thumbeleia's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Medical content, Body horror, Gaslighting, Child death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Slavery, Terminal illness, Violence, Vomit, War, Abandonment, Ableism, Blood, Bullying, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Body shaming, Car accident, Colonisation, Deportation, Child abuse, Self harm, and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Hate crime, Alcohol, and Infertility
aiplusyou's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
this was a re-read, but since i first read this book when it came out i only half-remembered the plot. it's as good as i remember, and i would definitely recommend it to anyone who loves sci-fi and fairytale retellings. i will say that in a post-covid era it may be a little triggering to read for some readers, however, as it does deal with a worldwide pandemic. this is not a spoiler, you learn this in the first few pages, but it is a theme throughout the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Medical trauma, Child death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racism, Ableism, Death, and Child abuse
sa_er's review against another edition
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Pretty good retelling, although predictable. A good light hearted read. Looking forward to what's next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness
Moderate: Slavery and Child abuse
msradiosilence's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
TLDR; 4.5 rating, they’re teenagers??, and I don’t remember a whole lot about this series.
Content warnings at the bottom. :)
I first read the Lunar Chronicles when I was in high school. And that was a LONG time ago. My boyfriend got me the pretty cover box set, so I figured now was as good a time as any to read it!
My first major issue is that the main characters are all 16-17 years old. That’s insanity. Since the whole series takes place in like 9 months, Cinder is a <i> child </i>. She’s a baby. 16 is NOTHING. Too young to be causing all this trouble, that’s for sure. She does so much in this book and the next three, like?? Did she have to be 16?
My second major issue is that, even though this book is set in Beijing, there’s very little of Eastern Asian culture in the book. Mayhaps that’s because the author is a white woman with no ties to China, and we all know how I feel about white authors writing outside of their experiences, but I digress.
I’ve always felt so sorry for Kai. Bless him, he’s always getting the short end of the stick with all of this, and it’s a wonder he doesn’t have a full head of grey hair. Poor guy is always stressed.
Dr. Erland is one of the best unhinged characters I’ve read in a while. Morally grey, funny, he’s just a fun character to read. I don’t agree at all with anything he’s ever done, but I do love a moral grey bitch.
Rating: 4.5
Would I recommend? Yes, especially if you enjoy moon people, quippy robots, and sci-fi fairytale retellings.
Content warnings: Car accident, Child abuse, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, War, Bullying, Death of parent, Gun violence, Ableism, Classism, Medical trauma, Blood, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Death
Content warnings at the bottom. :)
I first read the Lunar Chronicles when I was in high school. And that was a LONG time ago. My boyfriend got me the pretty cover box set, so I figured now was as good a time as any to read it!
My first major issue is that the main characters are all 16-17 years old. That’s insanity. Since the whole series takes place in like 9 months, Cinder is a <i> child </i>. She’s a baby. 16 is NOTHING. Too young to be causing all this trouble, that’s for sure. She does so much in this book and the next three, like?? Did she have to be 16?
My second major issue is that, even though this book is set in Beijing, there’s very little of Eastern Asian culture in the book. Mayhaps that’s because the author is a white woman with no ties to China, and we all know how I feel about white authors writing outside of their experiences, but I digress.
I’ve always felt so sorry for Kai. Bless him, he’s always getting the short end of the stick with all of this, and it’s a wonder he doesn’t have a full head of grey hair. Poor guy is always stressed.
Dr. Erland is one of the best unhinged characters I’ve read in a while. Morally grey, funny, he’s just a fun character to read. I don’t agree at all with anything he’s ever done, but I do love a moral grey bitch.
Rating: 4.5
Would I recommend? Yes, especially if you enjoy moon people, quippy robots, and sci-fi fairytale retellings.
Content warnings: Car accident, Child abuse, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, War, Bullying, Death of parent, Gun violence, Ableism, Classism, Medical trauma, Blood, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Death
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Classism, Child death, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Violence, War, and Ableism
redphonebooth3's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
How have I not read this before? That's what I keep thinking. It read so smoothly and quickly. While I wasn't on the edge of my seat the whole time, I also never got bored or felt like I had to work through some chapters. This book felt like going to see a good movie and not once checking your watch but being surprised when it's over.
The story is a refreshing take on a the classic Cinderella Story (obvi). It has quite a few relevant themes and topics not the least of which a scary disease of course.
A few of the plot twists I have to say I saw coming from quite far away but I'm not personally deterred by that (same with spoilers for that matter). In fact, it was fun to see that I was right about things and even looking forward to the reveal moments.
For a book that's a decade old now (yes 10 years!) I have to say it holds up really well imo and the main character is actually really interesting and well written. That can be a downfall with those 2010s strong female main characters.
I'm well chuffed I finally read this book and I cannot wait to get the next one in the series.
The story is a refreshing take on a the classic Cinderella Story (obvi). It has quite a few relevant themes and topics not the least of which a scary disease of course.
A few of the plot twists I have to say I saw coming from quite far away but I'm not personally deterred by that (same with spoilers for that matter). In fact, it was fun to see that I was right about things and even looking forward to the reveal moments.
For a book that's a decade old now (yes 10 years!) I have to say it holds up really well imo and the main character is actually really interesting and well written. That can be a downfall with those 2010s strong female main characters.
I'm well chuffed I finally read this book and I cannot wait to get the next one in the series.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Gun violence, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Death
meganpbell's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Cinderella is a cyborg, the prince and his palace are in New Beijing, the wicked stepmother is outdone by a vicious queen from outer space, and a plague adds to all the peril, but the adventure, romance,and heroism are as epic and enchanting as ever in this sci-fi young adult retelling of the classic fairy tale. I look forward to continuing the series, meeting more fairy tale heroines in new forms, and exploring more of Cinder’s universe!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Car accident, Deportation, War, Abandonment, Blood, Child death, Terminal illness, Classism, Death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Xenophobia
calypso_the_oboe's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Cinder by Marissa Meyer is a wonderful 390-page-long sci-fi novel. It was published for the world in 2012. The main theme is how horrible life is for people who are discriminated against. In this future those people are cyborgs and lunars. People think that all lunars are evil because they have a corrupt government and that cyborgs owe their lives to save the rest of the population from letemosis, a virus with a 100% death rate that has turned into a pandemic, because they should have died years earlier.
Linh Cinder is the protagonist and titular character. The book is written in third-person-perspective following her. She lived with her adoptive mother and her two adoptive sisters, Peony and Pearl, and worked as a mechanic. The main love interest, Kai, is the prince of The Commonwealth which is modern-day Asia. His dad was sick with letemosis and was expected to die very soon. Iko is Cinder’s best and only friend. She is a android with a broken personality chip which made her act like a human woman. She loves makeup and fashion and has a crush on the prince like most every other teen girl of the Commonwealth.
Spoiler
The book starts with Kai coming to Cinder’s mechanic’s shop asking for her to fix his android that was his nanny. Then Cinder’s sister, Peony, finds out she’s caught letemosis. The Linh family feels heart broken. They blame Cinder for Peony catching the plague and volunteer her for experimenting on cures. However, scientists find out she’s immune. After that the king died from letemosis and then the evil queen of Luna comes down to earth to try and get Kai to marry her so she can conquer earth. Because of this chaos ensues at Kai’s coronation. The lunar queen convinces Kai to let her hold a trial in Luna, which is nearly always a death sentence because they find out Linh Cinder is actually a Lunar herself. This book is wonderful and it is impactful. The characters are realistic. The world seems so awesome. However, I romance has to much of a spotlight and I wish more of the romance parts were put into world and character building. The romance is well written, however, it’s quite realistic to how real teens would really act in situations like this. The book was very exciting and it pulled on my heartstrings quite a bit. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good sci-fi or romance. This book is perfect for fans of The Hunger Games and Percy Jackson.
I read this book quickly. It has been one of my favorite reads in recent months. I love how Meyer writes characters with flaws, hopes, and dreams. Queen Levana seems like pure evil. No characters are over powered or flawless. I am looking forward to reading the other book in The Lunar Chronicles series.
Spoiler
Peony’s death and Iko’s temporary one were very sad.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism
Moderate: Death and Child abuse
macliffe's review against another edition
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism and Abandonment
Minor: Child abuse
jasmineslibraryy's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
a perfectly unique cinderella retelling/twist <3 cinder is so loveable i want to give her a big hug. also, i have such a soft spot for strangers to lovers i love cinder & kai
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Child abuse, and Slavery
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
part of the plot is a pandemiccatsphodel's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
This is definitely a poorly aged story. Bringing up a child's fertility after a "trans" joke is weird and quite frankly, distasteful. I appreciate how fans have completely ignored Cinder as European and have instead claimed her as Asian. As for the Asian "influences" of this book I wouldn't consider this hodge podge and mixing of several different cultures anything to get excited about. Oddly both fast paced and a little info dumpy at times.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Terminal illness, and Child death
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Grief, Bullying, Death of parent, Medical trauma, and Death
Minor: Alcoholism, Blood, Vomit, Transphobia, Body shaming, Violence, Torture, Car accident, and Ableism