MB's Review of Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Before we get to the meat of my review I feel that I need to start off by saying that my TBR list (To Be Read) is ridiculous. Like hundreds of books ridiculous. I love that I have so many books BUTTT… I am not proud of how many books I still have to read, especially when I know how many I add on a daily basis.  Do you know what I am proud of? I am proud of the fact that we have so many amazing writers to choose from. Our choices are endless and it is so exciting. Think about it we get to choose reading a specific type of author like Indie, Self-Published, or Traditional and the fact there are so many genres and sub-genres…. well that means we can basically read about anything our imagination can create and if you don’t see what you want to read about then you can write it yourself! That is some exciting stuff. But I digress.

 

Why am I talking about my TBR? Well, the amount of hardcover and paperback books accumulating in my house is crazy!! And that doesn’t include all of my e-books!!!! I was with my 2 older children last week and we stopped by Barnes n Nobles to look around and get them a book or two. While in the Young Adult section I saw Cinder by Marissa Meyer. A little tidbit about me is that I love covers. They draw me in and get me to pick them up to look at their blurb. The cover for Cinder is beautiful. It has the classic look of the Cinderella story we know and love, but you know right off the bat with the x-ray vision inside of the girl’s leg that there is more to the story. I pointed the book out to my daughter and said to her that I could have sworn that I had that book stashed away sad and unread somewhere at the house. So when we got home I went on a book hunt and I found it! I knew I put off reading it for long enough so I opened to the first page and off I went.

I happily give this book a fabulous 4 stars! I love young adult novels as it is and this one is so creative. I had heard for a long time that I needed to read it because it was that good, and all I can say is that this book did not disappoint. What an amazing twist on a classic story. I know that cliché is a bit over used but it’s true. The story was fresh and inventive. I was engrossed in the story from the start but the more I read the deeper I fell. I literally couldn’t put it down and finished in about 24-26 hours. It probably would have been less but I had to sleep.

I thankful I started reading it on a Friday because I would have had a major book hangover if it was during the week, Marissa’s characters were so rich and somehow in such a fantastical world with androids, and cyborgs, and aliens, they were very relatable. I felt for Cinder and everything she goes through. You can’t help but root for her. I’d give her a hand but I’d rather give her a foot. LOL!

The heroine is kind but not a push over given her situation. She has a strength that slowly starts to show more and more as the book progresses. Her world is rocked but she draws off that strength to help her work through what to do. The Hero is not an arrogant, spoiled jerk and I appreciate that. He is naïve and kind and wants what’s best for his kingdom.

If you are an adult don’t feel like you can’t relate to this story. Trust me there is enough to keep you entertained though out the story and if you have any hesitation about whether this book is appropriate for the young adult audience it grabs for, have no fear.  The suggested audience is for 12+ but really as in everything else use your discretion. I appreciate the way both main characters were written because we see them both grow through experience. They are both scared but it didn’t stop them from trying to do what they thought to be right thing and that is something I want to share with my children. Good or bad, take what you can from each experience and learn from that.  I have no problem giving this to my daughter that is 13 or my son who is 10. There is obviously a love story in here but it’s so intertwined in the rest of the story it’s not the total focal point. Who knows he may be swayed by the aliens and cyborgs. I’ll make sure he writes a review if he does.

Cinder is a great start to what looks to be an awesomely creative series and I look forward to reading more of the Lunar Chronicles.
 

About the Book

 

Amazon ~ iBook ~ BN

Blurb

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.

About the Author

 

 

WEBSITE ~ FACEBOOK ~ TWITTER

 

Marissa Meyer is the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Heartless and The Lunar Chronicles. She lives in Tacoma, Washington, with her husband and twin daughters. She’s a fan of most things geeky (Sailor Moon, Firefly, any occasion that requires a costume), and has been in love with fairy tales since she was a child. She may or may not be a cyborg.