Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Pages: 387

Intended Audience: Teens and Mature Tweens

Genre: Science Fiction

Notes for parents: None

The Inside Cover

Sixteen-year-old Cinder is considered a technological mistake by most of society and a burden by her stepmother. Being cyborg does have its benefits, though: Cinder’s brain interface has given her an uncanny ability to fix things (robots, hovers, her own malfunctioning parts), making her the best mechanic in New Beijing. This reputation brings Prince Kai himself to her weekly market booth, needing her to repair a broken android before the annual ball. He jokingly calls it “a matter of national security,” but Cinder suspects it’s more serious than he’s letting on.

Although eager to impress the prince, Cinder’s intentions are derailed when her younger step-sister, and only human friend, is infected with the fatal plague that’s been devastating Earth for a decade. Blaming Cinder for her daughter’s illness, Cinder’s stepmother volunteers her body for plague research, an “honor” that no one has survived.

But it doesn’t take long for the scientists to discover something unusual about their new guinea pig. Something others would kill for.

What the Back Cover doesn’t tell you:

This is the first book in The Lunar Chronicles. Book two won’t be out until 2013.

What’s good?

I love a strong female character. Cinder is a smart, resourceful, talented mechanic who happens to have a few motorized parts which makes her a cyborg – the bane of her society. Cinder is highly likeable, her “step” mother is deliciously hateable, and Prince Kai is perfectly charming. The fairy tale “evil queen” is the Lunar Queen Levana who is appropriately creepy and volatile. The setting itself is a great character with its crowded market, hovers, portscreens, androids, and, of course, a royal ball.

Best part: Iko, the android.

What’s not so good?

The main plot was totally predictable. I don’t imagine anyone will NOT see what’s coming. Luckily there are enough twists and turns to make it highly readable and several subplots that entertain. There were many little details that annoyed me: like how her she calls her adoptive family her step family, or how she hides her cyborg status from the prince which seems to go against her strong personality. It was never enough to ruin the story, but I found it distracting at times.

Worst part: Predictability.

Recommendations þþþoo

Modern fairy tales are all the rage, and this futuristic Cinderella (which at times seems a little more Anastasia) is fresh and imaginative. It’s gritty and high tech, and very engaging.

Meyer, Marissa. Cinder. New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2012 (Hardcover)