Cinder

My final book for June was one that I have tried to begin reading a couple of times before. Cinder has been on my To Be Read shelf for some time and I have read the first few pages in the past and immediately thought “What on earth” then found something else to read. The Lunar Chronicles series though, of which this book is a part, has received such glowing praise that it has made me think that it's worth a second look and as I have been challenging myself over the past few months by exploring different genre's and types of books I decided now would be the perfect time to try again.

I am a huge huge fan of fairy tale retellings, the joy of taking characters I've loved since childhood and developing them further or placing them into new settings is something I find fascinating and they have become increasingly popular over the past few years along with shows like Once Upon A Time. Cinder though has taken the concept to a slightly new level and in a direction that is completely unique.

Set in a futuristic New Beijing we find that the world in hugely overpopulated and that a plague is affecting the population killing people and spreading not just to the lower classes but to the highest levels of society, including the Emperor of New Beijing. Scientists are trying to find a cure but they have had no success and people are scared. Living in New Beijing is a young mechanic called Cinder whose reputation proceeds her, she runs a small stall in a street market where she tries to make enough money to support her guardian and her two ‘sisters'. Cinder though is no ordinary girl as she is part human, part robotic - a cyborg. The result of a car accident when she was a child Cinder has no recollection of her life before the accident only that she is now classed as a lower level of being now and that people look down upon her and so she tries to hide her condition.

In the true vein of Cinderella's story Cinder meets Prince Kai, the son of the Emperor when he comes to her for mechanical help for his android robot. There is an immediate spark and talk of a Royal Ball to which Kai wants her to attend. Cinder though is scared that the closer she gets to Kai the more likely he is to discover the truth of what she truly is and so we have all the essential essences of the original story. This though is only scratching the surface of this book.

Woven among the original elements of the fairy tale story we have the other aspects of this book, the battle to find a cure for the disease that is spreading fear through its people, the far off Lunar world whose Queen is determined to make a marriage alliance with Prince Kai in order to give her unprecedented power in the human world. The stories of the history of the Lunar world, the missing princess who may or may not have died in a fire years before. Kai is searching for her as a way to dethrone the evil Lunar Queen and save him from a marriage he knows will place his people in danger but the Lunar Queen holds a solution to the plague that is devastating his land and he feels trapped.

I really enjoyed this book once I managed to get into the world of New Beijing. I must be honest and say for the first few chapters I had to really force myself to suspend all my criticisms and just go with the story. Once I had built enough of a picture of the world in my head I found I flew through this book very quickly, I began to really enjoy the story and the characters and enjoyed it immensely. I think one of the things you need to bear in mind going into the story is that it is the first in a series and as a result along with telling the basic story of Cinder, Meyer is also setting out the playing field for the books that are to follow. It means we do not get a complete story in this book but an introduction to characters who will feature as the series progresses, there is no resolution to their story here but a cliff hanger that will follow into the next.

When you explain this book to other people some look at you like you are crazy, a Cyborg Cinderella sounds a little off the wall and a futuristic setting takes it so far away from the original fairy tale that people find it difficult to see how it could work but Meyer really makes it all come together. It is not a plot by plot recreation of the original story but instead it uses aspects of Cinderella to then shape the initial characters and the world we will follow. It gives us a structure to guide us through the rest of the story she weaves and she does so in a very clever way.

I would say that in honesty I'd give this about 3.5 stars out of 5 and I am now looking forward to reading the next book in the series, Scarlet.

Oh my! This book was so good. Inspired by Cinderella, but with a totally new look, was just perfect. The new technology was not overehelming. The romance was light, which is perfect for book 1. The new order of the world was well explained without being heavy handed or just a monologue of facts. The ‘secret' in this book I figured out about halfway through and was delighted to see how the other characters discovered it. I was discovering all the nods to the original Cinderella story or the other versions there of.
I can't wait to get my hands on book 2.

Honestly, the end kind of made everything else better. This is HIGHLY predictable. Like, there are no surprises in this except that the author is not afraid to kill off characters (which is great), but everything else is very easily called. Anyway, I like where it's going so I gave it 3 stars because as a stand alone book and for the majority of it, it is not perfect, however it is entertaining and it definitely makes me want to keep reading so I will keep reading hoping that the rest are better :)

This review is also featured on Behind the Pages: Cinder

Switch out your glass slippers for mechanical cyborg feet in this imaginative retelling of Cinderella!

Rescued from a horrible accident, Cinder was forced to become a cyborg. And despite the advances in technology, people still discriminate against cyborgs. Cinder is left to fend for herself in a world where most look down on her. Her stepmother doesn't hesitate to let Cinder know she is not wanted in the family. She is a stain on their reputation for what she is and is blamed for the death of her stepfather. Cinder spends most of her days in the market working as a mechanic and earns her keep by fixing whatever she can. Until the day the prince appears at her shop, asking her to fix his robot. Cinder is left speechless, and without a choice, agrees. Cinder's life is about to become a messy web of politics and royal agendas.

Cinder is a young girl many can connect with, struggling to find her place and earn her independence as she comes of age. She battles with awkward moments and understanding the brand-new feelings of attraction. She also makes poor choices because she doesn't know any better and learns from each experience. It was refreshing to read a young adult book that was appropriate. For all the hinted romance, it never goes into the adult realm like so many do these days.

Your heart goes out to Cinder who feels displaced and fearful of people knowing she is a cyborg. The world-building was so well done to describe a society that cannot accept people who are not fully human. The feeling of being on the outside influences all of her actions and Cinder stayed true to her character throughout the entire novel. Even when it was frustrating at times, you understood why she acted as she did.

I highly recommend Cinder and cannot wait to read the next book in The Lunar Chronicles!

this is a re-read for me and i still loved it just as much as i did when i originally read it in 2014!!!

i know a lot of people think this book is overhyped but it's soooo goooood. i knew the big plot twist already but it was cool seeing all the foreshadowing to it that just went right over my head when little 17 year old me read it the first time.

super siked to continue re-reading the rest of the series and read fairest and stars above for the first time. i've been re-reading a bunch of my old favorite books recently to see if i still like them as much as i did when i was a teenager and this one definitely held up! i'm looking forward to re-reading the legend trilogy by marie lu because she has a 4th book coming out (!!!!!!!!!!!!) later this year.

but anyways i don't have much to say about this book other than AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH CINDER AND PRINCE KAI

Very very interesting. I'm glad that she didn't end the book with Kai embracing Cinder for who she is-what she is. And it is more convincing and realistic for people, even the glorious Prince Kai, to have prejudice against cyborgs. It's a common thing in all cultures and for him to accept everything about her is going to be tough for anybody. I quite liked this one! On the next :)

I really wish someone would have told me this book was going to be a part of a series because I might have not read it then. The problem for me in this book was that by the time I was completely engrossed in this novel it was almost over and then it just ended. I also found it difficult to get interested in this novel as I don't know to much about China and I fin I don't generally enjoy novels set in Asia, for some weird reason. Anyways, overall this book is an interesting retelling of Cinderella and in the end I did find myself enjoying it. I will definitely be checking out the next book, as I now have to find out what's going to happen :p

Because I can't for the life of me figure it out!! Now, just knowing how amazing it was, and that I was denying myself the pleasure of this amazing book, just depress me!

Where do I even begin with this book? I went in a little skeptical, unsure if I would really enjoy it or not. Quickly, though, I was sucked in. The first chapter kept me interested and each chapter urged me into the next. It was ridiculously difficult to convince myself to set it down long enough to do anything else. Needless to say, I finished the novel very quickly.

In New Beijing, humans have cyborg parts, there were androids, people on moon (Lunars), and a deadly plague that is slowly ravaging the population. Cinder is a mechanic cyborg. She was not a full cyborg, mind you, she has part cyborg because of an accident that happened when she was young. There was Iko, a house robot that is so hilarious, I loved her as well, there were her stepsisters and her evil stepmother, and there was swoon-worthy prince Kai!!


As a child I loved the classic story Cinderella. The magic of the fairy godmother and the happily ever after. Meyer is able to take relatable characters and mix them with magical amazing stories that everyone loves.
I recommend this book and series to anyone who likes an action filled fantasy.

Cinder is a mechanic, and also a cyborg. Unable to remember her parents, or life before becoming a cyborg, she believes herself to be just another second class citizen of New Beijing. Soon after her operation and adoption, her adoptive father died from the deadly disease letamosis. Hated by her new mother, she keeps her head down and tries to stay out of the way. Until Price Kai walks into her booth at the market. Her life will never be the same. YA is really hit or miss for me. I loved this book though!! I would start to listen to this book, and lose myself in the world created by Marissa Meyer. I am going to start the next one in the morning!

OH MY GOD, WHAT
DID I JUST READ THE MOST EPIC RETELLING OF CINDERELLA EVER IN THE ENTIRE WORLD HISTORY OF CINDERELLA RETELLINGS?
Yes.
I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO SAY, I JUST LOVED IT SO MUCH
IT CAN'T END LIKE THAT, I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW ANYTHING WILL BE FIGURED OUT IF THE NEXT HAS A NEW PROTAGONIST
WILL WE SEE MORE OF KAI AND CINDER, BECAUSE I NEED MORE KAI AND CINDER, I NEED MORE OF CINDER PERIOD. AND KAI.
I DON'T KNOW, MAN, I JUST REALLY FUCKING LOVED IT, LIKE, FUCK, HELP ME, I DON'T OWN SCARLET OR ANY OF THE OTHER BOOKS HOW WILL I SURVIVE????
And, ohmyfuckinggod, Queen Levana, I can't even comprehend the evil that lives inside of that woman, like what even.
Honestly, I feel like reading it again, literally, right now. And I just finished it.

Все, что я могу сказать об этой книге, это действие, действие и еще раз действие. Даже в ущерб раскрытию характеров как главных, так и второстепенных героев. Все они изначально четко разделены на плохих и хороших, действуют соответственно, что вообщем-то скучно. Мир, в котором происходят события, набросан по-черновому, с минимальными деталями, что не дает полностью погрузиться и прочувствовать историю, которую нам рассказывает автор. Тем не менее, сам по себе сюжет увлекателен. Определенно стоит прочесть следующую книгу, т.к. подобной интерпретации истории Золушки я еще не встречала.

O livro estava ótimo.
A autora conseguiu me vender que uma Cinderela ciborgue que trabalha como mecânica era uma boa idéia. O livro tem alguns problemas que deixei passar sem dificuldades. Comprei a maioria dos personagens, e achei um ótimo livro pra faixa etária que ele se propõe (16?), inclusive acho que é um ótimo presente, e daria sem medo para minhas primas mais novas.
O único (grande) problema é como o livro é bem bom até uns 85% e depois disso é só downhill e ele vira uma bola de neve de decisões erradas.

4.5 stars I seriously didn't expect to enjoy this book as much as I did. It was a charming surprise! I really like the twist on the ‘modern' fairytale retelling, and I'll definitely continue on with the series! Can't wait to see how this ~war will end!Totally called that Cinder was Princess Selene though. It wasn't very subtle...

I absolutely loved this retelling of Cinderella. It was so creative and intriguing. I actually felt worse for Cinder than I do for the original Cinderella. Maybe it's just the context of Cinder's life. I mean even though she learns something exciting about herself, it's not a completely happy ending because she still has to escape her current predicament. I look forward to Meyer's retelling of the other fairy tales.

Cinder is a cyborg mechanic who lives with her step mother and two step sisters. She has come to accept her life as a cyborg, though she holds resentment towards to person responsible. After meeting the Prince one day Cinder find herself dealing with situations she never imagined. It was an awesome ready. Loved the story. It didn't have as much action as I somehow convinced myself it would have. But none the less it was amazing to read. Absolutely bring me out of my reading slump. Can't wait to pick up scarlet next.

Es la primera historia en un mundo futurista que leo ya que soy más de otras ambientaciones pasadas pero debo decir que Cinder me ha encandilado.

Aunque comienza algo lento porque la escritora se centra en detallar el mundo y la ambientación sin avanzar mucho en la trama, una vez introducido y sumado a su forma de escribir, hace que la lectura se vuelva muy ágil y amena.

Hay algunas cosas que son predecibles pero eso no lo considero malo porque a mí me hizo estar en tensión todo el rato sabiendo que en cualquier momento podrían revelarse y poner todo patas arriba.

Los personajes son muy carismáticos y la escritora hace un buen papel escribiendo a los personajes malvados porque consigue que les odies y te den tirria.