Review: Cinder ~ by Marissa Meyer

Review by Shellie for: Cinder ~ by Marissa Meyer

A science fiction/fairytale with a strong female protagonist and a handsome prince. It’s a fun start to what looks to be very popular and exciting young adult series.

About:  In a future world, plague is ravaging the population and everyone lives in fear of being it’s next victim. The main character, Cinder, is a teenage cyborg - a human with artificial and computerized body parts, including a too small artificial foot that she is self conscious about and has had since she was ten. Sadly, as a cyborg, Cinder is not considered entirely human in this society and has very few rights. So the story starts with a special and discriminated against main character.

She lives in what is now considered New Beijing with her unkind stepmother, two step sisters (one is evil and one nice), and a sweet robot helper. She works as a mechanic - the best in the overpopulated city. She is the forced provider for her family, though her stepmother allots her only a closet sized room and dirty oil stained clothes. Cinder however, while berated in her home and society, is reasonably comfortable in her less-than-human place in this future world’s hierarchy. Life is looking up since she has found a replacement for her too small foot and there is to be a coronation for the local prince with a ball to celebrate. When Cinder meets the prince unexpectedly (he needs help with a broken android) it appears as if the Prince likes her.

As things become complicated and drama ensues, it becomes clear that Cinder may be a factor in saving their world.

Thoughts:  This is a sweet and fun story and I just loved Cinder. She is imperfect and smart and stands up for herself. She works hard and gets beyond the grease and grime and does something of value other than fix her hair and make-up. She also has the gumption to tell off some evil and unkind people in the story, creating some excellent dialog that teens will love. Me too – it kept me rooting for this character. 

I listened to this book in audio as well as read bits here and there. It was done very well with the reader having a strong and pleasant voice, which helps make an audio book listenable for me. It’s an interesting and surprising take on the original fairytale, with some unusual twists, a strong and smart heroine, some interesting science, and paranormal aspects, all of which kept me happily reading/listening. The only negative aspect for this story is that it’s a cliff hanger – so if you read this book you will most likely be sucked into the rest of the series. Sad thing is that you will have to wait for the next several books in the series as this was just released. Nevertheless, it’s a great book for young adults and adults that love teen reads; a fun one too! In my opinion this sci-fi-ish fairytale re-working gets a 4.5 star rating.

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400 pages | Feiwel & Friends | Age 12 and up | January 2012

This book has been amazingly popular, has been given many wonderful reviews, and is well deserving too. Take a a look at this interesting review at io9 for Cinder.

For more information link to our - Incoming Books feature which includes Cinder.

Thanks for reading.