Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Title: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Book Name: Cinder

Series: The Lunar Chronicles

Author Name: Marissa Meyer

Genre(s): Sci-fi, dystopian, teen, novel, fairy tale

Age Rating: 12-13 and over.

Star Rating: ✦✦✦✦✧

Summary:

We all know how the fairytale goes. A commoner girl is treated horribly by her stepmother and stepsisters, and then finally, she is rewarded for her suffering in the form of a dashing Prince Charming. Yet here, we have the story of a cyborg rising against her stepmother, and realizing she may be the key to saving the Commonwealth from the clutches of evil.

Please keep all arms and legs inside the vehicle and brace yourself for a ‘chosen-one’ adventure that’ll rattle your bones!

My Favorite Character:

I feel that the best character by far was Dmitri Erland. He was the leading researcher & scientist on the team that was looking for a way to cure Letumosis; a dangerous plague that was brought to Earth by the vicious Lunars. He is overall very determined to cure the disease and help humanity. He is a strong character whose neutral alignment perfectly justifies his motives.

Worldbuilding:

The world of the Lunar Chronicles proceeds after the events of the Third World War, where each of the continents’ different countries has changed. For example, the whole of Asia is united as the Eastern Commonwealth. This is a clever move that adds to the background of the technologically advanced world and gives it more depth and history.

Storyline Development:

The plot of Cinder definitely deviates from the original. First of all, I love how Meyer clearly establishes the world and the main enemy. I also love the sense of mystery that envelopes the plot. Overall, the storyline flowed nicely and I loved the connection between letumosis (the plague) and how it connects to real-world events of COVID-19.

This was really relatable as it added a sense of chaos to the story that has been present in real life as well. As the first book talks about the desperate need for an antidote, vaccines for COVID are already taken by everyone.

My Thoughts:

A great book to read for fairy tale lovers. The sci-fi elements were pretty confusing for me at first, but I got used to the lingo pretty quickly, so I think anyone could enjoy the series without worrying about having read sci-fi before. I did miss some elements from the fairytale such as the magic carriage and the fairy godmother (can you believe that our Cindy doesn’t have any rodent friends?) and also, Cinder is most likely bad at singing. It’s okay though, I forgive Cinder since nobody can be perfect after all.