Release Date: January 3rd, 2012Rating: 4.5 stars!
Note: This review is based on my old thoughts and a rereading of the novel I did recently.
Blurb:
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.
Cinder is a fresh take on the old fairy tale, Cinderella, with one extreme difference-- Cinder is a cyborg!
I don't want to delve into the plot too much because the blurb tells you all you need to know, so instead, let me tell you what I loved about Cinder.
The presence of different ethnicities in the novel. Because I live in San Francisco Bay Area, a melting pot of many cultures and ethnicities, I found this to be quite refreshing.
The characters had depth. Cinder wasn't a whiny or annoying lead female character. She was strong, she stood up for herself, she never felt sorry for herself. I felt for Prince Kai. He was much too young to have the weight of protecting his citizens on his shoulders. Step-mother Adri-- although she could be angry and mean toward Cinder, there was enough background in novel to allow you to understand why.
The antagonist. Queen Levana is SO COOL! Her character is very intriguing and I can't wait to read Fairest when it comes out because I want to know Levana's history and background. Maybe she wasn't always so evil?
The differences between Cinder and Cinderella. Of course there were plenty of differences, but key differences were Cinder's loving relationship with her step-sister Peony, this futuristic world of androids and high technology, and that Cinder didn't focus too much on the romance aspect of the novel.
The plot twist. At first, I was a little concerned with the predictability of the book and novels to come, however that concern slipped away with each turn of the page. You may figure out the plot twist within the first several chapters, but you will still want to finish the novel quickly to try to understand how this plot twist came to be.
All in all, a must read!
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