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Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1)

Marissa Meyer

Start date: June 1, 2012

Finish date: June 30, 2012

Discussion: Books of the Month

Discussion leader: Claire

Why we're reading this: June 2012 Book of the Month
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Jun 24, 2012 Ronald Lim rated it liked it

Originally from here.

Right from the very beginning of the novel, Meyer is quick to establish the many changes that she has wrought onto the Cinderella story we all know and love.

Gone is the European flavor that most of us remember from the classic Disney film adaptation of this famous fairy tale. Instead, we get New Beijing, a bustling metropolis that is decidedly Asian in flavor and certainly a refreshing departure from the usually Western-centric locations of most of today’s young adult novels Originally from here.

Right from the very beginning of the novel, Meyer is quick to establish the many changes that she has wrought onto the Cinderella story we all know and love.

Gone is the European flavor that most of us remember from the classic Disney film adaptation of this famous fairy tale. Instead, we get New Beijing, a bustling metropolis that is decidedly Asian in flavor and certainly a refreshing departure from the usually Western-centric locations of most of today’s young adult novels.

And New Beijing isn’t just an exotic backdrop for the love story to play out in. It’s a city teeming with conspiracy and unrest, ravaged by a mysterious plague and living under the threat of invasion from the mysterious race of Lunars that live on the Earth’s moon. Meyer’s prose succeeds in giving New Beijing a dirty, gritty feel that is sure to be familiar to anyone who’s lived in a sprawling metropolis.

The fact that all the main characters in the story are Asian is also something to be excited about. In a publishing environment glutted with lily white protagonists and very little in the way of other races and nationalities, it will probably hearten young Asian readers to find heroes and heroines much like themselves.

Also equally entertaining are the ways that Meyer modernizes familiar aspects of the Cinderella story. Cinderella’s glass slippers have now become Cinder’s cyborg foot; the ashes that she slept in have now become grease stains acquired in her work as a mechanic; her carriage has now become a pumpkin-colored gas-powered automobile, a relic from a time long past.

Meyer has also done an exceptional job of expanding the scope of the traditional Cinderella story. For instance, Prince Kai isn’t just someone for the ladies to swoon over. In “Cinder”, he is a fleshed-out character, a monarch facing political and interstellar intrigues at too young an age.

Even the auxiliary characters that surround Cinder are entertaining to read, if a little more one-dimensional compared to Prince Kai. Adri and Peony are pitch perfect as the villains that the readers will probably love to hate, while Iko the cyborg provides the comic relief.

But it is in the character of Cinder that Meyer truly shines. No longer the shrinking violet that she was in the original story, Cinder is a young woman who has a plan, is skilled with her hands, intelligent, and independent. It’s telling that there is no fairy godmother equivalent in Meyer’s version of the Cinderella tale — all the changes that happen in Cinder’s life occur because she herself made it happen.

If there’s anything that hobbles “Cinder”, it is the fact that there is a predictability to the events that happen in the novel, due to the fact that Meyer still has to conform to the conventions of the original story. The specifics may differ, but the general story arc remains the same.

Thankfully, this predictability isn’t an insurmountable flaw. If readers approach “Cinder” with an open heart and mind, they definitely won’t regret taking the journey that the novel will take them on. ...more

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Feb 11, 2012 Claire rated it really liked it

Shelves: owned-paperback, tmrs

Cinder is a very refreshing retelling of the beloved classic, Cinderella. If you thought that mixing sci-fi with fairytale is not a good combination, better think again or better yet, grab a copy of Cinder and read for yourself.

Cinder is set in the distant future where cyborgs and robots are present in every household. Cinder is a mechanic who lives with her horrible stepmother and two stepsisters. Cinder was that good with her trade that their very own Crown Prince Kai approached her booth in t Cinder is a very refreshing retelling of the beloved classic, Cinderella. If you thought that mixing sci-fi with fairytale is not a good combination, better think again or better yet, grab a copy of Cinder and read for yourself.

Cinder is set in the distant future where cyborgs and robots are present in every household. Cinder is a mechanic who lives with her horrible stepmother and two stepsisters. Cinder was that good with her trade that their very own Crown Prince Kai approached her booth in the market to hire her services. I know, I know girl meets boy, boy looks into girl's eyes and bam! They fall in love. Hold it right there, that is not happening here or at least not that early into the book anyway and it will not be that easy.

Meeting Prince Kai changed Cinder's life in more ways than one. With a secret between them, a plague, a devious queen and Prince Kai's own problems, Cinder's world will get a whole lot bigger and more complicated.

I have to admit that I was able to figure out how things will be likely to turn out even before I got to half of the novel. Weird thing is I wasn't annoyed by it. Not even a tiny flicker. In fact, it made the journey to the end of the book even more exciting. I was eager to see if I was right with my hunches and along that page-turning journey, never did I feel disappointed in anyway.

I’m very well familiar with Cinder's "character" since I grew up reading, hearing and watching Cinderella's story. What made me love Cinder (and totally think of her as separate from Cinderella) was how self-sufficient she is (I admire her mechanical prowess and all), how loving she is of her sister Peony, her bond with her faithful friend and sidekick Iko, her history and how she handled her interesting relationship with Prince Kai.

Cinder made me cry, laugh, squeal in fan girl delight over Cinder and Kai (okay, okay OVER KAI), dread Letumosis, freak out a bit over the queen and feel the heartbreak not just once but twice...or thrice, I think. :D

...more

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Jan 10, 2012 Meann rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: the-mysterious-reading-society, e-book

Review to follow...

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Jun 23, 2012 Leia rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook

Jun 16, 2012 Lianne rated it really liked it

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