Cinder by Marissa Meyer | Book Review

Cinder by Marissa Meyer
The Lunar Chronicles #1
First Published: 2012
Paperback
Young Adult, Fantasy
Rating:

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 become entwined with the handsome Prince Kai's she finds herself at the center 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.

Cinder is the first book that comes to mind when anyone wants a re-telling recommendation from me. And you know what's the real kicker? I freakin' almost didn't read it. I don't know why; maybe it was because it has cyborgs in it, and I haven't read many--if any--of those. Or because it was the only book out in the series at the time and I don't usually do those. Perhaps it was just because.

But for whatever reason, I am eternally thankful for Goodreads Group Reads, because without them I may have never given this a chance.

Don't believe me it's that good? Well, what if I told you this book could make you cry before it even really starts? Will you believe me then that this whole creation is awesomesauce? Because it does. It manages to make you so in tune with the characters and their feelings in such a short amount of time that you cry for them.

And this book pretty much starts by saying that in this Cinderella story, not everyone gets their happily ever afters.

Although, calling this a "Cinderella story" is not quite accurate. Yes, we have the evil stepmother. Yes, we have one evil stepsister, and we have the prince, the ball, and the shoe... sort of. But Cinderella is the theme - not the story.

Forget everything you know about the story of a servant girl who desperately want to go to the ball and dance with a prince, and a fairy comes along and--well, you've seen the Disney movie, no point in rehashing everything. Cinder has very little to do with that old age tale.

To me, Cinder's is actually, surprisingly, a story of slavery. It's a story about death. It's a story about dictatorship. And it's a story about finding yourself among the wreckage. This story takes your childhood fairytale and makes it something far greater, while throwing nods to the original version here and there that are sure to put a smile on your face.

The namesake of this novel, Cinder, is also the main character. And she. is. amazing. She's smart, courageous and strong. She is someone you can fully support and root on. Someone with whom you'll fall in love for sure.

Her love interest is Prince Kai, and he's one of the more likable princes I've read of - the title Prince Charming fits him well, as would Sweet Charming lol.

As for the romance between these two? I'll be honest. I don't think there was any--not yet. Cinder and Kai are attracted to one another. They are in the process of feeling more than just friendship throughout the book. But they still haven't went passed the 'liking' stage.

However, to me there is something immensely charming about the way they're testing the water; talking, sending signals, withdrawing them... Their real romance hasn't started yet - but you can tell it will be epic once it does.

All the supporting characters, with emphasis on the fantabalous Iko, added to the story and were well rounded themselves.

Now, I've seen people argue the book could do without the Cinderella theme because it makes the book predictable. I disagree, because it only makes it predictable in areas we would've already predicted, even without the theme.

And more often than not, things develop in such an unexpected way that though you did predict she'll go there, or do that, based on Cinderella, it's almost always shocking.

The only truly predictable thing has nothing to do with the theme, and to me it rather felt like Meyer blatantly intended for it to be obvious to the reader. I never felt like the "big revelation" was supposed to be a shocking, but rather the whole scenario leading to it.

Speaking of Meyer... I may be, possibly, in love with her writing style. She made us sweat for information. There is no such thing as outright explanations and world-building in Meyer's writing. Instead, most of everything we learn is through conversations, memories, and actions. She leaves it up to us to gather the clues, trusting our intelligence. And it works. It works brilliantly.

#Fangirl: You Need This Trailer Artist In Your Life

Okay, so this is a really spontaneous post, as I've just discovered this incredible trailer artist. This fan makes "tv credits" for fictional tv shows based on the books she loves. She makes an art of assembling clips and it looks so professional. I would watch any tv show that had these for opening credits, especially if they're based on books.

Heck, publishing houses should hire her to create their book trailers because these are far better than any of the ones I've seen out there.

Take this one for the Raven Boys, for example:

Like, seriously. I watched this and I was in awe. It's absolutely perfect, and it doesn't look fan-made at all. what is this sorcery????

Is this what people call an instant-sub? Why, yes, yes it is. I didn't even need to go to see the rest of her tv credits before I subscribed, but I went after just for fun, and found more incredible pieces.

Such as this Cinder tv credits

But okay, I may be a bit biased because those are books I've already read and loved (which, ps. I'm totally isn't. I'm way harsher of variations/adaptations/etc for things I love. I'm nit-picky with them. Can't find a single fault with any of these, though). What about books I haven't seen/read?

Well, check this trailer for the short story "The Man in the Parlor" which was so good I went to read the short story after.

So, what do you think of her tv credits/trailers? are you going to subscribe to her too?