Saturday, March 24, 2012

Cinder by Marissa Meyer [REVIEW]

     
Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1)
by Marissa Meyer

Summary from Goodreads:

"A forbidden romance. A deadly plague. Earth's fate hinges on one girl...

Cinder, a gifted mechanic in New Beijing, is also a cyborg. She's reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's sudden illness. But when her life becomes entwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she finds herself at the centre of a violent struggle between the desires of an evil queen - and a dangerous temptation.

Cinder is caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal. Now she must uncover secrets about her mysterious past in order to protect Earth's future."

Rating:

You know that feeling when you see a book’s cover art and find it sooo appealing that you just had to know what it’s about? Or sometimes, you just grab it off a bookstore’s shelf and buy it without knowing what it’s about? Well I didn’t feel that way with Cinder. I wasn’t completely sold on the cover; I’m not saying it’s awful, I just don’t find it extremely striking or attention grabbing. Then I read the title, and I tell myself, “Cinder? Hmmm… Looks like a retelling of Cinderella… with some sort of… robotic feature?!”

I cringe at the idea. Is that even possible? That’s a bold move, Marissa Meyer; but it doesn’t seem convincing. So I let the book go and moved on to looking at other books.

After some time, I came across several blogs that received copies of Cinder… so I decided to check the book’s synopsis and I thought, “huh. Sounds interesting enough…”

Still skeptical yet curious, I decided to give Cinder a shot and… BOY, DID IT BLOW ME AWAY!

I curse myself for not getting this book sooner!

Marissa Meyer’s Cinder is like no other retelling of Cinderella. If you think you’ve read, seen or heard every possible remake or reiteration of this story, well get ready to be proven wrong. It’s amazing what really creative authors can do, and I can strongly say that Marissa Meyer is an author to watch out for.

The plot of this book is something I find unique and refreshing. It’s not completely based on the classic but the important details or the commonly known facts of Cinderella [the stepmother and stepsisters; Cinder being forced to work by her stepmother; the whole prince and the ball event, not to mention the leaving behind the slipper thing] were of course, presented in this adaptation (if you’re thinking of the Disney version, note that there’s no fairy godmother here, sorry), and yet you’ll be surprised with how those things will turn out. And did I mention this is set in a futuristic world? Pretty cool, huh? Wait ‘til you get to actually read about it ‘coz this author has one hell of an imagination!

Now Cinder’s character is rather interesting. Being a cyborg and having a built-in internet-like system within your vision is enough to keep me turning page after page, after page. Add the fact that she’s the best mechanic in all of New Beijing considering she’s a girl, bravo on that idea! Sadly, I feel like I didn’t get to know Cinder that well. Her personality’s still a bit vague to me. Maybe she’ll grow as this series progresses so I’ll be keeping an open mind about that.

Are you waiting to find out about Cinder and the Prince (his name’s Kai by the way)? Hmm… Let’s just say there are few bittersweet moments to watch out for.  By few I mean waiting for the next book to come since the relationship is still in the process of development. Bummer!

So I did mention that the fairy godmother has gone AWOL, but that doesn’t mean we’re short on villains too. Cinder is already taking in the wickedness of her stepmother and a particular stepsister when she also catches an evil queen’s attention. Poor, Cinder… and to think the journey to a happily ever after ending has just begun.

Did I just say: “begun”? Yes, you read that right, because you better be prepared for a major, and I mean MAJOR, cliffhanger. Seriously?! These authors are deliberately cruel! Why? Why must you torture your readers? *Wailing uncontrollably* LOL.

Needless to say, I absolutely love this book. It’s an enchanting book that successfully gives this classic story a new and invigorating twist that’ll keep you wanting more.