Cinder: Book One of the Lunar Chronicles (The Lunar Chronicles, 1)

900 billion years later and I finally got the chance to read Cinder. I own all four books in the series and I've only just started reading them. WOW, KIRSTY. JUST... WOW. But I've finally read the first one and all I can say is that it was worth the wait. This is such an exceptional book and I cannot wait to read more about this world. Sixteen-year-old Cinder is considered a technological mistake by most of society and a burden by her stepmother. Being cyborg does have its benefits, though: Cinder's brain interference has given her an uncanny ability to fix things (robots, hovers, her own malfunctioning parts), making her the best mechanic in New Beijing. This reputation brings Prince Kai himself to her weekly market booth, needing her to repair a broken android before the annual ball. He jokingly calls it "a matter of national security," but Cinder suspects it's more serious than he's letting on. Although eager to impress the prince, Cinder's intentions are derailed when her younger stepsister, and only human friend, is infected with the fatal plague that's been devastating Earth for a decade. Blaming Cinder for her daughter's illness, Cinder's stepmother volunteers her body for plague research, an "honour" that no one has survived. But it doesn't take long for the scientists to discover something unusual about their new guinea pig. Something others would kill for. As you can tell by the blurb, Cinder is a Cinderella re-telling only with loads of twists and turns. One of the things that I absolutely loved about this book was that instead of having two evil stepsisters, Cinder only has the one. And the other stepsister, Peony is Cinder's best friend and the love between the two of them just made me want to cry with happiness. “I don't know. I don't actually remember anything from before the surgery." His eyebrows rose, his blue eyes sucking in all the light of the room. "The cybernetic operation?" "No, the sex change." The doctor's smile faltered. "I'm joking.” ― Marissa Meyer, Cinder I loved that Cinder was a mechanic, I loved that she was a cyborg and she took off her broken foot and put it on her market table and then Prince Kai picked it up, oh my life I was laughing so hard. I just loved every single one of the main characters: Cinder's wit and sarcasm, Iko hilarious comments and banter with Cinder, Peony's love for Cinder, Prince Kai's innocence and naivety, Queen Levana's evilness (and I'm praying that in the future books, Levana's evilness is actually evil and not just Disney evil. I want death and destruction!) I know that this is a Cinderella re-telling and that there's going to be an evil step-mother, but oh my life, Adri (the step-mother) was just horrible! Every time she opened her mouth, something hateful and disgusting would come out and I just wanted ...

4☆ A gripping, Engrossing, thrilling, Read, that mixes fantasy, fairytale and modern day twists seamlessly. This isn't my usual genre read but it's always good to challange your reading experiences and I'm so glad I did as Cinder was one gripping adventure. It did take me a little while to get into the story as I'm not used to Cyborgs etc.. but once I got into the plot and it started to ramp up in intensity towards the middle I was hooked! I Loved the concept of this modern day Cinderella Story where Cinder's is a Cyborg and they have a Plague epidemic.... bit like what's happening now! I did like the fact this story was loosely based around Cinderella but it was fresh and exciting and definitely not predictable! When Cinder's meets Prince Kai at the market she doesn't expect to fall for him, I mean she's a Cyborg she doesn't have human emotions so how can she possible fancy him? After years of her step family telling her she's useless she covers up her identity around Prince Kai, scared it might make him see her in a different light. But things are going to get even more complicated when she is taken to the medical centre for testing after her step sister gets the Plague. It's here she meets Dr. Erland who is about to blow her world upside down, with some shocking revelations!... so juicy! 🙊 I have to admit I was very dubious of Dr. Erland and his intentions towards Cinder. But things are about to get a whole lot worse for Prince Kai and Cinder when Queen Levana rocks up. Wow she's a nasty piece of work & I was preying that Kai didn't give into her demands and threats of war and Wed her!! I loved Prince Kai he really warmed to Cinder and their attraction just kept smouldering. I was willing them together. OMG though what an Ending!! Seriously didn't see that coming. The ending does finish on a cliffhanger so I just had to go buy the second book! CINDER is gripping, Engrossing, thrilling, it has an element of danger, mystery, plenty of secrets and juicy twists, romance and drama It mixes fantasy, fairytale and modern day twists seamlessly. The characters are an eclectic bunch, some good, some bad, some evil, some cunning and some dam right dashingly handsome just as you expect from a fairytale mix. If like me you want to try a new genre that isn't too heavy on fantasy then Cinder is the perfect book for you! I've already started reading the next installment I just couldn't wait!

This is the first book in the Lunar Chronicles. I have been wanting to read this book for some time. I am kicking myself for not reading it sooner because I loved it! Cinder Lihn is a wonderful character, I really liked her. She has a strong will and determination to succeed, even though her stepmother treats her as a slave. Cinder has lived with the Lihn's since being eleven years old, when her adopted father brought her to New Beijing. Now sixteen, she finds herself working as a mechanic in the market to make ends meet. When Prince Kai visits her market stall with a malfunctioning robot, her life is thrown into turmoil and it will never be the same ever again. This is a fantastic retelling of the classic fairytale, Cinderella, and is set in the future where a terrible disease called letumosis is ravaging the world for which there is no cure, and cyborgs are seen as abominations. It's a story that completely hooked me from the first page and took me on a huge emotional roller coaster ride from start to finish. This book is full of action, adventure, heartbreak, romance, mystery and danger and is told through the eyes of both Cinder and Prince Kai for the most part, but a few other characters have a say too. I loved meeting the various characters, even Cinder's stepmother, Adri, and her stepsisters', Pearl and Peony. Adri, I feel, blamed Cinder for the death of her husband, even though he died of letumosis. This bred resentment and she took this out on Cinder. I also fell in love with Prince Kai. He's another wonderful character. He is only eighteen, but he has a good head on his shoulders, even if he acts like a jerk at times. However, there is a lot of responsibility on his shoulders too, so I suppose one could forgive him for it. Adri may be horrible, but there is one character that is downright scary. She is called Queen Levana and is the ruler of Lunars, who are descendants of an Earthen moon colony which was established several centuries before. However, I found her thaumaturges to be even more dangerous and scary. There is one character that I really enjoyed meeting, her name is Iko and she is a housekeeping droid in the Lihn household. She is almost human in personality and is Cinder's friend and companion. As I said above, I found myself completely captivated by this story. I raced through this book at a rate of knots and completed it in one day. It's not exactly a small book either. I normally have a huge love/hate relationship to cliffhangers, so I was actually glad that I had the second one ready and waiting on my bookshelf, because when I reached the end I found myself eager to find out what happens next. Marissa Meyer has written a fantastic retelling of a classic fairytale. I love her world building, which is extremely believable and scarily realistic. Her characters are well developed,...

I enjoyed Cinder so much that I've already purchased the next book in the series. It's been a while since a book has prompted me to do that. It's an interesting world, certainly not what I'd usually expect in a fairy tale retelling (it's Cinderella for those who haven't worked it out) but the way Marissa Meyer used the traditional version of the tale was interesting and cleverly done. I liked both Cinder and Kai (the male and female protagonists) and the wicked stepmother was suitably wicked. There were some changes to the fairy tale that worked well for this retelling and I did work out quite early what was going on in relation to Cinder. I would have preferred a bit more resolution in this story than we got but I was okay with it, although if it continues with so little resolution in the subsequent books I may start to get annoyed. The thing that really bugged me was that in the Kindle version I purchased the story ended at 80% of the file! I was wondering why the climax seemed to be commencing at about 60-65% of the book and thought it was a bit early and was extremely disappointed to find that 20% of the book was acknowledgements and a long Q&A with the author. Those things can be great but not when they're giving you a false notion of how much book is left to read, especially a full 20% of the file. That seemed more than excessive. But I'll give the second book a go and see what I think. Hopefully, it will live up to the promise of the first one and will intrigue me more.

I don't even know how to rate this book. I loved it. I hated it. I was never one for fairy tales as a child, and so their retellings aren't something I gravitate to as an adult. But Cinderella is one of the few fairy tales I remember adoring. My favorite parts of Cinder were those that reminded me of the original story. I'm totally on board with a sci-fi Cinderella reboot, and I loved the idea of transforming her into a kick-ass mechanic. Cinder's stepmother, Adri, is perfection. She's cold blooded, but you can get why she resents Cinder even if you can't excuse it. I enjoyed Iko in her role as sarcastic sidekick (taking on that sort of "Gus" role from the Disney movie). The futuristic setting of New Beijing was interesting. Adding in the element of a deadly plague really intrigued me. Prince Kai? Meh. But, ok, he can be Prince Charming or whatever. What I didn't like is the introduction of moon people with mind-controlling magic. This is my own fault. I hate space. Me and Elon Musk will never hang out. I avoid stories about space travel, aliens and non-earth dwelling. But personal biases aside, I do think this book got weaker as the story progressed. Kai casually reveals things to Cinder that could be considered state secrets. Cinder has a conversation with a Lunar spy who opens up and tells her everything with very little prompting. The plot becomes increasingly predictable. When the big secret from Cinder's past is finally revealed, it isn't much of a surprise. I also would have liked to know why one of Cinder's stepsisters hated her while the other loved her. Those dynamics are never explained. The parts I liked, I loved and the parts I hated were not a dealbreaker. I didn't think I would continue with the series, but I have to admit I'm dying to know what happens with Cinder. Even if it means reading about dumb space queens.