Alternate Group Read (YA - Feb 2016) - Cinder by Marissa Meyer

[Holly, That Geeky One]

For our first YA read of the year, we're diving into Cinder by Marissa Meyer, the first book in a very popular series!

Discussion starts Feb 1st

[Roseanne]

This is a book I almost didn't read. To be honest it sounded really strange to me but I read it because someone else said it was good. I love it so much I am up to the fourth book in the series.

[megan]

Just finished Winter this week!

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

Perfect! I haven't read it yet and I love when the feedback on a new-to-me series is good. :D
I'll go grab a library copy right now!

[Jenny, Certified Bookworm]

Yes, this series is great! A tad predictable, but great! I am reading Winter, book four, as well!

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

Any volunteers to lead this discussion?

[Alessandra]

Looks like nobody is going to volunteer... As I absolutely loved the series and would love to discuss it with you guys I guess I'm going to take the "risk" and volunteer. :D I'm going to try and set up some questions/discussion topics 'til Sunday, but first I have to find my copy (as it's already waiting in a box to be moved to my new apartment) and catch up on some details again.

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

Awesome, Alessandra! Thanks for taking this on. I've got a library ebook loan but am struggling to find time to read it so a delay works for me. Looking forward to it though!

[Mindy]

I started it last night. Seems to be a very clever retelling, and not what I expected.

[Alessandra]

Happy to hear that you like it, Mindy.

Take your time, Renee! Sometimes there are simply to many books one wants to read at the same time.

I've worked out some questions to start with. I hope they are okay and give us something to discuss about. Just a quick reminder: If you use spoilers (especially about things happening in later books as I guess the story of Cinder was kind of predictable to a certain degree) please either put them in the html code or at least warn others by writing "spoiler" in bold above your answer.

1.) Do you think a future as portrait in The Lunar Chronicles/Cinder is a posibility? What about everybody having an ID which can be scanned in different situations - Is it a good thing or is it too much of a violation of privacy?
2.) Androids & Cyborgs - Equals or Servants? Could it be considered a "synonym" for the racism we already face nowadays?


And for the ones who already finished all books and want to talk about it:

3.) Where you satisfied with the way Meyer combined 4 fairy tales into one universe? Did you miss something (or someone)?
4. Which was your favorite story/couple and why?

I hope these questions are a good start as I couldn't resist and ended up reading Stars Above instead of Cinder. I'm planning on rereading Cinder in the next days though and hopefully will be back with more questions :)

[sonya]

I'm reading scarlet right now

[Alessandra]

Do you enjoy Scarlet so far, Sonya? :D

[sonya]

Very much

[Hannah]

Can't make up my mind about this one. One the one hand I couldn't put it down and it was an easy but entertaining read - perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon when the weather was miserable! However it was so predictable that there wasn't really any surprises in the plot.

[Alessandra]

I agree with you, Hannah. Cinder is very predictable. It's really focused on retelling Cinderella (and probably also giving the reader a bit of background to understand the new world they entered). The follow-ups aren't as predictable, but still retell the fairy tales. If you would be up to it I'd highly recommend you to pick up Scarlet at some point. I already enjoyed Cinder, but I absolutely loved Scarlet. (She and her significant other are also my favorite characters)

[Hannah]

Thanks Alessandra - I think I will give another of the series a go as I'd like to see how it all ends and the world is an intriguing one.

[Rylie]

I've read Cinder, but I haven't read any of the others yet. Since Cinder is the one we're supposed to be reading for Feb, I'll probably read Scarlet this month. :)
I absolutely love fairy tale retellings, even if they are predictable. As said above, they're that way because they're trying to keep to the telling of the original story, Cinderella in Cinder's case.
For me, it was the world that it was set in that drew me. I haven't read many fairy tell retellings that are set in a futuristic society. I loved those two elements of fairy tales and science fiction thrown together.
I'll let you know what I think of Scarlet when I'm finished with it.

[Alessandra]

Let us know what you think of Scarlet, Rylie :)
Looks like a lot of people actually read Cinder already, but never picked up Scarlet so I'm just going to say feel free to see this as your chance to pick Scarlet up. We can discuss about the whole series if you guys feel up to it :)

I finished my re-read of Cinder yesterday and here are some things I'm interested in:

- Your thoughts about Levana! I always feel a bit torn about her. Of course she is a tyrant and a horrible person, but after reading Fairest I felt a bit sorry for her. She didn't have an easy life with Channary as a sister (which lead to her ending up the way she is)...

- Reading Cinder the second time I started to wonder about Adri as a character. Of course she is the mean stepmother and I always disliked her for the way she treated Cinder, but reading it the second time I felt like she still cared about Cinder. Not much, but a tiny little bit. Is this just wishful thinking or did someone else have the same impression?

[Ivy]

Reading Cinder right now. Really good. Have Scarlet on hold at the library.

[Mindy]

I finished Cinder and I really enjoyed it. I guess I'm a little dense because it wasn't THAT predictable to me. LOL

***SPOILERS***SPOILERS***SPOILERS***

Obviously I expected Cinder and the prince to end up together, but the disease and the political intrigue and the scifi elements all had me guessing how everything was going to work out. Of course I did figure out early on that Cinder was Selene, but I didn't expect a kind step-sister, or that said sister would die, or Cinder's hidden powers, or any number of things.

I also didn't expect that cliff hanger ending. I hadn't planned on continuing the series but it looks like I'll have to now. :-)

[Ivy]

Finished Cinder. Really good.

[Jenny, Certified Bookworm]

I can't stand Levana. I despise her even more after fairest! The way she treats her "loved" ones... ugghh and her romance ending- the heck was that??? I can agree Channery did not make things easy for her at all, but Channery did actualy care about one person- Selene.

[Roseanne]

Jenny did you like Fairest? I am still on the fence about that one. It seems like no one just writes a book. Everything seems to be a series with extra books and novellas. Sometimes it makes me crazy. It is like some stories never end. That being said I do love the series and am reading Winter now.

[Plethora]

Mindy, this was my first read of Cinder as well and based on what I knew that each book was a retelling of another fairy tale I wasn't expecting that much of a cliffhangar either. I had expected some loose ends to be available to tie into the next book, but not what we ended with.

Somethings I did find predictable, but others not.