Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1) in Around the World in 80 Books

Jul 29, 2012 Nadine in NY Jones rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult, based-on-a-folk-tale, fantasy-and-sci-fi, cyberpunk, dystopian-and-post-apocalyptic, retelling-a-classic, favorite-series, lily, sf-romance

from the NPR poll of best young adult fiction

HIGHLY engaging! When I started reading this, all I knew was that it was the Cinderella story with a robot. I recommend going in without any other knowledge - this way, I was pleasantly surprised by a few plot points that I otherwise would have known.

One important fact that I had been confused on: an android is a robot shaped like a person, a cyborg is a person with some robotic parts (think Bionic Woman, not the Terminator). So, Cinder is a human b ...more

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Jan 03, 2015 Sarah rated it liked it

Shelves: audio, young-adult, magic-sci-fi-fantasy, dystopian

2.5 stars rounded up to 3 because the audiobook kept me entertained while I cleaned.

I recently admitted to YA romance being a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine. And usually, it is. But there's this thing that some YA authors do where they make their heroine such a Special Snowflake that the hero can't help but fall in love, and flirts with the Special Snowflake, who has absolutely no idea why said hero is paying them attention. These Snowflakes are Special, and they are dense.

Cinder may be the Sp 2.5 stars rounded up to 3 because the audiobook kept me entertained while I cleaned.

I recently admitted to YA romance being a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine. And usually, it is. But there's this thing that some YA authors do where they make their heroine such a Special Snowflake that the hero can't help but fall in love, and flirts with the Special Snowflake, who has absolutely no idea why said hero is paying them attention. These Snowflakes are Special, and they are dense.

Cinder may be the Specialest Snowflakiest of them all. She's a cyborg. But wait! There's more! She's also (view spoiler)! I marked that as a spoiler even though anyone with half a brain can see it coming from light years away.

I know this book is YA, so my next comment may seem really obvious, but I found this book so juvenile. I've read a lot of YA fiction that didn't seem so childish to me. I actually pictured this in my head as a Saturday Morning Cartoon, like Pokemon or Power Puff Girls. I pictured the android servant as Rosie from the Jetsons and Prince Kai with spiky hair like a dark-haired Link and Peony with big anime eyes and a Sailor Moon hairstyle.

Also, it's set in "New Beijing" but other than one part where they eat dumplings with chopsticks, there is nothing Asian about this. It's very, very Western in feeling and another reviewer hit the nail on the head when she said that Meyer missed an opportunity to delve into the sociopolitical ramifications of all of Asia becoming the Eastern Commonwealth and being ruled by a Chinese emperor. WWIV is alluded to, but no word on what caused it or who exactly the vitors were or how they won.

Still, I give points for the originality of the concept. Cinderella as a cyborg who loses her bionic foot instead of her shoe is actually pretty clever.

I'm told the books get better as the series progresses so I'm willing to stick with it, but this is low on the list of best YA series for me. ...more

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Jan 08, 2012 alana rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, intercultural-china, dystopia, steampunk, series-in-progress

This re-imagining of Cinderella takes place on a post World War 4 Earth which is struggling with a global plague outbreak, rising tensions with the Lunar people, and on-going racism against cyborgs. Cinder is a cyborg teenager and mechanic in New Beijing which is the capital of the Eastern Commonwealth (therefore, this version of Beijing is an odd mash-up of east Asian cultures). The story unfolds as the nation prepares for a new emperor, and Cinder's personal turmoils begin to intertwine with i ...more

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Jan 29, 2014 Pam rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya-fiction

TITLE: Cinder
Date Read: 01/29/14
RATING: 4.5/B+
GENRE/PUB DATE/PUBLISHER/# OF PGS: YA/2012/MacMillan/390 pgs
SERIES/STAND ALONE: 1st in the Lunar Chronicles

TIME/PLACE: Future/New Beijing
CHARACTERS: Cinder/cyborg young female mechanic living w/ guardian step-mother; Prince Kai ruler of the Eastern Commenwealth

FIRST LINES: The screw through Cinder's ankle had rusted, the engraved cross marks worn to a mangled circle.

COMMENTS: I really liked this book & intend to read the next one in the series. I ...more

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Jul 23, 2017 Jana rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: x2017-reading-challenge

Read for Week 35 of my 2017 Reading Challeng: A book where one of the main characters is royalty. I enjoyed this book a lot more than I expected, and have added the second in the series to my TBR list. Too bad I didn't choose to classify this for Week 38, a novel inspired by a work of classic literature, as this was a very close retelling of Cinderella (as if you couldn't guess). ...more

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Feb 16, 2022 Ann rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2022-aty-52

Prompt: Monopoly token on the cover

Finally, a pageturner YA dystopia after the disappointment that was Maze Runner. I liked how the Cinderella story is retold in a fresh way - she's grimy from being a mechanic instead of sleeping at a hearth, a gas car as her pumpkin, a tiny bit of humanity from the stepmother, etc.
I disliked the species/immigrant prejudice from someone downtrodden who should have more empathy - Cinder- and the fairy godmother equivalent but maybe I'm just projecting my ideal ...more

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Jul 30, 2016 Katie rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, female-author, fairy-tales

I liked this book way more than I thought I would. I found the story and the futuristic world interesting and engaging. Probably more of a 3.5, but it gets the extra half point because of my low expectations.

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