Cinder by Marissa Meyer
I loved this book! I read it for my Young Adult Book Club this month and can't believe I waited this long to read it. I actually won it recently and Scarlet so it is perfect timing. Plus both my copies (Cinder and Scarlet) even include a short story. Here is the goodreads description:
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.
Let's be honest, I'm a sucker for fairy tale retellings. Also.. another reason I should've read this boo sooner is that Cinderella is my favorite fairy tale character. So a retelling with a Cinderella cyborg is even better!! I read this book super fast. If I had known it was going to be so good I wouldn't have started reading it at 6 at night. I would've started reading it in the morning so that I didn't have to go to bed and could've read it in one sitting. Yes that is how good it is to me.
One of the things I really loved is that this is a cyborg Cinderella in New Beijing China! So the descriptions in the book was a lot of Asian culture. I love that since I haven't read a lot of books that take place in Asian locations. I like Cinder's character... she is feisty, independent, and what I love the most is she is trying to be successful on her own. I enjoyed the elements of the story that were similar to the original fairy tale. I kept waiting for the plot lines that would go a long those lines... like the ball, the slipper, the pumpkin, the fairy godmother. When those parts did occur I was excited to know if I had guessed right or wrong what would happen.
I thought the world building in this book is fun. We get to see a futuristic Beijing.. with androids and cyborgs and humans.. ALSO a race of people who are magical from the moon. The Lunar People. I was really excited about this. I hope that in the future of the series we get to actually travel to the moon and see the colony there.
I can't wait to get started on Scarlet (Little Red Riding Hood).. I went ahead and but Cress (Rapunzel) on hold at the library and am really excited for Winter (Snow White). I know I haven't read books 2 and 3 yet but seriously I don't even see how they could be terrible books. You need to read this book now!
The Crystal Ball says:
Sun is shinning!!! Great day to go outside and read this book.
My other book reviews from the series:
Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
Cress by Marissa Meyer
Fairest by Marissa Meyer
Winter by Marissa Meyer
Stars Above by Marissa Meyer
Here are the book club discussion questions we used in my book club- click on image to enlarge:
