Wednesday, April 16, 2014

So I finally read Cinder by Marissa Meyer

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.









I may be one of the last bloggers to jump on The Lunar Chronicles bandwagon, but now that I've finally taken the plunge, I can safely say I am firmly on there.  I didn't want to write a traditional review of this book because everyone has already reviewed it!  But I would like to share some of my feelings about it.

Reasons I loved Cinder:

  • I pretty much stick to YA Contemporary (more issues stuff than romance), so for a book about freaking cyborgs, androids, aliens, and a futuristic dysopian world to come along and catch my attention is super surprising.
  • I loved Cinder and Iko.  I know Iko is an android and only acts the way she does because of a "faulty personality chip", but I think her and Cinder's relationship was one of my favorite parts of the whole book.
  • I love how this story is SO Cinderella.  But how??  How did Marissa Meyer manage to keep the baseline of the Cinderella story while also having plagues and aliens and robots involved?  I figured this would be either so far away from the Cinderella story or it would be too much of it... and it was neither!!  It was the perfect mix of old and new!
  • I loved that this book made me love a new genre of books.  Like I said I don't read sci-fi or dystopian or even fairy tale retellings.  But apparently I do now :)
  • I loved that the romantic relationship wasn't Edward/Bella-ish.  There was a connection there, but it wasn't obsessive love.  I appreciate the more subtle romances.
  • I loved that this was about so much more than just a girl who wanted to go to a ball.  It was about politics and disease, war and social class.

The one thing I wanted more of:
  • I wanted to know more about how the world got to where it is.  It is explained, but very briefly.  I also wanted to know more about New Beijing.  There was hardly any cultural stuff in the book besides for a kimono and some statues at the palace.  It felt like this could have taken place in America because of the way it lacked any real cultural clues.  I was actually wondering if the people who live in Asia are even Asian anymore?  There wasn't much physical description of the characters to clue me in.

I blogged before about wanting to go outside of my reading comfort zone.  Well this was my first book in that journey... and I really picked a good one!!  I'm so happy for this book because I could have easily been scared off from this genre of books, but instead I realized there is so much more out there for me in my reading life :)

OVERALL: I loved it!!  I'm so glad that I finally ventured out of my comfort zone and I can't wait to read the rest of the series!!  I would rec this to ANY and EVERY body.



My Rating:







How I got this book: I own it
Date Published: 1/3/2012

14 comments:

  1. You're not the last person Michelle, that would be me! However, I ma hoping to start it next month for sure! I'm going to the library and getting it out ASAP! So glad you liked it, almost everyone does, so I hope you enjoy the rest :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. Glad you liked it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yay!!! i'm so glad you liked it!! and you are right, it's the perfect blend of new and old, as far as the story Cinderella goes. I loved how she squeezed in all those little details through out to remind you it was a re telling. :o)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I just read this one recently too. I agree with you about New Beijing - there weren't too many cultural references (and no physical descriptions of people). I kind of thought that maybe this futuristic world had less distinct cultures - a bit more blending, but that was just a random theory. I really enjoyed this book too, though!

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just read an interview that the author did where she basically says what you said. That she was thinking going into it that cultures would be blended by the time this story is happening. Good call on that :)

      Delete
  5. I still haven't read Cinder yet...I'm actually planning to go binge read the first three books soon though!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I can't imagine it getting better, but I am excited for them!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm so pleased you enjoyed it. The series just gets better and better!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm so glad you finally read Cinder and enjoyed it so much. This was one of the first fairy tale retellings I ever read and it made me fall in love with the world of fairy tale retellings. I love the rest of the series so far. I can't wait for the final book Winter. I need to catch up on the short stories.

    ReplyDelete
  9. One of the last, maybe, but not the last. I think that may be me! And the bad part is everyone that I know and trust loves it and has begged me to read it. The worst part, that I have a copy sitting on my bookshelf. Maybe now, knowing that I really am way behind, I will really get on the ball and read the dang thing!

    Check out the latest, greatest post at... The Best Books Ever


    ReplyDelete
  10. I haven't read any of these books yet, But I've heard all good things and can't wait to read them myself

    88dreamers @ Seriesly Reading

    ReplyDelete
  11. I am so glad you finally read it and loved it! This is one of my favorite YA series. You are right, the world building is kind of lacking in the first one, but you will learn more as you go along, and I think the books only get better!

    I love Iko! She's pretty much my favorite character. And Thorne but I don't think you will meet him until Scarlet. I can't wait to see what you think of the next one!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Yayyyy! I'm so glad you enjoyed it too! :)
    I liked Cinder and Iko too, those scenes were just so funny and cute.
    Great review!!!

    ReplyDelete