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.
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This has been on my TBR list for a while and let me share with you my first reactions at finishing Cinder -
1) ARRGH STUPID SEMI CLIFF HANGERY ENDINGS!!!
2) Not bad, not bad at all.
I knew going in it was a Cinderella re-do but everything turned out better than I expected (though I guess my expectations were low because every review I read praised it). The world building Meyer puts in is extensive but not boring, and definitely necessary. I want to understand the relationship between the Empire and the Lunars, why Kai would find Queen Levana so abhorrent. Through Cinder we're able to navigate this whole other echelon of society and it's very interesting.
My heart broke a few times for Cinder while reading, even when I was expecting bad things to happen. Heroines in young adult tales, especially those with world changing journey's to go on, suffer a lot and have significant emotional baggage (see Tamora Pierce or Robin McKinley). Near the end I couldn't help but compare Cinder to the movie Ever After, specifically the scene when Drew Barrymore is revealed as the peasant and the prince turns his back on her. I can't wait to pick up the next book (though I'm a little concerned that new characters are introduced while continuing Cinder's journey) and luckily I don't have to wait very long - Scarlett came out last month!
Overall Feeling - B+
Series - 1) Cinder 2) Scarlet 3) Cress (2014)
