- Release Date: January 3, 2012
- Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
- Genre: Fantasy/Sci-Fi
- Pages: 387
- Audiobook hours: 10 hours 6 minutes
Synopsis : 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. . [Cinder is] 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
I have to give it to Marissa Meyer. Cinder is one of the most original and unique YA novels I have read in 2012. Cinder has it all; cyborgs, aliens, fairytales, mystery, and charm! This spirited re-imaging of Cinderella takes the best of Disney and Star Wars to create a world where the stakes are high and long-kept secrets are revealed.
Cinder tells the story of a young cyborg mechanic, whose life is at the beck and call of her stepmother. Overnight her life gets turned upside down when a mysterious plague, a charming prince and dark secrets come to light.
Meyer does a wonderful job of world-building, she mixes sci-fi and fantasy while still making the novel seem somewhat contemporary. The plot had a lot of moving pieces that worked well together but I was able to easily predict the ending early. I wonder if this was intentional?
I like how this book was set outside of the United States and lended itself to a more diverse setting and characters.
Cinder is a headstrong heroine who has a soft side. She seems to know what she wants in life and is wary of a charming prince. Speaking of which, Kai is very similar to a lot of YA guys but he had a little more depth to him. There is a part of him that wants to be a regular snarky teenage boy and the side that realizes his royal obligations.
I listened to the audiobook for Cinder, Rebecca Soler, the voice actress does a good job switching from male to female voices and her accents weren’t that bad.
Cinder is a fun retelling that plays by its own rules, while I did find it to be a little predictable it also threw in some plot twist! The last few pages (er, minutes) had me on the edge of my seat.
I was excited when Marissa Meyer tweeted she was putting the finishing touches on the sequel to Cinder, Scarlet!
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