Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1) in Hype or Like Friday

Jul 28, 2013 ❤ Aly ❤ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2015

Reread May 2019
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I enjoyed this book a lot! This book was a twist on Cinderella, however there was a big difference between Cinder and Cinderella. I enjoyed Marissa Meyer's writing style. I liked the technology references as well.

(view spoiler) ...more

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Apr 13, 2017 Dani ❤️ Perspective of a Writer rated it liked it

Shelves: g-t-future, genre-sci-fi, imo-neat-premise, g-c-asian, g-a-magic, fiction-young-adult, 2017, series-book-1, stars-3, g-r-aliens

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Cinder is a cyborg with a brain interference that has given her an uncanny ability to fix things (robots, hovers, her own malfunctioning parts), making her the best mechanic in New Beijing even if she's only 16 years old! Given the VIT (very important task) of fixing a broken android by Prince Kai himself she is distracted when she is sold into plague research... what does the doctor in charge learn from his newest guinea pig?

I've been putting o ...more

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Jan 24, 2012 Michael rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult, fantasy, read-in-2012

A classic fairy tale re-told in a steam punk universe should have been a lot more fun to read than Cinder ended up being.

Part of this could be that I'm not necessarily the target audience for this book. It's from the young adult section and I can easily see how young readers entranced by the Twilight novels might lap this one up with a spoon. (Add to the conveniences, Cinder is written by an author who shares the last name Meyer. And don't think I wasn't thinking that Marissa Meyer must somehow A classic fairy tale re-told in a steam punk universe should have been a lot more fun to read than Cinder ended up being.

Part of this could be that I'm not necessarily the target audience for this book. It's from the young adult section and I can easily see how young readers entranced by the Twilight novels might lap this one up with a spoon. (Add to the conveniences, Cinder is written by an author who shares the last name Meyer. And don't think I wasn't thinking that Marissa Meyer must somehow be related to Stephanie Meyer as I read this one). However, I've heard a lot of buzz for this book among readers who aren't necessarily the Bella/Edward/Jacob demographic.

I can't help but think they're going to be a bit disappointed as well.

The novel starts off well, introducing us to Cinder, a cyborg who lives with her step-mother and step-sisters. She's good at repairing items and keeps her adopted family afloat, despite the scorn and ridicule she regularly receives. Cinder even has her own version of a talking mouse as her one friend.

Thrown into are several other elements included a deadly disease that can strike without warning and is currently killing the ruler of Earth. There's also a conflict with the rulers of the Moon and there's also a dash of lingering questions about the true nature of Cinder's identity.

The questions surrounding Cinder and her role in the political game being played are a bit too obviously foreshadowed. I guessed the revelation that is supposed to be the hook for the next novel in the series a couple of hundred pages before the novel got around to telling us what it was. That lead to large portions of the middle of the book feeling like they were treading water, waiting for the inevitable revelation and for something to actually spark the plot and move it forward.

Of course, there's also a romantic angle of the apparent attraction between Cinder and the prince who is thrust into ruling the realm. And while we all know where it's headed, I do wish Meyer had put a bit more originality into the journey to the inevitable destination.

Ultimately, I came away from Cinder disappointed that the story has such potential but doesn't live up to it. It also suffers from the "series-itis" plaguing so many of today's new releases. The novel works too hard to set-up a long term story which will sell lots of future installments while failing to make the characters or universe interesting enough to make more than just mildly curious to return and see how all these things play out. This is another book that makes the argument that sometimes having a single, stand-alone novel is a better idea than a watered down series. ...more

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Dec 01, 2015 Sam Falston rated it liked it

WARNING - SOME SPOILERS!

Widely popular due to its unique premise and accessible style, Cinder it is a sci-fi retelling of Cinderella set in a future Earth reshaped by war. Told from the POV of view of a young cyborg named Cinder the story takes place in the city of New Beijing, located in the Eastern Commonwealth. It is the first in Meyer’s fairytale retellings, being followed by Scarlet (Little Red Riding Hood), Cress (Rapunzel) and Winter (Snow White).

Cinder is an impoverished cyborg owned by WARNING - SOME SPOILERS!

Widely popular due to its unique premise and accessible style, Cinder it is a sci-fi retelling of Cinderella set in a future Earth reshaped by war. Told from the POV of view of a young cyborg named Cinder the story takes place in the city of New Beijing, located in the Eastern Commonwealth. It is the first in Meyer’s fairytale retellings, being followed by Scarlet (Little Red Riding Hood), Cress (Rapunzel) and Winter (Snow White).

Cinder is an impoverished cyborg owned by her ‘wicked’ stepmother Adri – as cyborgs are second class citizens she is bound to her stepmother and forced to support her by working as a mechanic. An encounter with the handsome Prince Kai, heir to the Commonwealth, is one of the catalysts that send Cinder on her adventure. The other is her step-sister falling prey to a much-feared illness that has been ravaging the Earth. These events propel Cinder into a world of dangerous politics, royal intrigue and forbidden romance.

The villain is the notorious Levanna, Queen of the Moon. A civilization on the moon is a wonderful sci-fi concept and the ‘Lunars’ are set up as cold and manipulative with the power to influence the thoughts and actions of others. Levanna – the most dangerous of the Lunars, wants to subjugate the people of Earth and sees a marriage to the Prince as a way to achieve her ambitions. The conflict between our feisty heroine and the ruthless Queen is brilliantly foreshadowed throughout the novel, leading to a much-anticipated confrontation.

I read Cinder as a part of a book club (Clockwork readers) and rated it 3.5 stars on Goodreads. Here are the chief reasons for that rating.

Likes:

- The relationship between Cinder and Kai. It is a love story, but the affection grows gradually making it more realistic. The two characters also interact well.
- The sci-fi elements. I enjoy sci-fi, but sometimes find the concepts too complicated. This novel is ‘sci-fi light’.
- The villain. Levanna is an excellent villain (I have always believed that a good villain makes a good story).
- Pacing. This novel is fast-paced and never leaves you bored.
- Plot. A very unique and interesting concept.

Dislikes:

- World-building. I was left wanting to know more about this futuristic world and its people. Perhaps the author was worried about slowing the pace down to add more detail, but in my opinion the novel would have benefited from this.
- Lack of Asian elements. Related to the world-building, it just seemed that New Beijing had no Asian flavor – it could have just as easily been New York.
- Cyborg hate. It just did not make sense to me that people who have benefited from the life-saving science would be so despised by society. Surely altering yourself to be stronger or smarter would be an ambition for many?
- Predictability. I knew how it was going to end from about 1/3 of the way in. ...more

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Jun 13, 2016 Zezee rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, library-books, sci-fi

As posted on Zezee with Books.

some spoilers
Cinder is a futuristic young-adult sci-fi novel that was quick and fun to read. It’s a slight retelling of the Cinderella fairytale that takes place in a future where people live on the moon and travel by spaceships and hovers instead of planes and cars, and have ID chips installed in their arms. Some people, called Lunars, have special abilities akin to magical powers, while others, called cyborgs, are bonded to mechanical parts to compensate for amput
As posted on Zezee with Books.

some spoilers
Cinder is a futuristic young-adult sci-fi novel that was quick and fun to read. It’s a slight retelling of the Cinderella fairytale that takes place in a future where people live on the moon and travel by spaceships and hovers instead of planes and cars, and have ID chips installed in their arms. Some people, called Lunars, have special abilities akin to magical powers, while others, called cyborgs, are bonded to mechanical parts to compensate for amputations and other alterations to their body. However, because of the power Lunars have and their tyrannical queen who rules the moon, Lunars are despised by earthlings, and earthlings who have mechanical enhancements are also disliked, which makes social interactions difficult for our titular character, Linh Cinder, who is a cyborg.

Cinderella was my favorite fairytale when I was a kid, so it was fun to see how Meyer reworked it for her story. I like that she doesn’t try to overtly include all elements of the fairytale. Instead, the obvious parts of the fairytale help to define Cinder (she is hated by her stepmother and one of her stepsisters, she captures the prince’s eye but is prevented from attending the ball, she’s a mechanic so she often has smudges and grease stains on her body and clothing, etc.), while the smaller details that make the fairytale worthwhile are subtly worked in and are simply hinted at in passing (the “glass slipper” left behind as Cinder flees the ball and the ball itself, which is like the ball in the fairytale and not (I love that she literally crashes it)).

Cinder appealed to me immediately. I like that she’s a mechanic (I love it when female characters take on traditionally male jobs) and a tomboy, and also that she operates on the fringes of her society’s norm and doesn’t care much for what is popular. But what I love the most about her is that she creates her own opportunities. In Disney’s Cinderella, which is the one I grew up reading, Cinderella has to rely on magic and Prince Charming to free her from a life she dislikes. However, Cinder uses her talents and knowledge to devise a plan to free herself. And I think it would have worked if she didn’t care so much about Prince Kaito and her planet.

Apart from Cinder, I also like Iko, the family’s android. Iko is very girly but is more like a teenager than Cinder. Also, Iko more so embodies Cinderella’s characteristics than Cinder since Iko is the one who’s made to handle all the household chores and who sorely wishes to attend the ball. If the world wasn’t ending, Cinder wouldn’t give two shits about that damn ball — an over-exaggeration but kind of true since it’s desperation that drives Cinder to the ball. But basically, I like how well Cinder and Iko’s personalities play off each other.

Speaking of personalities, a topic the story touches on is what defines us as human beings, what makes us human? Iko sorely wishes to be a real girl (she reminds me of Pinocchio) and because of a glitch in her system, she has more personality than the average android, making her seem humanlike in her personality. When she’s destroyed and one of Cinder’s stepsisters dies, Cinder takes their ID chips. It’s her way of keeping those she cares about with her — her way of preserving who they are.

I should discuss the antagonist, Queen Levana, but I don’t have much to say about her. She didn’t stand out to me, and she seems very one-dimensional, just mean and evil. There’s no complexity there.

Overall: ★★★★★

I rate books based on my enjoyment of them, mostly, and this one was very entertaining. It has its faults, but they weren’t many and by the story’s end, I was eager to start the next book in the series. I look forward to reading more. I’d like more backstory on Queen Levana and I’d also like to know why people decided to migrate to the moon. ...more

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Apr 18, 2015 Poulami rated it it was amazing

Shelves: paranormal-fantasy-young-adult

I'm so glad I decided to read this book. I had to, Cinderella is my all time favourite. I haven't read many fairytale retellings but the ones I've read I didn't like it. But this was serious awsome, I didn't imagine this could be so epic.

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

The plot was brilliantly done. I loved New Beijing. Cinder is a citizen of that town where she is a mechanic, under appreciated by her step-mother and one of her step-sisters. The other step-sister, Pe ...more

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Jan 29, 2012 Jean ~ Kindle Queen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. It's actually more a sci-fi YA book. I was fascinated at how Ms. Meyer incorporated the Cinderella fairy tale into the story of a cyborg. She added a lot more that I didn't expect. I really enjoyed the main character, Cinder. She's so spunky and likeable. Yikes! The stepmother was just so evil. I was really angry with her. I found myself thinking about the book when I wasn't reading, which is a sign of a good book for me. I read through it quickly ...more

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Jan 28, 2020 Nicki ⍣ rated it liked it

I liked it! I’m interested to read more and see where this story goes. 😀

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Dec 18, 2013 Elizabeth Green rated it it was amazing

5 Stars!!

This book was amazing. I would give it ten stars if it were an option. I love the premise of the story. Its also a very different retailing of Cinderella than any other I have encounter. I the world building lack just slightly in this book. However, I believe that this was done on purpose has to have the reader uncovering the mystery along with Cinder. I loved the character building I contacted with several of the characters. I would love to learn more about Luna and why it is the way i ...more

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Dec 15, 2014 Debby (Alwaysbooking) rated it really liked it

This is the first book in the Lunar Chronicles it is a twist on the normal princess stories. This one is a different version of Cinderella. I thought the author thinking of Cinderella as a cyborg was rather unique, and it played out well throughout the story.

Of course there are evil step sisters(only one is actually mean), and an evil stepmother. Most importantly there is a dreamy prince whom doesn't want to be a king. Cinder the Cyborg is a great character she is full of heart and spirit. She ...more

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Jul 23, 2015 Sarah A rated it liked it

Shelves: retellings, completed-in-2016

Fun sci-fi retelling of Cinderella. Interested to see where the series takes me. I'm hovering at a solid 3.5, mainly because I was able to figure out the main twist very early on. ...more

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