Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Title: Cinder

Author: Marissa Meyer

Release Date: January 5th 2012

Publisher: Puffin

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia, Sci-fy

Series: The Luna Chronicles

Pages: 387

Format: Paperback

Source: Library 

Rating: ★★★★ 

"Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, the ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . . 

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future." Source Goodreads

Cinder is Marissa Meyer's debut novel which was released early this year. I had been very curious to find out what all that early hype had been about so when I spotted it in my local library I sprinted for my chance to read it. And I've got to say that I wasn't disappointed... much. 

Now as you are already aware Cinder is a re-telling of the fairytale Cinderella so predictability is kind of a given when embarking on this read, but what I didn't expect was quite how much. Which is unfortunately the only thing that let me down about this book. The plot was very original especially when you take into account that it's a retelling. Cyborgs, a plague, Luna's and talking robots with "faulty" personality chips were just a few of the wonderful aspects that Meyer threw into her story that left me begging for more. But all those "big" plot twists were mentioned in some way or another, in extremely close proximity to Cinder that by the time they turn up I was left thinking, "yeah? and?" Saying that Meyer's writing was so utterly addictive that I didn't care I just needed to keep reading about her amazing characters. 

Those said characters were fantastic. Cinder was a perfect main character with the perfect amount of strength and stupidity to make you fall in love with her over and over again. She faced a tough life growing up with only one great friend to keep her going, who I think it's safe to say was the best character in the whole book, Iko. Now Iko's not your typical friend she is in fact a robot, but I challenge anyone to defy her charm. This character had me laughing out loud on numerous occasions! 

I wont go into too much detail about this story but what I will say is that as soon as I finished reading Cinder I was left wanting more. This book was fantastic. The writing style was just wonderful and so easy to follow and absorb entirely that it somehow brought each character to life in a way I've never read before. The plot was wonderful (though predictable) and I cannot wait for the sequel which is due for release Feb 2012. I'm already on the count down. I'm hoping that this one is a little less predictable, but as long as I get to meet Cinder, Iko and the Prince again I think I'll be ok. haha. 

A definite 4 out of 5 star rating for Cinder and a book recommendation that I'm sure readers from all ages will enjoy. Lets just say I lent this to my Mum first and she's still moaning about how long she's got to wait until the next one. haha. I should mention that I forgot to tell her that it was the first in a series. Ooops, my bad. I just assumed that she would know, it is YA after all. 

Happy reading guys, and I hope you get around to reading this one soon. 

Katie