down-at-the-ground-omg-I-hope-he-doesn't-hate-me-for-yada-yada-yada. I'm dying here. And you, Kai, mister-prince-turned-emperor. Yeah, I'm calling you out. Could you BE any more of an IDIOT??? Yeah, she's a cyborg. So what? It's not like she threw herself into that fire when she was a baby. How do you THINK people get turned into cyborgs? I know you guys are going to end up together in the end anyways since I foresee a HEA at the end of the trilogy. But come on; move it along people! Get over your stupid disgust and prejudice against cyborgs. We've got bigger problems. And could you be denser? Of COURSE Cinder didn't tell you about being a cyborg and a Lunar. How could she? You're already looking at her in disdain.

So yeah, this was just me venting. The book wasn't all bad. It intrigued me enough to get the rest of the books in the series. However, I'm really hoping I'll like the second book better than the first. I'm also hoping Cinder will get her ass in gear enough to yell Kai, Adri, and everyone else that shunned her into shame. That would be quite pleasant. Sadly though, I'm predicting Cinder will just be wandering around, alone and lost, for a majority of the second book. Well, here's to hoping.

This was a cool story.

What I liked:

the futuristic very interesting world;
the Lunar vs Earth brewing conflict;
the cyborgs;
the political intrigue.

Didn't really care for:

the romance;
the predictability (we all knew who Cinder was);
underdeveloped characters
I wish Cinder would have been a Lunar cyborg girl and not a lost Princess.

It was still an enjoyable read and I'm hoping it gets better in the next book, so I'll keep on reading this series.