Review: Cinder

Title: Cinder
Author: Marissa Meyer
Date Released: January 3rd, 2012
Pages: 387
Rating: 5 out of 5

Description:
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, the 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.

Review:
Quite honestly, when I first saw Cinder, I didn't really think much of it. It was on my to read list, but it just wasn't a book that, for whatever reason, seemed to interest me, until I started reading so many reviews of how great it was. When I noticed all the rave reviews, I told myself, "It's time to stalk the library catalog to see if it's available." And thank goodness that it was because this book lived up to my expectations!

Cinder has the basis of the traditional Cinderella fairy tale. She's pretty much a servant to her stepmother and stepsister, does all the work to support her family, her "(step)father" is deceased, and the prince falls in love with her. However, one MAJOR difference is that this is set in the future when there has already been a fourth world war and the world has become a lot more technologically advanced. For instance, this Cinderella, Cinder, is a cyborg - a human with robotic parts. Because of this, she's practically like an outcast, but still needed in her society for her talent as a mechanic.

The whole world that Meyer set the story in was really cool. There were the Earthens and the Lunars, who lived on the moon. The two worlds were completely different, with the people living on Earth being completely human-like, and the Lunars having the ability to glamour themselves or even see what's beneath the glamour.

Meyer's debut novel was just so full of secrets and unexpected surprises that I was literally glued to the book. Maybe some of unexpected things were a little predictable, but just reading about it all and seeing all the pieces come together made Cinder a real page-turner for me.

The growing relationship between Cinder and Prince Kai was just adorable!! Cinder was a little outspoken at times when she needed to be, but she was still reserved and a bit insecure about her appearances. Her shyness around Kai was just so cute!! And Kai was such a gentleman to Cinder and incredibly kind. *sigh* Cutest couple ever!

Overall, Cinder was a really great debut with so many twists and turns that you just had to wait and see what was going to happen next. All of the characters were great and the world that Meyer created was just way too cool. I definitely can't wait for the next one, Scarlet, to come out!

Cover Review:
Personally, I think that the cover is okay.  It does convey what the book is about since it has the robotic parts beneath the skin, and the symbolic shoe typical of any Cinderella.  However, it just doesn't really stand out to me and was something that didn't really prioritize the book on my to-read list for me because I tend to really judge a book by its cover :/

Cleo :)

*Description and cover from goodreads.com
**Review copy borrowed from library.