Book Review: Cinder!

The new cover of Cinder by Marissa Meyer
(Image Source)

Firstly, I just want to say that I am a hard sell on Sci-Fi books sometimes. When I was a student, they were often all that I read. As Iv'e gotten older, though, it's been a struggle to find ones that I really like. Over the great everyone-stay-at-home adventure that was the Spring of 2020, I also got back into audiobooks. Several folks had insisted that I read Cinder by Marissa Meyer over the years, and when I saw it as an option on Hoopla, I finally decided to give it a try-- and I'm glad I did!

Cinder is an interesting blend of science fiction and fantasy-- a fairy tale set in a future dystopia with cyborgs and space travel-- with the title character, Lihn Cinder, struggling to make ends meat. As a cyborg (someone whose body has both human and robotic components), Cinder is treated as second class by her family and the world around her, despite her obvious gifts as a mechanic. Through a strange turn of events, Cinder ends up meeting Prince Kai. Prince Kai is looking for information off of one of his droids, and it turns out that the information is sensitive information relating to a years long political struggle between Earth and the inhabitants of the moon. On top of all of this, a plague has been ravaging Earth, and soon the plague hits too close to home for Cinder.

Sound like a whole lot? It is-- but in a good way. Cinder is full of twists and turns, and while is it similar enough to the story of Cinderella for readers to predict some of the outcomes, I was blindsided by a few of the plot twists. I also fell in love with the characters quickly-- especially Cinder's droid friend Iko. This book also has a lot of characters that you love to hate. 

I know what some of you may be thinking-- Cinderella? Romance? There is a red heel on the paperback cover, no thanks! Nope-- we don't judge books by covers, thank you! While there is some romance (I dare you to find me a YA book that doesn't have it!), it's fun and not the primary focus of the book. If you enjoyed Legend by Marie Lu, Scythe by Neal Shusterman, or The Hunger Games by Susanne Collins, you'd also like this book. 

Overall, I'd give Cinder a 4/5 stars. It was exciting and fun, but not enough to tempt me to read the rest of the series. My students and friends will tell you, though, that I'm an extremely difficult sell on series-- even more so if that series changes characters from book to book. Cinder has a HUGE cliffhanger ending, and I wanted the next book to pick up where Cinder left off... but it doesn't. Maybe it's time for me to give it another try over winter break!