Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Published:  January 3, 2012
Synopsis from Goodreads: Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl.

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

My initial thought upon finishing:
WHY DIDN'T I READ THIS SOONER????
This book has been sitting on my shelf for almost a year now. I bought it when I first discovered the glory that is BookOutlet then I continued to push it further and further back on my TBR. And now, I can't think of any reason why I thought that would be a good idea. Afterall: Cinderella + Fairytale Retelling + Cyborgs = Freaking Amazing Story.

For anyone out there who might be thinking, 'Well, sci-fi isn't really my thing', let me just say that it's not really mine either. I'm not even really into Star Wars even though I've seen all the movies. But, Marissa Meyer has crafted such a fascinating world with creative characters that are all blended seamlessly into the classic Cinderella story that it's easy to forget that you're not all that into sci-fi. Unlike Throne of Glass, which is just loosely inspired by Cinderella, Cinder has ALL the elements from the original story including a wicked stepmother, step sisters, Prince Charming, a ball, and a glass slipper (or cyborg foot, rather). However, it's not just a reiteration of the same storyline, Marissa Meyer takes all the original elements and weaves them into a story much bigger than the original tale could have ever achieved.

Cinder takes place 126 years after World War IV and all the countries of Earth have banned together in an alliance against the Lunars and their queen, Levana. A plague has weakened the Earthen's economy and has left them weakened against the everlasting threat of war that the Lunars present. The story itself takes place in New Beijing - something that is amazing all in itself. When like 98% of YA novels take place strictly in America, it's refreshing and fascinating to read a book that is set in a different country. I loved the little cultural aspects that Meyer included in her writing. Though I'm not Chinese (I'm Filipino), it was fun to read about the little tidbits of Asian influence that I recognized from my own culture or learn about whenever I looked up something I didn't understand. For example, I had to look up "Lihn" - I thought it was a title or term of respect but I found out that a person's family name is sometimes spoken first in China rather than after their first name like I'm used to. Also, I looked up the suffixes that are used a lot and discovered that they're comparable to the honorifics used in Filipino dialects.

I absolutely loved the characters in this book. I loved how Cinder's cyborg-ness was easily included in her narration. (I know it's written in third person but it was basically through Cinder's POV.) I thought it would have been distracting but it was actually kind of cool. I also liked how she wasn't a typical girly girl. She's constantly dirty from her job as a mechanic and she wasn't fangirling over Kai like it seemed was common among teenage girls. Kai was a cool and charming as well though he's not the most swoon-worthy love interest I've read about. (Sorry, I'm still stuck on Chaol... that's a topic for another conversation though.) Peony and Iko are by far the most adorable characters ever and I want to hug them. Adri is as horrifying as an wicked stepmother should be. Queen Levana, though, is an amazing villain and I cannot wait to read Fairest.

I'm currently in the middle of reading Scarlet and I'm already hooked. So if you haven't picked up this series yet, it's really a must read. It's a fast-paced, I-can't-stop-reading kind of book and you definitely won't regret it.