Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

 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.

Cinder was a book that I was eagerly waiting for and when I read it, it surpassed my expectations. The characters were great, the idea was great, the cyborg-alien-ness was great and I loved this book.

Cinder is basically a futuristic retelling of Cinderella in which the main character Cinder is a cyborg who has no memory of her past before being adopted. I really related to Cinder because she was so down to Earth and was smart. I liked that she had a sisterly bond with one of her step sisters, it made the story seem more real.

I kinda knew in the back of my head what was going to happen to Cinder all through the novel, but I was impressed with the other twists and turns that appeared while reading. The Chinese background and the addition of robots and moon people made the book more original. If you trace back the Cinderella fairy tale, it truly started in China (I’m pretty sure).

The cover of Cinder is beautiful and I loved how it was simple. Cinder is absolutely one of my favorite reads of 2012 and I need to read the rest of the series. Now. 5 Stars!