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Title: CINDER
Author: Marissa Meyer
Publication Date: January 3rd, 2012
My Rating 4/5 Stars
Ugh I'm sorry guys, I'm like 8 books behind on reviews. Not that there's much of a point in apologizing, I guess ... I just like to imagine that there are thousands of people just sitting there, drooling, waiting on the edges of their seats for my next review! And uh, that's the only thing that motivates me to keep writing reviews. So don't crush my hopes and dreams, please.
Anyway, since I'm so behind on reviews, I'm going to try and put this as concisely as possible.
I liked this book a lot. It was surprisingly good. I remember seeing advertisements for it on Goodreads a long time ago all the time. And I'd be like, "Umm what? What on earth is that? Cyborg Cinderella? WTF." And I didn't think I'd actually read it. But then, I started hearing positive things about it. So, I decided to give it a try. And, well, I liked it.
When it comes down to it, Cinder is just a very entertaining book. It's not the greatest or most genius thing ever written, but I found it thoroughly enjoyable.
I adore fairy tale retellings––especially ones that make me see the fairy tale in a totally different way. I had never read a retelling of Cinderella in which Cinderella was a cyborg. And although the premise sounds ridiculous, I thought Marissa Meyer pulled it off well.
First of all, Cinder was a likable character. She was a tough, strong, smart female lead. Unlike the Cinderella in the original fairy tale, she wasn't sitting around whining and waiting for Prince Charming or a fairy godmother to pop out of nowhere. She got things done for herself, by herself.
Secondly, the world-building was really cool. It was interesting to see the story reset in a future Beijing, which was a refreshing and unique aspect of the story. I liked all the new technology, the politics, etc. It seemed to be thought out pretty well. It was sometimes a little confusing, and could have used some more development here and there, but for the most part I found it original and intriguing.
Thirdly, there were a lot of interesting takes on the secondary characters. In this version, only the stepmother and one of the stepsisters were bitches! And the other stepsister was actually Cinder's friend. So, I thought that was cool. I also adored Iko, Cinder's robot-friend ... who I guess was the fairy godmother replacement? Errrm I don't know. But she was super adorable and awesome. And Prince Kai! AAHHHH! He was just so sweet and sexy, and over all a super awesome love interest. He wasn't creeperish or stalkerish or controlling, or any of those other terrible personality traits that a lot of YA male love interests have. HOORAY!
I don't have too much to complain about. Like I said, there were parts/aspects of the story that I found a little bit confusing. And there were also parts that felt a little ... silly? I don't know. It's hard to explain what I mean, I guess. Anyway ... also, I didn't really like the ending. It was that type of ending where I got to the last page and I was like, "Wait, that's it? Am I missing pages?" I'm not a big fan of cliffhangers, and in this case it just left the story feeling incomplete. I know it's a series, but I still would have liked a bit more closure of some sort.
Anyway, this was a fun read and something I highly recommend. I'm excited for the sequels, and to see what Meyer does with other fairy tales! :)
Anyway, since I'm so behind on reviews, I'm going to try and put this as concisely as possible.
I liked this book a lot. It was surprisingly good. I remember seeing advertisements for it on Goodreads a long time ago all the time. And I'd be like, "Umm what? What on earth is that? Cyborg Cinderella? WTF." And I didn't think I'd actually read it. But then, I started hearing positive things about it. So, I decided to give it a try. And, well, I liked it.
When it comes down to it, Cinder is just a very entertaining book. It's not the greatest or most genius thing ever written, but I found it thoroughly enjoyable.
I adore fairy tale retellings––especially ones that make me see the fairy tale in a totally different way. I had never read a retelling of Cinderella in which Cinderella was a cyborg. And although the premise sounds ridiculous, I thought Marissa Meyer pulled it off well.
First of all, Cinder was a likable character. She was a tough, strong, smart female lead. Unlike the Cinderella in the original fairy tale, she wasn't sitting around whining and waiting for Prince Charming or a fairy godmother to pop out of nowhere. She got things done for herself, by herself.
Secondly, the world-building was really cool. It was interesting to see the story reset in a future Beijing, which was a refreshing and unique aspect of the story. I liked all the new technology, the politics, etc. It seemed to be thought out pretty well. It was sometimes a little confusing, and could have used some more development here and there, but for the most part I found it original and intriguing.
Thirdly, there were a lot of interesting takes on the secondary characters. In this version, only the stepmother and one of the stepsisters were bitches! And the other stepsister was actually Cinder's friend. So, I thought that was cool. I also adored Iko, Cinder's robot-friend ... who I guess was the fairy godmother replacement? Errrm I don't know. But she was super adorable and awesome. And Prince Kai! AAHHHH! He was just so sweet and sexy, and over all a super awesome love interest. He wasn't creeperish or stalkerish or controlling, or any of those other terrible personality traits that a lot of YA male love interests have. HOORAY!
I don't have too much to complain about. Like I said, there were parts/aspects of the story that I found a little bit confusing. And there were also parts that felt a little ... silly? I don't know. It's hard to explain what I mean, I guess. Anyway ... also, I didn't really like the ending. It was that type of ending where I got to the last page and I was like, "Wait, that's it? Am I missing pages?" I'm not a big fan of cliffhangers, and in this case it just left the story feeling incomplete. I know it's a series, but I still would have liked a bit more closure of some sort.
Anyway, this was a fun read and something I highly recommend. I'm excited for the sequels, and to see what Meyer does with other fairy tales! :)
Next Review: THE IMMORTAL RULES by Julie Kagawa ... coming soon.
