Cinder – Marissa Meyer
For the last year or so I’ve been hearing people rave about Marissa Meyer and her Lunar Chronicles series. I’m going to admit, I may have been snobby. I just couldn’t imagine cyborgs and Cinderella. As a twister of fairytales myself, I just wasn’t that interested. And then I decided, what the hell, I should just see what the hub-bub is all about. Last weekend I finished Cinder, the first in the series, and I’ve been checking my Amazon tracking ever since. Because I NEED Scarlet (It came today, FYI, just in case you were worried for my sanity). This will probably be the most informal review you’ve ever read from me because I’m fan-girling. Yes, it’s true. I’m a fan … woman.
Cinder is an example of everything done brilliantly in a retelling. It’s not only wholly unique in the twist, it’s fascinating because you actually don’t know what’s going to come next. Cinder is a young woman/cyborg, living in plague-ridden New Beijing, who has earned herself a reputation for being a first-rate mechanic. At the beginning of the story, she’s just saved enough to replace her “foot” so that she can hide the robot parts of herself and pass as human, which comes in handy when the prince comes calling and asks her to fix his favorite droid.
Hated by her “stepmother” and yet beloved by her youngest stepsister, Cinder soon finds herself embroiled in the search for a cure for a plague, which has been sweeping the world. Meanwhile, the Earth world is embroiled in a treaty talk with the Lunar people, who would bring war if New Beijing’s prince doesn’t agree to marry the Lunar queen.
I could go on about this carefully and creatively woven plot, but I won’t go down that road too much more because fantasy and fairytale lovers should just read this. Even though I actually guessed pretty early on an important component of the story, it in no way detracted from my utter and complete enjoyment of this fairytale, romance, dystopian novel. Cinderella as a cyborg now equals BRILLIANCE.
You can find Cinder on Amazon for $7.09 in Kindle and $5.72 in paperback.
OWL RATING: 5+
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