lawbooks600's review
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Representation: Asian main character
Score: Seven points out of ten.
So. This was originally going to be the first book I would read from Marissa Meyer. It's now the third after I read Renegades and then Gilded. I enjoyed both, but I'm not rushing to finish the series, and that also applies to the Cinder series since Meyer, as far as I know, can't write immersive world-building or relatable characters. I can't connect to Cinder, Peony or any other characters. It starts with the main character, Linh Cinder, or Cinder for short, a mechanic who lives in New Beijing in the Eastern Commonwealth and nothing much happens to her until, for some reason, Prince Kai goes to her shop to get his robot fixed (I think they call robots androids) then the action builds further when someone kidnapped her and took her to the hospital for some medical experimentation if I got that right. Cinder then discovers that she is 60% human and 40% machine. This begs the question: is Cinder still a human, or is she still a machine? The author left that question for me to interpret, but I think it's the former. Also, there is a pandemic of a plague called letumosis which is like the modern bubonic plague, but other than the fact that people first saw it in North Africa, I don't know where that came from. The mention of World War IV implies the existence of World War III, but details are vague except that afterwards, there were only six countries left and that kicked off the "Third Era." The book slowed from that point, with nothing much happening except Cinder living uneasily and investigating Queen Levana out of all people, which led up to the end. Long story short, there was an epic scene where Cinder lost her mechanical foot, then she is revealed to be the long-lost princess and a cliffhanger. The bonus content was alright, but as I said, I can wait until I'm in the mood to read the following book, Scarlet, but now I'm not feeling like it.
Score: Seven points out of ten.
So. This was originally going to be the first book I would read from Marissa Meyer. It's now the third after I read Renegades and then Gilded. I enjoyed both, but I'm not rushing to finish the series, and that also applies to the Cinder series since Meyer, as far as I know, can't write immersive world-building or relatable characters. I can't connect to Cinder, Peony or any other characters. It starts with the main character, Linh Cinder, or Cinder for short, a mechanic who lives in New Beijing in the Eastern Commonwealth and nothing much happens to her until, for some reason, Prince Kai goes to her shop to get his robot fixed (I think they call robots androids) then the action builds further when someone kidnapped her and took her to the hospital for some medical experimentation if I got that right. Cinder then discovers that she is 60% human and 40% machine. This begs the question: is Cinder still a human, or is she still a machine? The author left that question for me to interpret, but I think it's the former. Also, there is a pandemic of a plague called letumosis which is like the modern bubonic plague, but other than the fact that people first saw it in North Africa, I don't know where that came from. The mention of World War IV implies the existence of World War III, but details are vague except that afterwards, there were only six countries left and that kicked off the "Third Era." The book slowed from that point, with nothing much happening except Cinder living uneasily and investigating Queen Levana out of all people, which led up to the end. Long story short, there was an epic scene where Cinder lost her mechanical foot, then she is revealed to be the long-lost princess and a cliffhanger. The bonus content was alright, but as I said, I can wait until I'm in the mood to read the following book, Scarlet, but now I'm not feeling like it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia
Moderate: Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Blood
Minor: Car accident, Death, and Fire/Fire injury
bookcaptivated's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-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? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, Terminal illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Ableism, Bullying, Child abuse, and Death of parent
Moderate: Body shaming, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Slavery, and Xenophobia
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, War, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief
imskylow's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-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? It's complicated
2.75
I DNFed this book back in middle school but as an adult it was recommended to me again. I thought I’d give it another shot 12 years later. Turns out, it’s still boring to me as an adult. Only got interesting around page 330. A lot of concepts didn’t and still don’t make sense to me like why there was that extreme prejudice towards cyborgs who are basically just amputees. Like any human, Earthen or Lunar could become a cyborg. All you need is one freak accident. And then all of the sudden you’ren not worthy of basic human rights? What are these people, elementary school bullies?? I do have to give points for this being the first book this author has published but some of the plot felt silly or half baked. If we take out the fact that this is trying to be a retelling of Cinderella (which I feel is bland already), there really isn’t much that’s interesting here. I also felt no chemistry between Cinder and Kai.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism and Bullying
Moderate: Death, Medical trauma, and Violence
Minor: Genocide
atomicrobin's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Physical abuse, Body horror, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, Pandemic/Epidemic, War, Child death, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
marissasa's review
dark
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
4.0
Although I find less YA dystopian novels that I like as I get older, this one definitely held my interest with its unique sci-fi elements and the Lunar mutant race of people as antagonists. I thought this first entry into the series was well-written and the main character Cinder's emotions and actions felt true to her personality and her status as a misfit teenager who ends up questioning her entire identity, but as an adult reader you have to keep in mind the book's audience and just roll with it when she acts irrationally. The part I am most critical of in this book is the romance subplot, because it felt like their feelings for each other grew really fast despite having limited interactions in person, although maybe this can be chalked up to the way teenagers fall in love really fast in real life too. I liked the high stakes and danger that was ever-present throughout the book, and although some of the major plot points were predictable, they were written with ample build-up and the explanations following the reveals made sense for the story. I will continue this series and am curious to see how it ties in with the other fairytale-inspired sequels.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Emotional abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Body horror, Body shaming, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Violence
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
bean_7088's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Cinderella but cyborg Sci-fi
I had some big gripes with how some of the characters were written.
Kai was my biggest gripe. I just could not believe that a boy raised to be the next emperor would be so bad at politics. So bad at interacting within that political sphere.
I also didn't quite understand the prejudice against cyborgs? I could understand if people were wary because cyborgs were stronger/smarter/faster whatever but that's not how it was portrayed and so it was a bit forced and weird.
I hate the died literally seconds before they could be cured thing 🙄
Even though I had gripes, and the ending was immediately predictable. I still want to read the rest of the series.
I had some big gripes with how some of the characters were written.
Kai was my biggest gripe. I just could not believe that a boy raised to be the next emperor would be so bad at politics. So bad at interacting within that political sphere.
I also didn't quite understand the prejudice against cyborgs? I could understand if people were wary because cyborgs were stronger/smarter/faster whatever but that's not how it was portrayed and so it was a bit forced and weird.
I hate the died literally seconds before they could be cured thing 🙄
Even though I had gripes, and the ending was immediately predictable. I still want to read the rest of the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Pandemic/Epidemic, Emotional abuse, and Death
Little big of cyborg body horror and descriptions of previous injuries from fire Extremely emotionally/verbally abusive parent. Bigotry against cyborgs and other people Pandemic. Death of sibling.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
coryyalva's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
This was a beautiful retelling of the story of Cinderella in a magical world that is a beautiful mix of our modern world and a futuristic world foreign to us.
If it wasn't for the fact that I predicted the ending of the book at page 100 (this is a 400 page book, by the way) then I would have EASY given it 4 stars, if not 4.5, but there was no sense of surprise for me.
Nonetheless, I do recommend everyone go read it!!
If it wasn't for the fact that I predicted the ending of the book at page 100 (this is a 400 page book, by the way) then I would have EASY given it 4 stars, if not 4.5, but there was no sense of surprise for me.
Nonetheless, I do recommend everyone go read it!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Classism
Moderate: Death and Terminal illness
Minor: War
tsuenkel's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Torture, Xenophobia, Medical content, Death, and Child death