Cinder

Cinder
Marissa Meyer
387 pages
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends (a division of Macmillan)
Source: NetGalley
★★★★☆

You can read the Goodreads summary here.

If you know me at all, you know I don't normally go in for Sci-Fi, even if it is YA Sci-Fi.  But something about this book's description caught my attention - the fairytale retelling.  I had to give it a try and I'm glad I did!

Cinder is a compelling tale about a young cyborg named Cinder who spends her time as ward under her step-mother doing mechanical repairs.  All of her profits go to her guardian and she's treated like a house servant when she's at home.  When the handsome Price Kai drops off his bot to be repaired, their lives become intertwined.  Meanwhile, a deadly plague is attacking the population and both Cinder and Kai are desperate to find  cure.

I actually didn't mind that this book was Sci-Fi - in fact, I kind of liked it!  Cinder is human but has cyborg limbs due to an accident.  She has special features that help her detect if the person talking to her is lying, how cool is that?  That's something I think would come in very handy in real life.  But despite being part robot, Cinder still has human emotions and I would classify her as a human as opposed to a full-on robot.  That made it easier for me to understand that she was falling in love with Prince Kai.

I could definitely see the Cinderella influences in Cinder, but the book didn't draw from Cinderella as much as I would have liked, particularly in the end.  Where was the fairy-godmother or happy little mice to help Cinder get ready for the ball?  Perhaps as the series goes on we'll see more parallels.

There was another part of the plot too, which really drew me in.  The Lunar people want to come to earth and take over, and they're watching.  Their Queen, in fact, wants to marry the king and she shows up on Earth during the novel.  The end of the book really set us up for book two - something big is going to go down between Earth and the Lunar people.  Whew!  What a plot!

I really enjoyed this book and I think if you like science fiction and YA, you will, too.  Cinder is due out January 3rd, so add it to your list of things to buy with your holiday gift cards.  Then when that big snowstorm hits, you'll be all set to entertain yourself when your'e stuck inside.

Can't wait?  If you click the link below, you can download the first five chapters for free!  Free!  It doesn't get any better than that.