Book Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Title: Cinder
Author: Marissa Meyer 
Publisher: Penguin Australia/Feiwel & Friends 
Release Date: January 3rd, 2012
Format: Paperback
Source: Bought 

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.

EEEEEEE!! A fabulous futuristic re-telling of Cinderella! I remember staying up until 4 in the morning, because I so needed to finish reading it! Seriously, this is no doubt the perfect book to start off the year!

There are likable characters, ones you’ll dearly miss upon the completion of the book as well as those you hate so much you literally want to jump inside the story and strangle them to death. I remember in the original fairytale, both the stepsisters were horribly cruel, but in Cinder, I loved how instead of two malicious sisters, one of them, Peony, was incredibly loving and sympathetic, always helping out Cinder whenever possible. Peony is definitely one of my favourite characters in the book! And there's Iko (I love that name :D ), Cinder's android buddy, who was so cute and funny. Gosh, I loved her as well! As for the stepmother, her selfish and viciously cruel actions will have you screaming your head off and itching to give her a piece of your mind. Slap her, strangle her, murder her- ANYTHING is better than having her thoughtlessly ordering Cinder around, not caring about anyone but herself. There’s also the Lunar Queen, who has got to be the most self-centred devil in the world. Yet as much as I hated her, she was a fantastic antagonist, all the same.

Of course, Cinderella meets the perfect prince! PRINCE KAI. *swoon* I seriously fell for his irresistible charms <3 Kai will soon be crowned the new Emperor, after his father’s untimely death from the deadly plague, and with this coronation and title, comes tremendously important responsibilities that seem like a lot for a mere teenager to cope with. Yet, he is determined to become an Emperor that does his country proud, and will do anything to ensure the country’s freedom from the evil clutches of the Lunar Queen. I seriously LOVED the interactions between Cinder and Kai! I mean, it's not everyday a mere cyborg and Prince talk like they're equals, right? And yet, Kai never treated Cinder like anything but his equal! Cinder and Kai’s relationship developed slowly, and readers will be rooting for them until the very end. I'm such a sucker for forbidden romance; every one of them breaks my heart!

As much as I loved *almost* everything about Cinder, there were a few slight issues. I like unpredictable books, with twists and turns here and there, that take me completely by surprise. I love it when I can’t guess the ending. However, several chapters in, I already knew what would happen in the end, and touché! I was right!But the predictable plot was only a minor downfall, and didn’t affect my enjoyment of the book too much. Another was the lack of Chinese culture incorporated in the story; I remember reading another re-telling of Cinderella, set in Japan, and you could immediately tell it was set there, because of the Japanese culture and customs. If it weren't for the honorific, I don't think I would've been able to tell whether the setting was China or some other part of the world.

Cinder is an imaginative and unique retelling of one of my all-time favourite fairytales, Cinderella. With an intriguing plot, despite its predictability, endearing characters, Cinder is a brilliant re-telling that will leave you desperate for the next book! With that cliffhanger, I, for one, am definitely eager to read the next instalment!