sarahfett's review against another edition
5.0
This book is like a sci fi teen fairy tale, so a perfect pleasure read for me. I look forward to the rest of the series!
jessica_h's review
3.0
Modern day fairytale retellings seem to be quite the thing at the moment. I was drawn to this series in particular for three main reasons – there was a lot of positive hype surrounding it, it had a futuristic sci-fi element, and it was set in Bejing. Who wouldn’t want to read about a cyborg Cinderella? This novel really turned the classic tale on its head and gave it a fresh exciting twist.
In this series, we have a futuristic Earth, and we have the moon, which is populated by a race called Luna. The current Queen of Luna, Queen Levana, is despised and feared by all those on Earth. Luna’s have the power of ultimate manipulation, they are able to make you believe whatever they want, and some, including Queen Levana, can exert this influence over people for extended periods of time. Hence, she is seen as ethereally beautiful, when in reality this is not exactly the truth.
Linh Cinder is a cyborg mechanic who works tirelessly in New Bejing markets, only to give up all her wage to her evil Stepmother, Linh Adri, and her stepsisters Linh Pearl and Linh Peony. Adri feels Cinder is a burden and partly blames her for her husband’s death. Pearl appears to share her mothers sentiments. Peony and Cinder are close friends in the novel, with Peony being sympathetic to Cinder’s predicament despite knowing she is a cyborg. The girls’ father, Linh Garan, died prior to the novel opening from the fatal disease Letumosis, which is still wreaking destruction across the Earthen Union. Lunars are immune to this disease.
Cinder meets Prince Kai, Crown Prince of the Eastern Commonwealth, when one day he brings in his beloved android, Nainsi, for her to fix. Cinder’s family has an android of their own, Iko, who has a glitch in her programming which sometimes causes her to forget she’s an android, and she often displays human emotion. Cinder and Iko have a close friendship, ever since a young Cinder rebuilt her from her parts that Adri had tried to sell. Adri to this day feels contempt towards Iko, and Iko spends most of her time with Cinder, avoiding her.
When Peony contracts Letumosis, Adri blames Cinder and has her drafted as a research subject. She is taken away to the palace to be tested on, knowing that cyborgs do not come out of this experience alive. However, as you might expect, her initial examination is followed by a significant turn of events. For some reason, Cinder is immune.
All in all, I enjoyed this story. This version of a futuristic universe is multifaceted and well constructed, any romance is relatively believable, if not a little typical, and the ending leaves room for the story to continue in the following novels. There is a good balance of action, intrigue and angst and i’m interested in seeing how Scarlet (a re-imagining of Little Red Riding Hood), fits into this world.
In this series, we have a futuristic Earth, and we have the moon, which is populated by a race called Luna. The current Queen of Luna, Queen Levana, is despised and feared by all those on Earth. Luna’s have the power of ultimate manipulation, they are able to make you believe whatever they want, and some, including Queen Levana, can exert this influence over people for extended periods of time. Hence, she is seen as ethereally beautiful, when in reality this is not exactly the truth.
Linh Cinder is a cyborg mechanic who works tirelessly in New Bejing markets, only to give up all her wage to her evil Stepmother, Linh Adri, and her stepsisters Linh Pearl and Linh Peony. Adri feels Cinder is a burden and partly blames her for her husband’s death. Pearl appears to share her mothers sentiments. Peony and Cinder are close friends in the novel, with Peony being sympathetic to Cinder’s predicament despite knowing she is a cyborg. The girls’ father, Linh Garan, died prior to the novel opening from the fatal disease Letumosis, which is still wreaking destruction across the Earthen Union. Lunars are immune to this disease.
Cinder meets Prince Kai, Crown Prince of the Eastern Commonwealth, when one day he brings in his beloved android, Nainsi, for her to fix. Cinder’s family has an android of their own, Iko, who has a glitch in her programming which sometimes causes her to forget she’s an android, and she often displays human emotion. Cinder and Iko have a close friendship, ever since a young Cinder rebuilt her from her parts that Adri had tried to sell. Adri to this day feels contempt towards Iko, and Iko spends most of her time with Cinder, avoiding her.
When Peony contracts Letumosis, Adri blames Cinder and has her drafted as a research subject. She is taken away to the palace to be tested on, knowing that cyborgs do not come out of this experience alive. However, as you might expect, her initial examination is followed by a significant turn of events. For some reason, Cinder is immune.
All in all, I enjoyed this story. This version of a futuristic universe is multifaceted and well constructed, any romance is relatively believable, if not a little typical, and the ending leaves room for the story to continue in the following novels. There is a good balance of action, intrigue and angst and i’m interested in seeing how Scarlet (a re-imagining of Little Red Riding Hood), fits into this world.
ranchel's review against another edition
4.0
Honestly, I did not expect to like Cinder. I figured that this book would be too cheesy, too weird, and too cliched for my taste. I was so wrong that I put holds on the next two books in this series before I'd even finished this book. Cinder is a retelling of Cinderella (duh) set in the distant future in a world where cyborgs and literal aliens walk among us. Cinder is a cyborg, and therefore a second-class citizen, so she's mistreated by her family and society as a whole. Until she catches the eye of Prince Kai, that is. Yes, this book is a little cheesy and cliched and full of the same tropes as every other fantasy aimed at young adults, but the writing and strong female characters more than make up for any shortcomings. I actually listened to the audiobook and I think the narrator did a great job.
arekasadara's review against another edition
2.0
I was so excited to read this book. I'd heard so many good things about it, and, well, Cinderella + Steampunk = happy Alex anticipating an awesome read. But. In the end, it didn't quite work for me.
The first chapter and a bit were GREAT - the setting and characters were so vivid I felt ... (to be finished later)
The first chapter and a bit were GREAT - the setting and characters were so vivid I felt ... (to be finished later)
erinphillipsauthor's review against another edition
5.0
Holy crap this book was utterly fantastic and totally worth the hype
aduchene's review against another edition
5.0
This is a fun dystopic scifi/tech young adult retake on a beloved fairy tale. Although the end discussion between the main character and another led to the reveal of information which I suspected from 100 pages, I enjoyed the unraveling of events. The characters although missing a little development in their romance (which I'm still unsure of the level of romance between them) were enjoyable and that made this book a fun relaxing read! Also, even with the main character's somewhat defeated attitude the commentary of second class citizens and those with disabilities overcoming extreme obstacles is valuable.
emmreadsbooks's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this book... I enjoyed the retelling of Cinderella from a fantasy perspective and loved the cyborg take on it. I just hated the ending! It's like I was reading along all happy and then there was a power outage and I lost the end of the book. Except not, because that's how it ended??? Marissa, cmon! I like a cliffhanger as much as the next person, but there's a lot hanging still. I'll most likely continue with the series since I love her writing style and the world that was crafted, but man....