ARC Review: Cinder

Cinder

by Marissa Meyer

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Release Date: TODAY
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Sci-fi/Dystopian/Paranormal
Source: NetGalley
Rating: Perfect Bed Partner

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About the Book:

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.

In this thrilling debut young adult novel, the first of a quartet, Marissa Meyer introduces readers to an unforgettable heroine and a masterfully crafted new world that’s enthralling.

The screw through Cinder's ankle had rusted, the engraved cross marks worn to a mangled circle...

I was exquisitely surprised by this book! Cinder is billed as a revitalization of the Cinderella fairy tale, and while it has undertones of a fairy tale retelling, the overarching plot is so much more than that! I don't even know what to dub this one: sci-fi? dystopian? paranormal? It really is a striking, albeit crazy mash-up of things, as if Meyer plucked elements from different genres and rearranged them meticulously into her own unique tale. Cinder, the MC, may be portrayed as the renowned mechanic, with a penchant for breathing new life into the dull, the irreparable. But when I think of Cinder, I envision Meyer with a toolbelt and a mask to resist flames, rebuilding something that has been done before, a retelling of Cinderella like no other, plugging and twisting and tightening the nuts and bolts of a fascinating new thing.

Cinder makes an extraordinary Cinderella! At a glance, there are subtle and concrete allusions to the Cinderella tale we all know and love throughout the book, and it's the same with the heroine, but there's so much more to it than meets the eye. On the surface, Cinder has got the Cinderella life, working and submitting to brutal "chores" for a stepmother who doesn't love, want, or appreciate her, a girl who doesn't classify herself as beautiful and lacks inward confidence that we recognize when she attempts to hide her... eccentricities. But, she's also loyal, hardworking, with the makings of true spunkiness, and, despite her life being in terrible jeopardy in multiple instances, emanates a disarming bravery and strength that endears her to us all the more. In the depths of her thoughts and feelings, there is a girl with hopes for acceptance, but on the outside she gathers to her a formidable illusion of cool confidence.

One evil Lunar queen who governs a vicious race, one mad scientist who owns the keys to Cinder's mysterious past, one dashing prince with a desire to do right by his people and growing feelings for Cinder, one death which cuts deep, later and Cinder gives us a riveting story about loneliness, loss, and the will to do what is right despite the life-altering consequences. My only true disappointment with the book is the romance with the prince. I found the slow development to be sweet and full of promise, but I'm holding out for much more in the ensuing sequels. I mean, IT'S THE PRINCE. There has to be a breathstealing romance!

With simple, yet elegant writing, entrancing, detailed world-building that draws in even the skeptical reader who repels sci-fi and the like, and a main character that tugs at the heartstrings, Cinder is a one-of-a-kind, gripping debut that is everything it says and infinitely more! A debut novel that has made my favorites list from a debut author I can't wait to see more from! Really, what will she come up with next?