Cinder by Marissa Meyer

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 brilliant. I love how different of a retelling it is. The spin on the classic tale was genius. It’s a well known story (Cinderella) mixed with a popular YA subgenre (fantasy/sci-fi), and I’m pretty sure a retelling of Cinderella can’t get any better than this one. It has androids, cyborgs, and moon people!

Cinder is a kickass character. Really, she is. Cinder is a 33% cyborg mechanic, who lives in New Beijing. She’s working when the dashing Prince Kai appears. Kai asks Cinder to repair one of his favorite childhood androids. Cinder, when she figures out that Kai is the prince, gets a little starstruck. Thankfully, Prince Kai doesn’t let that happen. Kai is immediately taken aback by Cinder, and urges her to treat him like everybody else. That’s why I liked the prince, he isn’t super stuck up and big-headed. He and Cinder get along seamlessly, which helps the story flow smoother. Cinder’s family, though not very pleasant, stays true to the original Cinderella tale.

Meyer’s writing flows beautifully. The world of New Beijing was a bit of a problem for me, though. At times I felt like how Meyer explained everything going on between them and the moon people was too confusing. I found myself having to go back and reread paragraphs a few times. However, it did not distract from the story too much. The strong characters and plot make up for the lack of development when dealing with New Beijing.

I recommend Cinder to readers who are reluctant to read sci-fi or fantasy novels. Marissa Meyer did an amazing job writing a fresh retelling of an old tale.

FTC- Received as an ARC from Copperfields Books.