Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1) in Bookworms Anonymous

Jun 18, 2016 Giulia China rated it really liked it

Cinder is the first book in the Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer; as you might have already gasp, by the title and the book cover, it's a retelling of the classic Cinderella fairy tales with a twist. We find our self in a futuristic setting, after the end of the IV World War, peace and alliance had been settling for 126 years on earth - but now a deadly plague ravages the population and from the space, an evil queen threaten to start a war.

The story takes place in the city of New Beijing Cinder is the first book in the Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer; as you might have already gasp, by the title and the book cover, it's a retelling of the classic Cinderella fairy tales with a twist. We find our self in a futuristic setting, after the end of the IV World War, peace and alliance had been settling for 126 years on earth - but now a deadly plague ravages the population and from the space, an evil queen threaten to start a war.

The story takes place in the city of New Beijing, under the power of Emperor Rika who rules over the Eastern Commonwealth. Here we get to know the story of Cinder and prince Kaito and who their life will get tangled together.
Cinder is a cyborg and works as a mechanics. She has no memory of her past before falling under the custody of her mean step-mother, Adri.
Cinder does work hard to bring money for the her family, while being abused by her step mom and sisters, that's something that didn't differ from the original story; even though she does get along well with on of the two sister, Peony. She will cross the charming Prince Kai path, when he comes asking for her help to fix his android - but what did start with a simple mechanical task will bring herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle.
Caught between what she wants and what she has to do, she will have to undercover secrets from the past in other to protect the future.

It was a light read.
The writing was simple, the story well balanced and paced. I think that the writer didn't do a good job with the world building living a lot of questions unanswered: Who are the Lunar? Why did they come to be on the moon? Why is queen Levana interested in the earth?

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So many questions still linger in my head. I would have liked a bit of background; the book focus his attention only on the city of Beijing not even giving you a complex configuration of the it but just an idea. Also the characters, apart from Cinder and Kai whom did have a good complexity, were only sketched out.

It still was an entertaining read and I hope there will more space for all those unanswered questions in the next books. It feels like the beginning of another story....

3.5/5 stars ...more

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Jun 04, 2015 Alli rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy-etc, ya, dystopian-apocalyptic

Wow! this was a great fun read!

I thoroughly enjoyed the ride I was taken on with this reinterpretation of the classic Cinderella story. I have always loved all different adaptations of this fairy tale but this one was a completely different concept.

We are introduced to Cinder, a mechanic, who lives with her adoptive family in New Beijing. She is different in that she is part cyborg. A prequel can be found if you read Glitches Free online version of Glitches .

There are similarities to the typical ...more

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Dec 18, 2016 Sara Jesus rated it liked it

Shelves: scifi-fiction, distopias, retelings

"Cinder" parecia um livro interessante.... Oferecendo uma nova visão da história da gata borralheira. Só que esta Cinderela é uma cyborg, uma famosa mecânica da Nova Pequim.
Achei a temática interessante. E encontrei alguns elementos do conto de fadas original. Podemos encontrar a madrasta, que nesta caso é a sua guardiã legal, que continua a maltrata-la. E clara também temos o famoso príncipe.
Contudo esta história não me cativou como esperava. Não encontro nesta Cinderela a sua vontade de sonh ...more

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Nov 03, 2014 Becky ♡The Bookworm♡ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016-books, 2016-challenge-books, 1st-in-series, steampunk, romance, young-adult, science-fiction, theme-fairy-tale-retellings, 2016-big-city, ptp-round-6

I've heard so many fabulous things about this series and I'm happy to report that I was not mislead! Cinder is a fun mashup of Cinderella and science fiction fantasy. I enjoyed picking out all the similarities and differences to the fairy tale princess...er...should I say cyborg mechanic with a rebellious streak?

I also loved the characterization. The evil stepmother and Queen Levana were definitely evil, Prince Kai was wise beyond his years, honorable and swoon-worthy, and Cinder's little robot ...more

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Apr 12, 2016 Becky ♡The Bookworm♡ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016-books, 1st-in-series, romance, science-fiction, read-with-doug, retellings-fairy-tale, fantasy, action-adventure, dystopian, to-re-read

***Second Read & BR of Audio w/The Hubsters***

Cinder was even better on the second time thru! The Hubsters and I enjoyed Rebecca Soler's narration and found it to be extremely well executed! You know you've found a winner when you begin to question how many narrators are working on a book. She has a great range of voices and her interpretation of high emotions (grief, rage, fear, etc.) were flawless. I personally have a hard time with narrators who interpret angry = loud. Who wants to consta ...more

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Aug 10, 2016 Julie rated it really liked it

This book is great. I understand what a lot of reviewers means when they say this book is a bit shallow we don't get a lot explained and the deeper themes in the book is not that reflected on. But it still triggers something in the reader, it challenges our idea about what is human and what is machine.

The concept of something part macine part human falling in love, is an idea that i though i would struggle with. But the author is amazing, her writing is magical and her worldbuilding is so vivid. ...more

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Jan 08, 2014 Mara Lee rated it it was amazing

So great! Cinder is a way more inspiring heroine than an old Disney princess!

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Jan 07, 2016 Brex (Bookosaurus_Rex) rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy-sci-fi, young-adult

This book is good if you want a light, exciting read. It was good enough that I didn't want to put it down, but I didn't find myself fiercely attached to any of the characters. That being said, I did like it enough that I want to finish the series, but it wasn't like Harry Potter where I NEEDED to read the next one asap and lost sleep over. I do have a feeling that the Lunar series will eventually grow on me more, though. ...more

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