Book Review: Cinder, Marissa Meyer

Reading Level:     Young Adult 

Hardcover:          390 Pages 

Publisher:           Feiwel & Friends, Jan 3, 2012

Parasols:             5

Cinder was one of those stories that I went into not knowing too much about it.  I knew that it was a fractured fairytale and followed the Cinderella template.  But it was much more than that.  So much more that that.

Cinder is half-cyborg, who lives with a step family who despises her.  She works as a mechanic and makes menial money to bring home to her horrid stepmother.  She also has two stepsisters, one who is vain, conceited and terrible, and another one who understands her.  Everything changes when a strange, handsome young man comes in to her shop to fix his android.  He happens to be Prince Kaito of New Bejing.

Throughout the world, a disease is killing people, Letumosis.  When the king perishes to the disease, Prince Kai is now in charge of the new world, and many people want to see him get married.  However, he has threats coming from another planet who may or may not have the vaccine to save the population.  Once the Envoy from the planet Lunar shows up, all hell breaks loose and Cinder will find herself the center of a galactic war.

I read this book back and in November of last year, and really wish I'd written down my thoughts then.  I really enjoyed this book a lot and am looking forward to reading more from Marissa.  I'm very excited to see how she translates fairytales into this series.  I understand this is a quartet so we have a few years to go.  I really like how the whole Cinderella theme wasn't shoved down my throat.  It wasn't a direct rip-off, she added a lot of elements, but allowed the story to be the focal part.  Cinder was a great character.  You could tell she just wanted to do her job and not have to deal with the nastiness that she was subjected to by her stepmother, Adri.  a completely horrible person.  Cinder was brought to the family by Adri's husband and he died leaving her with a half-person, who's history was a mystery.  Cinder knew that Adri blamed her for her husband's death and could never think of her as her child.

But that also gave Cinder her tick.  The relationship between Prince Kai and Cinder is sweet and slow.  Cinder seems a bit oblivious that Kai could show any interest in her, especially when she tries to so hard to keep her cyborg parts secret.  

I highly, highly recommend this book and hope that people will enjoy it as much as I did.  I'm a big fan and can't wait for the sequel.  This is my first 5 parasol review of the year! The thing about reading books early is you have to wait forever for the next one!  But I will be first in line to buy the sequel when it's out.