**Cinder-- Marissa Meyer
Release Date: January 3rd, 2012Genre: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Romance
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pages: 390
Rating:
Amazon Link*: Click here
Goodreads Page: Click here
Summary:
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. . . .Blurb: Totally unique, and totally awesome
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: WOW! This book was GOOD! For some reason, when I first read the summary I was turned off. I don't know why. But when I had the chance to go to a private Q&A with the author, I figured I should probably read her book. I'm so glad I did!
An upfront warning: this book is totally predictable. Totally. As in, you'll see the major twist coming pretty much from the beginning. Does that take away from the good-ness of the book? Not at all!
One of the things I loved about this book is that, even aside from being sci-fi, Marissa wasn't afraid to make the fairy-tale her own. This book isn't predictable because it follows the original/Disney Cinderella. She has so many more things that make it unique. Moon-people with "magic" powers, a robot helper (instead of mice), and a stepsister who actually likes her! So fun! One of my pet-peeves is when fairy-tale "retellings" are SO close to the original story that it's a stretch to call them a "retelling."
Marissa does a great job incorporating the sci-fi elements into the story. She doesn't bog you down with egregious details on how the different mechanics work, but I believe all the tech she does describe. It was also easy to like the prince. There was no insta-love, and Cinder certainly isn't one to swoon, but there certainly was some chemistry going on there. Literally.
All-in-all a really great read, and I'm so excited that the next three books already have titles and release dates! All of the books will star Cinder as the main character, but will also share a POV with another fairy-tale heroine. Scarlet (2013) will take place in France with Little Red Riding Hood, Cress (2014) will take place ON THE MOON with Rapunzel, and Winter (2015) will take place in the Sahara Desert with Snow White. Cool, eh? Clearly the publisher sees some pretty serious talent in Marissa if they've already taken her on for FOUR books in FOUR years. And I don't blame them. She rocks, and so does Cinder.
All review content © Enna Isilee, Squeaky Books 2007-2012
*I am an amazon affiliate. If you purchase this book using my link, I will get a tiny fraction of the purchase, which goes toward contests.
Oh, I want this book SO BAD. I'm glad you like it so mucg, only now it makes me want it more:)
ReplyDeleteI agree! I liked how she changed little details in the fairy tale to make it her own. My favorite is the orange clunky car that she fixes up. :) The characters were so fun. Iko is adorable. I loved this book!
ReplyDeleteMan, now I want to read it even more! My copy isn't coming for another week )=
ReplyDeleteI love that more and more retellings these days are turning away from the classic fairy tale setting. This looks like it's definitely going to make it big.
Jessica,
ReplyDeleteWanna know something sad? I didn't even know the car was orange until you said that. What a cool parallel to the pumpkin carraige! I must have skimmed that detail.
So now I know who Marissa Meyer is.
ReplyDeleteI just had a spaz attack!!! I did NOT know that's what they were going to do with the other books. That's SO cool!! Hmm... I wonder if the girl that warned Cinder of the Queens plan is one of them. Good Lord, I can't wait.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree, the twist is predictable, but that doesn't take anything away from the experience. Great review!
I'm so glad that you liked this one! I really enjoyed it too. And I agree with Marissa that a lot of the suspense is built in Cinder figuring out what is going on around her, even when the reader already knows.
ReplyDeleteI love your review! Your completely right! I saw that "big reveal" coming from page 1 but something still kept me interested. I ended up absolutely falling in love with it!
ReplyDeleteOooo thanks for clearing up the next 3 books. I heard that they would be focusing on other fairy tales but no one said anything about Cinder being in there and I was going to freak out b/c after an ending like that you can't just stop writing about Cinder! I'm so glad we get to continue her story and I love the addition of new fairy tales :D
Love your review!
Mackenzie @ Oh, For the Love of Books!
I too ADORED this book. It was on my 'Best of 2011' list! I didn't know that she had already scheduled and named the sequels, though - that's totally awesome! Can't wait to read more!
ReplyDeleteAlso: great review. I agree with you on seeing the 'twist,' but heck, it's a fairy tale! We know how it's going to end. *grin* Hopefully.
Oh goodness, I keep reading reviews like this and I haven't read it yet and gee, I just wish there was more time in the day for books!
ReplyDeleteGreat review! Like you, we found the book predictable, but that just meant we weren't reading for the WHAT, but rather the WHEN and HOW and WHAT NEXT. It totally worked, and speaks to the author's talent in writing and characterization.
ReplyDeleteI'm reading this one now, too. It looks promising. Good review, by the way. :)
ReplyDeleteOh, boy, I keep seeing great reviews about this book (this one included - so great) and I feel this need to read it like.. right now.
ReplyDeleteToo bad I have 2 other book waiting for me to finish them ;))