Series: The Lunar Chronicles, #1
Genre: YA - Dystopia
Publication: June 7, 2016 by Washington Square Press
Format: Paperback
Source: Traveling Book
Rating: ★★★
Synopsis: 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.
Thoughts: I'd been looking forward to starting this series for years, not only because of all the hype but because they're retellings of some of my favorite fairy tales (the Disney versions of course.) When I picked up Cinder, I expected to fly through it. As a matter of fact, I owned a copy but also signed up for a traveling book, and got to write down notes and stuff inside. Unfortunately, once the initial excitement wore off that I was finally reading this series, I found it difficult to pick it up and read it quickly.
Cinder is a retelling of Cinderella, but with many changes. For one thing, the story is set in China, the prince is obviously Chinese, and not only that but Cinder is a cyborg. Not only are her evil stepmother and sister still evil, she also has to deal with being a type of slave to society itself, not only to her family. She works as a mechanic, has a sidekick borg named Eko and one day, meets the prince who happens to fall in love with her at some point.
The similarities between this story and Disney's Cinderella are few and maybe that's what sort of threw me off. There's also a plague killing off people every day and Cinder has to figure out a way to save the day. The story is fun, action-packed, and very original. But it lacked for me. I felt that maybe if it hadn't been sold as a retelling, I would've enjoyed it a lot more. Instead I was expecting the similarities between the fairy tale and this book, and when they were few and far in between, I felt a little disappointed.
I can't deny that this was a great start to a imaginative series, and it leaves readers expecting more, but as for me, I don't see myself continuing it. I did like it, but I didn't love it. There was one character I really liked (the sidekick) but other than that, I didn't really care for anyone else. I liked how unique the story was, but wasn't able to really get into the story as a whole and it took me several weeks to get through this. All in all, I see how this is so hyped up, but it's just not for me.
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