Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Apr 01, 2012 D.G. rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, audiobook, reviewed, science-fiction, retellings

Review of audiobook version narrated by Rebecca Soler.

Cinder is the first part of a bigger story arc that as far I understand, will span 4 books based on different fairy tales. Although Cinder’s story mostly follows “Cinderella”, the book is also intertwined with “Snow White” and that conflict is not resolved here. So if you don’t like cliffhangers, then I suggest you wait until all the books are published.

Putting Cinderella & Snow White in a science fiction setting was very clever and one of th Review of audiobook version narrated by Rebecca Soler.

Cinder is the first part of a bigger story arc that as far I understand, will span 4 books based on different fairy tales. Although Cinder’s story mostly follows “Cinderella”, the book is also intertwined with “Snow White” and that conflict is not resolved here. So if you don’t like cliffhangers, then I suggest you wait until all the books are published.

Putting Cinderella & Snow White in a science fiction setting was very clever and one of the things I enjoyed most about the book. Unlike most fairy tales though, the prince does more than kiss the girl at the end. Kai was one of the sweetest love interests I’ve seen in YA recently; he was cute, nice, responsible and caring. You could tell how much he wanted to do the right thing and how much the burdens of his role weighted on him.

Cinder, on the other hand, wasn’t that interesting but I think that was because she was more constrained on having to follow Cinderella’s fate. There was a lot ‘woe is me’ and bad treatment from the step-mother/step-sister that she just took on the chin.

Ms. Meyer used political unrest between nations to bridge the two fairy tales but they didn’t make much sense. :( Why were the Lunars so much powerful than Earthans when they didn’t have the same technology and couldn’t have the same population as Earth? (Surface Area in the Moon is around the size of Africa). Whatever advantages they got after their evolution were easily counter-maneuvered (don’t get close to them, use things with reflective surfaces and have the androids fight them) so acting like the Lunar Queen was Hitler seemed slightly ridiculous. And strategically, it didn’t make any sense for Kai to take her shit. She was in his country with only a few people defending her so it would have been really easy to put a bullet in her head, which is what Heads of State do with people who threaten their country (see Osama Bin Laden.) Also, the pandemic sub-plot was really weak and it depended on Earthans forgetting all the advances in Epidemiology of the last century.

The narration was adequate but too deliberate - I had it at 2x during 70% of the book. She did voices and accents well though but I think she really needs to speed up her pace.

At this point I don’t feel like continuing the series but I’m sure when the next book comes out, I’ll change my mind. The sci-fi plus fairy tale angle is too novel to pass up. ...more

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Jul 05, 2012 Carrie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, library, young-adult, 1st-in-a-series, teen, fairytale-like, aliens, hardcover, red-shoe, cyborg

Rating 3.5/4

I love the cover of this book, I am after all a sucker for red shoes. It is a very look at me, pick me up and read me cover. Well atleast that's what it says to me.

So I picked it up and read it, well first I had to request it to be sent from another library as mine had "lost" it's copy. Meaning someone enjoyed the book and didn't want to share it.

On to the book itself.

I don't know if others agree with me or if I'm in the minority as I have yet to pay much attention to the other rev ...more

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Feb 14, 2012 Christal rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: magic, female-lead, fairy-tale-retellings, ya-and-na, steam-punk, sci-fi-aka-lasers, aliens, androids-cyborgs-robots, 2012-favorites

Cinder was a sci-fiction/steampunky/cyborg re-telling of the Cinderella story. I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to the sequel.

The beginning feels very true to the original tale expcet for the fact that Cinder is a cyborg. Her mother and father are dead, her adopted family (except her sister Pearl) hate her, she has little to no personal rights, and she is blamed for everything. As her sisters are getting ready to attend the ball to hopefully catch the eye of the Prince, Cinder is regul ...more

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Jun 25, 2012 Marla rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: award-winner, challenged, science-fiction, fantasy, chick-lit, romance, series, made-me-laugh, young-adult, retelling

3.5 stars. Buddy Read and Group Read. I enjoyed this retelling, but retellings are not really my thing and I found it too predictable. I am looking forward to the next books in the series, but due to the cliffhangers, I will wait until at least the third book is out.

Likes:
* Iko was an excellent sidekick! Iko arrived with Cinder.
* Peony was sweet
* Cinder is a spunky, talented mechanic with secrets she doesn't even know about herself
* Lunar Queen Levana and her ambassador, head thaumaturge, Mistre ...more

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Aug 03, 2011 Kaity rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, dac-2012, science-fiction

Review originally posted on Bitten Books and given 5 stars.

Cinder had one of the most exciting, interesting and unique opening lines, chapter... everything that I've ever had the pleasure of reading. If the first chapter didn't suck you in and swallow you whole, maybe you were reading an imposter because I was utterly powerless to resist. And I actually did try to resist. I bought Cinder but planned on reading another book first. I only wanted to take a peek into Cinder... annndd instead I ended Review originally posted on Bitten Books and given 5 stars.

Cinder had one of the most exciting, interesting and unique opening lines, chapter... everything that I've ever had the pleasure of reading. If the first chapter didn't suck you in and swallow you whole, maybe you were reading an imposter because I was utterly powerless to resist. And I actually did try to resist. I bought Cinder but planned on reading another book first. I only wanted to take a peek into Cinder... annndd instead I ended up reading the whole thing as soon as humanly possibly.

I loved all of the new twists and turns that aren't in the Cinderella I'm familiar with (Disney, anyone?) but also loved the hints at the original story. Iko as Cinder's 'helper mice' was my favorite. The plague was an especially interesting addition and gave the story an even grittier feel than it already had as a cyborg living in a post-war world. I also liked the cyborg draft that came with that and Cinder's conflicting emotions because of her sister. It definitely made the reader have to step back and consider that gray area between right and wrong. The draft was horrifying, especially the public's reasoning behind it, but at the same time we are left with the question 'does the end justify the means if it saves the lives of so many dying people'.

I fell madly in love with all of the characters especially Cinder, Iko and Kai. I liked how strong and distinctive they were. They were actually real; they had fears and doubts and wishes. I really enjoyed how were we never told 'who' these characters were explicitly, but by the end of the book 'knew' them completely. Cinder is one of the best female heroines I have ever read about. Her 'making' her own magic was especially important to me, as was the fact that she relied on herself rather than sit and cry like the Disney version.

I loved the ending. Normally I hate cliffhangers but I found Cinder to be tied up just enough to satisfy me yet make me long desperately for Scarlet. Don't pick up the book and expect and quick, fun read. I loved the book to pieces but certain parts destroyed me. I cried several times, I got so angry and was ready to bite off the heads of anyone who dared interrupt my reading etc. Cinder was a very powerful book. I enjoyed it immensely but I don't think I could ever call it a 'just for fun' read. ...more

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Jan 20, 2012 Logan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: borrowed-library, young-adult, own-bought-ebook, sci-fi, 2013-books-read

If you couldn’t tell from the summary, Cinder is a loose retelling of the Cinderella story. Cinder is a cyborg who was adopted as a child by her father, who soon after died and left her in the care of her nasty stepmother. As a mechanic, she is responsible for the mechanical upkeep of her stepmother’s household machines. In her spare time, she dreams of escaping to a life of freedom on her own.

What could have been a somewhat interesting tale about a cyborg who wants to be treated as an equal qui ...more

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