Cinder by Marissa Meyer

The Lunar Chronicles #1. Feiwel and Friends (Jan. 2012) Library

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.

The Lunar Chronicles are that one series that absolutely everyone is enchanted with that I haven't read, until now. I absolutely love fairy tales and their retellings so it's a wonder why it took me so long to read Cinder. Linh Cinder lives in New Beijing as a mechanic. She's made to fix, trade, and sell parts to pay for her stepmother and stepsisters life. New Beijing is set in a dystopian future where peace treaties with the Lunar people and a disease are the main struggle for the empire. Cinder's life changes when Prince Kai decides to make a visit to the best mechanic around, our Cinder. There's an android he needs to be fixed. By bringing the android to Cinder, Kai leads her to a uncertain future filled with fear, tragedy, kindness, hope, and finding out who she really is. Cinder's world and plot left me wanting more after I read the last page. Cinder herself left me wanting for her a happily ever after.

Cinder is great. She's this tomboyish girl who likes fixing things even if she's forced to do so. You get the sense that she's Cinderella not only by her name but by her situation. I couldn't help but feel empathetic toward her situation with her stepmother and always feeling different because she is a cyborg. I never understood why there was such a problem with cyborgs though. I realize people don't like things that are different but seriously, if someone came from being in war and they had to get a new arm, you are going to be disgusted by them? Not Peony, Cinder's stepsister who genuinely likes her. She ends up getting sick and Cinder finds out she's the only hope to save her.

Prince Kai is dealing with his father's imminent death and Queen Levena trying to become his empress. I liked that Kai wasn't having the Queen's attitude, for lack of a better word. He can be sarcastic, sweet, and charming. I like that he wasn't one dimensional but I feel like I still need to get to know more about him to see him with Cinder.

Queen Levana has a power like most of the Lunar people, to control minds. She can persuade people to do what she wants and what she wants is Earth. She also has a thing about mirrors...

Cinder was very much a set up for everybody in the series coming together to defeat this queen. It wasn't a boring beginning by all means. It was very interesting finding about how this world works and the characters that live within it. There were a couple of predictable things that happened but it didn't ruin anything for me. I just hope nothing is as transparent in later books. All in all, I'm happy with how everything is starting. I hope to see Cinder in the next book too somehow. I'm beyond excited about the next book in the series because Little Red Riding Hood is my favorite fairy tale.