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Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1)

Marissa Meyer

Start date: October 1, 2015

Finish date: October 31, 2015

Discussion: Read

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What Members Thought

Jul 18, 2013 Kathleen Baldwin rated it it was amazing

Amazing!

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Jun 25, 2019 Andrew Shanks rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, 2019-reading-list

I believe this is my favorite read of the year so far. I liked the aspects that were similar to the original fairytale, but the changes were even better than I could have imagined in my little mind. The main character to me is very strong female and I found this refreshing. I’m excited to start the next book in a few minutes.

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Mar 27, 2017 Madge rated it liked it

Shelves: sci-fi, young-adult

Full review on my blog.

Meh. I was excited about this for a long time, and a few times I almost bought the rest of the series because I was so sure I would love it. I’m glad I didn’t buy the rest before I read this one, because I’m not sure I’ll finish this series.

I was expecting more from this book. I didn’t have super high expectations, but this really let me down. I wanted more world building, and more culture, maybe more complex characters and less predictability.

Cinder was an ok character. I Full review on my blog.

Meh. I was excited about this for a long time, and a few times I almost bought the rest of the series because I was so sure I would love it. I’m glad I didn’t buy the rest before I read this one, because I’m not sure I’ll finish this series.

I was expecting more from this book. I didn’t have super high expectations, but this really let me down. I wanted more world building, and more culture, maybe more complex characters and less predictability.

Cinder was an ok character. I liked that she wasn’t a damsel in distress, and she got things done on her own instead of sitting around waiting for someone else to save her. She was a good character, and I feel like the “not a girly-girl” thing was done pretty well, but I feel like there was way too much emphasis on making her as human as possible.

Kai was actually not bad, which I liked. He wasn’t one of those creepy YA love interests who stalk or manipulate the heroine, and he seemed like an actual good guy. I wish we'd gotten to know more about him, though.

My favorite character was Iko, hands down. That little android, omg. I want a novella or something from her POV. One stepsister I loved, and that was not fair, ugh. The other was horrible and what you would expect if you know anything about Cinderella. Same goes for the stepmother. I wanted to shove both of them off a cliff. I feel like Levana was just a “bad guy” for the sake of being “bad.” She was pretty one-dimensional for me, and I didn’t really care at all about her or what she was doing.

New Beijing is described as being something of a melting pot of different cultures, and I think it was mentioned that there are cultures that don’t even exist anymore in Cinder’s world. I want to know more about that! I just want to see some culture. I mean, I’m white and American and I’ve never been to any other country, but this whole thing felt very white and like it could be set anywhere.

I just wanted more from this story. I don’t know why cyborgs are viewed as less than human, I don’t know anything about the laws and things that are cyborg specific, I don’t know much at all about the world and how people colonized the moon and why they’re so different from people down here. I don’t need the full history, but I’d like to not come out of a first book with more questions than answers. Nothing really surprised me in this book, either. I knew exactly how it was going to play out very early on.

It wasn't awful, but it's not something I loved, and I feel like it will be forgettable for me. ...more

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Sep 08, 2018 Brenda H rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Cinder by Marissa Meyer is the first book in the Lunar Chronicles series. The Lunar Chronicles is a fairytale retelling of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Snow White.

In Cinder, we are introduced to Lin Cinder, a 16 year-old cyborg girl. She’s a gifted mechanic in the city of New Beijing in the Eastern Commonwealth. She lives with her stepmother Audrey who blames her for her husband’s death, and her two stepsisters, Pearl and Peony. Audrey forces Cinder to work in the marketplace ...more

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Oct 16, 2015 Shan ~A~ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 1st-in-series, paranormal, aliens, favorites, sci-fi, completed-series-trilogy

I love retellings of classic fairy-tales and I think this is one of the most inventive that I have ever read. Cinder was amazing and I had a hard time putting it down, even though I wasn't surprised by the revelation of who Cinder is. I remember stopping at one point in excitement and asking my daughter (after explaining what was going on) did she agree with what I thought was happening. We were both right. I will definitely be reading the rest of this series.

...more

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Aug 02, 2018 Cynthia rated it it was amazing

I really enjoyed this book! I really wasn’t sure if I would, and I was hesitant to get into another series, but I am glad I did! Cinder is an awesome character! I loved this fairytale retelling and I will definitely continue the series as soon as possible because I need to know what happens next!

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