Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1) by Marissa Meyer
Published by Feiwel and Friends on January 3rd 2012
Pages: 390
Goodreads

Sixteen-year-old Cinder is considered a technological mistake by most of society and a burden by her stepmother. Being cyborg does have its benefits, though: Cinder's brain interference has given her an uncanny ability to fix things (robots, hovers, her own malfunctioning parts), making her the best mechanic in New Beijing. This reputation brings Prince Kai himself to her weekly market booth, needing her to repair a broken android before the annual ball. He jokingly calls it "a matter of national security," but Cinder suspects it's more serious than he's letting on.

Although eager to impress the prince, Cinder's intentions are derailed when her younger stepsister, and only human friend, is infected with the fatal plague that's been devastating Earth for a decade. Blaming Cinder for her daughter's illness, Cinder's stepmother volunteers her body for plague research, an "honor" that no one has survived.

But it doesn't take long for the scientists to discover something unusual about their new guinea pig. Something others would kill for.

4 Nuts

Its always interesting to me when I read a book that everybody talks about and adores and I don’t understand why its so beloved. Like, CINDER is good I won’t deny it, but it’s not THAT good. So I always wonder what other people are seeing that I do not. Am I missing something? Or are my tastes just THAT different?

See, CINDER wasn’t a bad book. It isn’t even average. I thought it was pretty good, I gave it 4 nuts. But it wasn’t as amazing as everyone says it is. Why is this series SO obsessed over? I honestly can’t tell you. But I’d like to know.

Plague stories always interest me. I find the ways in which illnesses transmit from person to person to be pretty fascinating. It’s the one part of science that I really enjoy, even fictionally. Medicine in most fiction is something I pay a lot of attention to. So as a plague story this book works okay but I feel like there could have been a bit more detail in this aspect.

As for character, Prince Kai and Cinder are both pretty well written but I think their relationship misses an essential spark as they stand in this first book. While I see potential for more I am missing that buzz in my brain that tells me to root for them as a couple, that makes me see that they belong together,

The big twist in the book is glaringly obvious. I mean I guess from the moment she was spoken of that the princess wasn’t going to a passing mention. I knew exactly where that was going, let’s be honest here. It’s in no way subtle. So that Ah Ha moment was entirely lackluster for me. It’s nothing revolutionary so here I am wanting something more.

All in all while I enjoyed reading CINDER I guess the hype just had me expecting so much more. Maybe that’s why I was so disappointed with it. I’ve been told that the books get better as the series goes on so I’m hoping that same hype doesn’t keep me from loving the series as much as everyone else.

What do you think about this book or the series in general? Overhyped or just right? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

From my shelf to yours,

Erin

 

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