Cinder by Marissa Meyer

            Okay, I’ll admit that I picked up this book years ago, read the first page, and put it back. This may sound harsh, but when you have a book list to read as long as mine, there isn’t time to waste on a book that doesn’t catch you in the first page or two.

            Now, in this case, I was wrong.

            I’ve been trying out the first full chapters before turning a book away, and since this whole series has gotten a lot of praise, I decided to give it another try.

            Cinder is fairy tale retelling of Cinderella as a cyborg. Yep, she’s about 1/3^rd machine.

           

"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."

            I’m not into robot stuff, so when I read the first page all those years ago with the emphasis on her being a cyborg, I picked another book to read that caught my attention more. However, this time, as I read the first full chapter, Cinder’s personality and her relationship with an adorable little android, made me eager for more. I vow to always read at least the first chapter before making a decision. This is proof that you don't have to be a science fiction lover to love this book. :)

            Cinder has a great personality, and so do many of the other characters, even the ones we hate. Their roundness does well to bring them to life. And the complicated relationship between Kai and Cinder adds to their likability. I sometimes wanted to throttle Cinder for what she says and does to the prince, but I also understood it.

            I love retellings, and this Cinder is one of the best I’ve read. It takes a basic story like Cinderella that has been retold so many times over and gives it fresh life. There are things that don’t happen how you expect them too, and yet all the key points are there. Oh hey, and lets add a plague, some death, and a colony on the moon. It sounds too crazy to be put together in the same story, but it’s done so well.

            There wasn’t a big twist, which is hard to do in a retelling, but even with that, I would still rather read this than eat chocolate. I’m so excited to read the rest of the series.