Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1) in Addicted to YA

Feb 07, 2014 Angie Taylor rated it really liked it

This book took me a while to get into, but once I did, I was hooked. It's by far my favorite, most original retelling of Cinderella I've ever read. I really enjoyed it. It was fairly predictable, and I knew who Cinder was from the very beginning, but who cares? When it's a good story, sometimes the predictability doesn't matter! ...more

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Jan 04, 2012 Sasha rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I really love retellings—especially fairy tales and myths. So right off the bat, I knew that Cinder was right up my alley. Plus, it was a dystopian, sci-fi retelling of Cinderella, which sounded amazing. And, for the most part, my instincts about this book were right. Cinder was a fun, quick, and original retelling of the classic fairy tale. On this reimagined, futuristic Earth, increasingly strained political ties and disease wrack the population of New Beijing. The emperor is dying of the incu I really love retellings—especially fairy tales and myths. So right off the bat, I knew that Cinder was right up my alley. Plus, it was a dystopian, sci-fi retelling of Cinderella, which sounded amazing. And, for the most part, my instincts about this book were right. Cinder was a fun, quick, and original retelling of the classic fairy tale. On this reimagined, futuristic Earth, increasingly strained political ties and disease wrack the population of New Beijing. The emperor is dying of the incurable plague that has run rampant across the world. A population grows restless, and a threat emerges from the Lunars, a race of evolved humans with unnatural abilities and a desire to dominate Earth and its peoples. Led by the evil Queen Levana, they search for the lost moon princess in order to kill her, while with the other hand attempt to supplant the young and green emperor’s son, Kaito.

The main character, Cinder, is an android: part human, part robot. As a result of this, she is treated as a second-class citizen by all who know of her condition, particularly her stepmother Adri, who uses her both as a breadwinner and housemaid. Right away, Cinder proves herself to be a strong, capable protagonist. Her rapport with the Prince, who comes into her mechanic shop looking to repair a robot, is witty and shows that even though she’s attracted to him she knows what the real important things are, such as protecting her youngest stepsister. She is curious about the world around her and doesn’t wait for other people to step in and fight for her. Cinder is impulsive and quite easy to identify with, despite having wires, a hybrid brain and neural network, and a prosthetic robot foot.

The love interest, Prince Kaito, has swoon-worthy potential, but impressively the author Ms. Meyer deftly manages to let the romance take a backburner to the main plot, which is the threat of war between the Earth and the Moon. The setting has lots of interesting facets as well; the world Meyer introduces the reader to is fascinating, especially New Beijing. However, as always, I would have loved to have more details about this new Earth. We learn only peripherally about the culture and the current state of politics on Earth. I hope that in future book installments, a more rich description of Earth (and maybe the Moon as well!) will be present.

I really felt like what the book lacked most was background, particularly background on the Lunars. Why are they on the moon? How did they get there in the first place? How did they develop their powers? Are they all evil? Why are they so hostile? Questions upon questions are left unanswered in Cinder, which left me feeling like a large part of the story was missing. It didn’t help that the book ended on a cliffhanger!

Ultimately, I think that this book could have been more interesting if it weren’t saddled with trying to resemble the Cinderella tale so much (even though I love retellings, as I’ve stated before). In trying to keep true to the fairy tale, I think, Ms. Meyer sacrificed potential plot turns that would have given the reader more insight into the world and peoples she has created. Overall, Cinder was a fun, quick read and an original retelling of a classic tale. It leaves details out that would have made it a more fully-developed story. Despite this, I’m really looking forward to the next book, where hopefully all my questions will be answered.

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Jul 26, 2014 Melanie rated it it was amazing

Anyone who know me knows I am a sucker for a Cinderella story almost to the point of obsession, and this one was no different. I love the world she created and I love the tie in to the fairy tail. I think one of my favorite things about this series is how each of the books simultaneously follows a classic fairy tale while tying into the previous book, while also coming up with an entirely new story altogether. Pretty clever.

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