Author: Marissa Meyer
Published: January 3, 2012
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Genres: YA, Sci-fi, Retellings
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a 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.
First sentence: The screw through Cinder's ankle had rusted, the engraved cross marks worn to a mangled circle.
This book came with glowing recommendations from just about everyone I knew. So if my expectations were a little unrealistic going into it, blame them.
Sigh. I really wanted to like Cinder. I really did. Cinder is like that awkward, annoying kid in class you want to be friends with, to prove you're a good person, but you end up hating them anyway and joining the masses. Okay, maybe not that extreme, because I don't hate Cinder. There's just a lot I dislike.
It'll be easier to just start off with what I did like. First, the premise. How frequently do you come across a futuristic cyborg Cinderella story set in New Beijing? I mean, what kind of badass motherfucker comes up with this stuff? Not me with my uncool futuristic psycho Cinderella short story set in Japan. Kudos to the author for coming up with such an original idea. That's eventually what got me to read it, besides the endless praise.
The concept of the Lunars was awesome, too. I was curious about them for the entire book. When did humans achieve commercial space flight? When did they build the colony? What kind of bad juju did the colonists smoke to get magical powers? Are there other colonies, or did humanity learn it's lesson about the dangers of space colonization from the Lunars. The fact that they evolved to be different from the humans implies that this story is set way further into the future then I initially thought, because evolution doesn't just happen overnight. Unless it did, then I'm side-eyeing this story even more.
Character wise, Iko the android was probably my favorite, along with the sketchy Dr. Erland. Due to a "malfunctioning" personality chip, Iko was the funny, sarcastic best friend you usually expect to find in YA novels, but the fact that she was an android made it all the much sweeter. I was genuinely upset when I found out what happened to her. As for Dr. Erland, I liked him right away, even if his true origins were completely predictable. I thought it was hilarious how we're first introduced to him, his assistant implies that he's a pervy old man only after teenage girls.
And I guess Cinder herself wasn't too bad. She isn't the most memorable protagonist out there, but there's nothing to hate about her, either. She's just kind of there.
The last 1/4 of the book was pretty good. It didn't make up for the other 3/4, but it made me not give the book two stars.
. . .now for the parts I dislike.
1. Predictable plot is predictable.
Here's the thing with retellings: Pretty much everyone knows how it's going to go, even with all the unique twists an turns you throw in. That's why it's such a challenge to try and capture the true essence of the tale, yet not bore your readers with a typical run-of-the-mill story. I get that. But there's no reason for the plot to be so freaking obvious within the first fifty pages, unless it's intentional. As soon I was given my little exposition about the Lunars and Queen Levana, I knew how the book would go, and I desperately hoped I was wrong. There was nothing wrong with it, but it was so typical.
There's sprinkling in some foreshadowing, then there's slathering it on so thick I'm drowning in it. There's a clever way to do these big reveals if the reader is suppose to be in on it. We see it all the time in TV shows, where the audience is allowed to sit in God's chair and watch everything that happens, but I think it's harder to pull off in books. A lot of the time, unless it's outright stated or implied that we're suppose to be in on the secret, readers are going to assume the author thinks they're stupid. Or the main character is stupid. Either way, it leaves angry readers.
But I actually read somewhere that Meyer wished she could have changed it so that it was more obvious to the reader that we were suppose to be in on the secret, so I'm going too reign in my angry thoughts and just say that it was first timers mistake and actually applaud her for attempting to pull it off.
2. What's up with the (lack of) worldbuilding?
I really dislike this trend in YA series where the first book is pretty much zero worldbuilding. Like, how are we suppose to imagine if there's nothing there? Throw us a bone, would ya?
The story takes place in New Beijing (the old one got destroyed). Maybe I'm wrong, but this is somewhere in China, right? This isn't New Beijing in Texas, or New Beijing in France, right? So why is there pretty much zero Chinese culture in the book? Oh there's dumplings, statues of Buddha, and vague sounding Asian names, but that's about it. I understand that New Beijing is suppose to be a melting pot of cultures, but that seems like such a cop out. Just because cultures mix together doesn't mean the original one has to be erased. For the most part, New Beijing is completely western, with a sprinkling of Chinese culture for thetourists readers.
I guess I'm a little miffed because I've seen this book being shown as an example of diversity, when I don't see any? The Chinese setting is vague as frack and everything else is westernized. I thought Cinder would be Chinese, but nah. She a white girl.
3. Why does everyone hate cyborgs?
What would a YA book be if the main character didn't struggle against some kind of discrimination or persecution, whether real or imagined? In Cinder's case, I really didn't understand the hatred of cyborgs. If we put them in todays context, they're just people with prosthetic limbs. No one hates people with prosthetic limbs. Unless you're a dick.
Or basically anyone who has gotten something "unnatural" put in their body to help them live better. We don't view this as wrong, but a miracle. A testament to the growth of human science. So how is it that in Cinder's future, this technological miracle is looked down upon? These "cyborgs" are literally given not only a chance for a new life, but an upgrade in it as well. They owe their doctors for being skilled enough to pull of the surgery, but they don't owe society their lives. What kind of fail logic?
And from what we've seen of Cinder, she's human. She has human thoughts, human feelings, human fears. But because she can't express them, she's just a machine. There are people today with mental disabilities who can't express themselves well, and we do not look down on them. I'm struggling to come up with some reason for why society has regressed so much socially when history shows that we mostly keep improving?
4. What the hell is Cinder?
Cinder is 32% human. What exactly does that mean? Just how much improvements has she had? What is this societies definition of human? If you get a mechanical pinky, do you qualify as a cyborg?
I don't know if the 32% refers to the brain, the nervous system or what. If it just references her limbs and the other "upgrades" she's had, then it seems to me that she's still 100% human. Again, we don't see people with prosthetic limbs as only 95% human or whatever.
Maybe it's because I'm a skimmer, but the descriptions of Cinder are super vague. I don't what part of her is real and what isn't. At first I just thought it was her hands and foot, but at the end, it's revealed they couldn't save her limbs. In that case, why does she even have a detachable foot? Why not build it so it was attached to her leg?
5. Prince Kai is a tool
I tried to like Kai, but he's so boring. Sure, he has the whole, "My father died and I'm ill-prepared for the throne" struggle going on, but other than that he's pretty flat. His interactions with Cinder are pretty bland, so I'm assuming Cinder likes him because he's totes hot and rich. All of his chapters are centered around politics so we never really learn anything about him besides the fact he's the Commonwealth's #1 bachelor.
6. Marketed as Young Adult, feels like Middle Grade
I have nothing against MG. In fact, I love reading it. But when I pick up a book that's marketed as YA, I expect it to be YA. No ifs, ands, or buts. The writing and plot feels like it should be targeting the 12-14 range. If this was MG I would be much more forgiving and probably enjoy this book more, but since it's YA I expect a little bit more substance.
Despite my rants, Cinder was nowhere near the worst book ever. It did have some enjoyable factors, and from the little preview of Scarlet I got at the end, the sequel sounds much better.
The concept of the Lunars was awesome, too. I was curious about them for the entire book. When did humans achieve commercial space flight? When did they build the colony? What kind of bad juju did the colonists smoke to get magical powers? Are there other colonies, or did humanity learn it's lesson about the dangers of space colonization from the Lunars. The fact that they evolved to be different from the humans implies that this story is set way further into the future then I initially thought, because evolution doesn't just happen overnight. Unless it did, then I'm side-eyeing this story even more.
Character wise, Iko the android was probably my favorite, along with the sketchy Dr. Erland. Due to a "malfunctioning" personality chip, Iko was the funny, sarcastic best friend you usually expect to find in YA novels, but the fact that she was an android made it all the much sweeter. I was genuinely upset when I found out what happened to her. As for Dr. Erland, I liked him right away, even if his true origins were completely predictable. I thought it was hilarious how we're first introduced to him, his assistant implies that he's a pervy old man only after teenage girls.
And I guess Cinder herself wasn't too bad. She isn't the most memorable protagonist out there, but there's nothing to hate about her, either. She's just kind of there.
The last 1/4 of the book was pretty good. It didn't make up for the other 3/4, but it made me not give the book two stars.
. . .now for the parts I dislike.
1. Predictable plot is predictable.
Here's the thing with retellings: Pretty much everyone knows how it's going to go, even with all the unique twists an turns you throw in. That's why it's such a challenge to try and capture the true essence of the tale, yet not bore your readers with a typical run-of-the-mill story. I get that. But there's no reason for the plot to be so freaking obvious within the first fifty pages, unless it's intentional. As soon I was given my little exposition about the Lunars and Queen Levana, I knew how the book would go, and I desperately hoped I was wrong. There was nothing wrong with it, but it was so typical.
There's sprinkling in some foreshadowing, then there's slathering it on so thick I'm drowning in it. There's a clever way to do these big reveals if the reader is suppose to be in on it. We see it all the time in TV shows, where the audience is allowed to sit in God's chair and watch everything that happens, but I think it's harder to pull off in books. A lot of the time, unless it's outright stated or implied that we're suppose to be in on the secret, readers are going to assume the author thinks they're stupid. Or the main character is stupid. Either way, it leaves angry readers.
But I actually read somewhere that Meyer wished she could have changed it so that it was more obvious to the reader that we were suppose to be in on the secret, so I'm going too reign in my angry thoughts and just say that it was first timers mistake and actually applaud her for attempting to pull it off.
2. What's up with the (lack of) worldbuilding?
I really dislike this trend in YA series where the first book is pretty much zero worldbuilding. Like, how are we suppose to imagine if there's nothing there? Throw us a bone, would ya?
The story takes place in New Beijing (the old one got destroyed). Maybe I'm wrong, but this is somewhere in China, right? This isn't New Beijing in Texas, or New Beijing in France, right? So why is there pretty much zero Chinese culture in the book? Oh there's dumplings, statues of Buddha, and vague sounding Asian names, but that's about it. I understand that New Beijing is suppose to be a melting pot of cultures, but that seems like such a cop out. Just because cultures mix together doesn't mean the original one has to be erased. For the most part, New Beijing is completely western, with a sprinkling of Chinese culture for the
I guess I'm a little miffed because I've seen this book being shown as an example of diversity, when I don't see any? The Chinese setting is vague as frack and everything else is westernized. I thought Cinder would be Chinese, but nah. She a white girl.
SPOILERS
Yeah, I know, Lunars are pale-skinned and white, so Cinder should be white, but again, copout. By the way, is there any scientific explanation for why Lunars are only white because I think I missed that? Did only white people travel to the moon? I actually wouldn't even be surprised if that were true. Cinder being white doesn't make me hate the book, it just makes me sad about the missed opportunity.END OF SPOILERS
3. Why does everyone hate cyborgs?
What would a YA book be if the main character didn't struggle against some kind of discrimination or persecution, whether real or imagined? In Cinder's case, I really didn't understand the hatred of cyborgs. If we put them in todays context, they're just people with prosthetic limbs. No one hates people with prosthetic limbs. Unless you're a dick.
Or basically anyone who has gotten something "unnatural" put in their body to help them live better. We don't view this as wrong, but a miracle. A testament to the growth of human science. So how is it that in Cinder's future, this technological miracle is looked down upon? These "cyborgs" are literally given not only a chance for a new life, but an upgrade in it as well. They owe their doctors for being skilled enough to pull of the surgery, but they don't owe society their lives. What kind of fail logic?
And from what we've seen of Cinder, she's human. She has human thoughts, human feelings, human fears. But because she can't express them, she's just a machine. There are people today with mental disabilities who can't express themselves well, and we do not look down on them. I'm struggling to come up with some reason for why society has regressed so much socially when history shows that we mostly keep improving?
4. What the hell is Cinder?
Cinder is 32% human. What exactly does that mean? Just how much improvements has she had? What is this societies definition of human? If you get a mechanical pinky, do you qualify as a cyborg?
I don't know if the 32% refers to the brain, the nervous system or what. If it just references her limbs and the other "upgrades" she's had, then it seems to me that she's still 100% human. Again, we don't see people with prosthetic limbs as only 95% human or whatever.
Maybe it's because I'm a skimmer, but the descriptions of Cinder are super vague. I don't what part of her is real and what isn't. At first I just thought it was her hands and foot, but at the end, it's revealed they couldn't save her limbs. In that case, why does she even have a detachable foot? Why not build it so it was attached to her leg?
5. Prince Kai is a tool
I tried to like Kai, but he's so boring. Sure, he has the whole, "My father died and I'm ill-prepared for the throne" struggle going on, but other than that he's pretty flat. His interactions with Cinder are pretty bland, so I'm assuming Cinder likes him because he's totes hot and rich. All of his chapters are centered around politics so we never really learn anything about him besides the fact he's the Commonwealth's #1 bachelor.
6. Marketed as Young Adult, feels like Middle Grade
I have nothing against MG. In fact, I love reading it. But when I pick up a book that's marketed as YA, I expect it to be YA. No ifs, ands, or buts. The writing and plot feels like it should be targeting the 12-14 range. If this was MG I would be much more forgiving and probably enjoy this book more, but since it's YA I expect a little bit more substance.
Despite my rants, Cinder was nowhere near the worst book ever. It did have some enjoyable factors, and from the little preview of Scarlet I got at the end, the sequel sounds much better.
Verdict
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