Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1)

Title: Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1)

Author: Marissa Meyer
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Publication Date: January 3, 2012

Rating: 4 Stars

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.-GoodReads

The best thing about Cinder is that even though it's a retelling of a well known fairytale it is so original. It's more of a Sci-fi book with bits of classic Cinderella details thrown in. I'm still blown away, Cinderella as a cyborg?! Hah! That's awesome!

Cinder was a great protagonist, she was strong, likeable, and you couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Kai was the same, I couldn't help but like him because of his willingness to do all that he could for his people. My favorite character by far was Iko, she brought a light heartedness to the book. I loved how a simple ribbon made her feel like she was dressing up and how she dreamed of going to the ball.

I really liked this book, it was well written, with good characters, and a strong plot. There were a few things that were predictable but I didn't really care, I'm not picky especially since this book threw enough curveballs at me that even though I guessed a few things there was always something else to throw me off. The ball was one of those scenes where you're going "what the heck!" The fact that they were still recovering from a war and that there was a plague added to the believability of the world. No matter how high advanced a world gets, the problems will change right along with it.

I wondered when I started Cinder if it was a series, when I reached the last page there was no doubt in my mind that it was. Even though the book is almost 400 pages it feels like it only scratched the surface. I am eager to see what Meyer does with the rest of the series.