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Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1)

Marissa Meyer

Start date: September 1, 2013

Finish date: September 30, 2013

Discussion: Group Read

Why we're reading this: Fairy Tale Retellings Theme
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What Members Thought

Jul 03, 2014 Ada Nitu rated it really liked it

Actual rating: 4.5 stars

This was so good! But that cliffhanger... And I have to wait for at least a couple months to get the second book, since I am on a book-buying ban. Well, damn it.

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Nov 25, 2014 BookTallie rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2011-2020

Oh my goodness, not another remake of Cinderella, is what I told myself before reading this book. And yet I read it as soon as it came out. I could not be so wrong about this retelling. The massive amount of hype for Marissa Meyer’s Cinder is certainly not unwarranted. It deservers every five-star review, adoring comment and tons of sales because Meyer has truly created something spectacular and somewhat original here. This is an incredible start to be what I am sure will be an astonishing serie Oh my goodness, not another remake of Cinderella, is what I told myself before reading this book. And yet I read it as soon as it came out. I could not be so wrong about this retelling. The massive amount of hype for Marissa Meyer’s Cinder is certainly not unwarranted. It deservers every five-star review, adoring comment and tons of sales because Meyer has truly created something spectacular and somewhat original here. This is an incredible start to be what I am sure will be an astonishing series, and I’m looking forward to reading every last tidbit.

Cinder is, at its core, a sci-fi Cinderella retelling, but it truly is much more that what our childlike fantasies told us it was. Cinder is set 200 years after World War 4 in New Beijing, China; where a deadly plague has taken over and a ruthless Lunar colony waits steadily to attack. No one knows it yet but Earth’s fate depends on Cinder, a gifted mechanic and cyborg.

The character building was amazing and realistic. The quality of imagination Meyer’s put into the world and the character was stunning and dazzling. Each character has their own distinct personality with realistic motivations and reaction. From the comical to the malevolent each character stood out on their own as an individual and part of what made this story so incredible.

Cinder:

To absolutely love this book you must enjoy the character of Cinder. Cinder as a main character has spirit and humor. She fights and protests for the thing she wants and believes in while keeping a rare kindness that is not seen much in the other characters of the book. I admire her strength and hero-like qualities throughout the whole story.

Prince Kai:

The love story in this book is a bit overlooked but is still present in the detailed minds (as read we know) of the character. Prince Kai and Cinder have a chemistry that is just so obvious and yet fascinates us to our core. Not only is it a slow entanglement that ignores the preconception of the classic tale, love at first sight, this connection seems more genuine and realistic. Rooting for this wonder couple came quite easily.

Step-family:

You don’t really get much of Cinder’s step-family throughout the book. But it is obvious from what we do read of them, Cinder’s step- mother and her oldest step-sister have a jealously issue with her. As far as the younger step-sister she seem to be kind enough but try not to upset her true family by treating Cinder like a true sister.

Queen Levana:

Boo… Queen of Lunar; Levana is seen quite offend in the book being the main opposite role of Cinder. For everything good in the world there is always something evil and that is this queen. Levana has a plan in acting to take over Earth for the resources, which involves a marriage and chemical warfare. Cinder is just a thorn in her side, threating to ruin her plans of domination.

Like other reviewers have mentioned, the main flaw in Cinder is its predictability. The so-called “twist” Meyer has created are total obvious. But being a retelling of such a famous story we as reader are quite familiar with the twists and turns of the Cinderella story. But no worries even with this pit-fall the tale of Cinder was unbelievable and I’m excited to see what will soon come about from this amazing cliff-hanger.
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