Review: Cinder

Posted September 18, 2015 / Book Reviews / 11 Comments

Review: CinderCinder by Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #1
on January 3rd 2012
Also by this author: Scarlet, Cress, Winter, Fairest, Stars Above, Heartless, Wires and Nerve, Gone Rogue , Renegades , Archenemies , Supernova
(390 pages) • GoodreadsAmazon Barnes & Noble
four-stars

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.

my thoughts pinkLet me start out by saying, YES I finally read this book! Yes, for the first time. No, I’m not sure what took me this long. When Brittany mentioned a Lunar Chronicles readalong for this year, in preparation for the newest release, I knew that this would be my reason to finally read the series.

I’ll say quickly: I’ve never had this much trouble coming up with a Friends connection for my GIF below! It usually takes me forever to find or create the right GIF, but the reference itself comes right into my brain. Regardless, I think this book is just so unique and hard to classify that – for once – my Friends-obsessed brain had some trouble!

Well, what did I think? This was a really great series-starter! I’m so intrigued with this world and can’t wait to see what happens in the next installment. Cinder was an interesting character – she’s a cyborg who dealing with the prince’s sudden interest in her and her sister’s sudden illness, all while slowly learning some insane things about herself and her past. I didn’t fully connect with her for some reason, but that didn’t really damper my enjoyment for the book overall. It seems like her story is going to be the one carried through the rest of the series, all while highlighting new characters and, probably, locations.

There’s this phenomenon that happens to me sometimes while I’m reading that I call being “mockingbirded.” When I was in high school reading To Kill a Mockingbird, I was never really in the mood to pick up the book and read. The idea of it didn’t appeal to me. BUT, the minute I started reading, I was hooked! There have been a lot of books since then that have the same effect on me: I’m not itching to pick up the book and read, but I enjoy it so much while reading. This book was certainly one of them. It was addicting but took some time for me to get into.

I liked the implication of future romance, but wish there was a bit more in this book. I didn’t really get too many feels, but I can see that they’ll (hopefully) be coming at a later time in the series. Hopefully? Maybe?! Prince Kai seems pretty awesome, but I’m not head over heels for him quite yet.

Overall, the world-building in this book was top-notch and I’m REALLY excited to learn more about it through the rest of the series. Sci-fi books are not my forte, but this book is an exception for sure.

feels from friends pink

“Soon, the whole world would be searching for her…but they would be looking for a ghost.”

rating breakdown pink

Plot & Premise
four-half-stars
Characters
four-stars
Writing Style
four-half-stars
Pacing & Flow
four-stars
Feels or Swoons
four-stars
Addiction Level
four-stars
Overall: 4.2

11 responses to “Review: Cinder

  1. Anne

    I can’t wait these what you think of Scarlet and Cress. Cinder was just okay for me, and I wasn’t a big Kai fan. But it gets so good!

  2. I am so glad you finally read and enjoyed Cinder! As for the Friends gif…. that is one of my all time favorite episodes and every time I play a game with family or friends I reference Joey. 🙂 I hope you enjoy the rest of the books in the series. Cress was my favorite. The best part about just now reading this one, is that that last book comes out in November so you don’t have to wait long! Woot!

    Kay @ It's a Book Life recently posted: I Feel Like Gabbing Today - House Edition
  3. I really enjoy this series! Cinder was just really fun to read. I liked how she put such a unique spin on it, and I certainly liked getting to know the characters. I can’t wait for you to read Scarlet (which is my favorite because I adore Scarlet and Wolf to pieces)! So happy that you liked this one.

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