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Cinder (Lunar Chronicles) (Hardback)
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Short Description for CinderHumans 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.
Full description- Publisher: FEIWEL & FRIENDS
- Published: 03 January 2012
- Format: Hardback 400 pages
- See: Full bibliographic data
- Categories: Science Fiction | Traditional
- ISBN 13: 9780312641894 ISBN 10: 0312641893
- Sales rank: 20,078
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Reviews for Cinder
- Top review
One of my favorite retellings! Loved it!
4.5 stars. Cinder is retelling of the classic Cinderella story, but with a fantastic sci-fi twist. Since I love retellings, I've been looking forward to this one and it was even better than I expected!
Kudos to Marissa Meyer for making our futuristic Cinderella a cyborg which may sound weird, but it totally works for this book. The novel is set in New Beijing, a city rebuilt after the fourth world war. The world building is awesome and when I read about the setting of New Beijing, I could not help but think of scenes from one of my all time favorite sci-fi movies, Blade Runner. While Cinder is not dark like Blade Runner, there are the hovercrafts, Asian influences and androids that remind me of Cinder.
A big change from the original fairytale is instead of one villain, there are two. Adri is Cinder's stepmother but she is really the wife of the man who adopted Cinder. He died shortly after the adoption and Adri has hated Cinder ever since. Adri is bitter, petty and does her best to put Cinder down. While we hate Adri for bullying Cinder, the real threat is from Queen Levana, ruler of a race of people with paranormal abilities who inhabit the moon. Levana is evil, manipulative and cunning with plans to rule Earth, but she needs to marry Prince Kai to put her plans into motion.
Cinder is a very likable character. She has a bad home situation that she desperately wants to escape from, but of course, her destiny is more entwined with Prince Kai and the Lunars than she can ever imagine. There is more to Cinder than meets the eye and it is easy to figure out very early in the novel. With Adri's verbal abuse and Cinder's insecurities over her cyborg enhancements, it's easy to empathize with her, especially when Prince Kai flirts with her and Cinder thinks she is not good enough for him.
I don't feel that I got to know Prince Kai well enough in this book. A few portions of the novel were told from his perspective and we see that he is a nice guy who puts the safety and well being of his people before his own happiness. He is sarcastic, smart and completely swoon worthy. His friendship with Cinder is sweet and leaves room to grow and develop. I really hope we get a lot more of Kai in upcoming books because he has the potential to become one of my favorite book boys.
Cinder does not end with a cliffhanger but leaves you wanting so much more! Cinder is an awesome debut novel and I hate that I have to wait until next year to read the sequel. This is one of my favorite retellings and I highly recommend it!
Content: Kissing and some violence by Novia Chang A Cinderella tale you don't want to miss!
I know I am late coming to the debut ball, but I am here now and I will join the masses who say that CINDER will rock you to the moon - and no, I am not saying this because the Lunar queen has brainwashed me. I envy Marissa Meyer for dreaming up such a wonderful Cinderella re-telling and creating a breathtaking world with a cast of characters that you will fall in love with. I love a heroine who does not mind getting her hands dirty and can talk shop, not to mention a prince who slums it among the commoners for a little slice of freedom. I am still curious to see how Cinder's cyborg-ness will factor into things; currently Marissa Meyer has used it to present some minor drawbacks which make Cinder all the more adorable when she interacts with Prince Kai. The story ends right before trouble can fully unfurl its nasty head, but CINDER leaves readers in a rock-solid happy place with a sense of satisfaction for how the fairy tale pans out. Of course, you will want MORE, but trust me when I say that CINDER will not leave you barely hanging on the cliff - you will hang for certain, you will ask for seconds, but you will feel safe in knowing that Book 2 will be SO worth the wait! by theEPICrat
Scifi with a bit of steampunk makes for a heck of a ride
Judging by the comments I've read when I mentioned reading this one, it has LOTS of buzz! Since I try my darndest not to read other reviews before I'VE had a chance to read a review book, I can only go my own feeling on this one and say, "Well deserved!".
I read this in one LONG sitting (which left me very tired the next day - I should learn not to start a new book for my nightly read).
Linh Cinder is a 16-year-old mechanic at New Beijing's weekly market. Her guardian, Adri, relies on Cinder's income to pay her own bills and those of her own two daughters, Peony (14) and Pearl (17). Adri's husband Garan adopted the orphan Cinder when she was five and soon after contracted letumosis, a deadly "plague" for which there is no cure. Adri resents Cinder and, as in the old fairy tale, finds reasons NOT to allow her to go to the royal ball. Peony is Cinder's only human friend, but she also has a great sidekick named Iko, a witty android/
Kaito (Kai), the Crown Prince of the Eastern Commonwealth, the heartthrob of many a teenage girl, comes incognito to Cinder's market stall to ask her to fix his android Nainsi. Kai's mother died of the plague, and now his father, the Imperial Majesty Emperor Rikan, has contracted the disease. Cinder is not starstruck like most girls, and Kai takes a liking to her. Cinder knows it would never work, because she is a cyborg as a result of the hovercraft accident that killed her parents. Cyborgs are considered less than human, treated as property, and there is even a draft for cyborgs for testing for a plague antidote.
Then comes a tale that mixes a bit of steampunk with a bit of dystopia and science fiction. A kick-butt heroine, a handsome prince, an abusive adoptive mother, a doctor determined to find a cure for the plague, villains in the form of "Lunars" who evolved from an Earthen moon colony centuries ago and now have the power to manipulate people's minds - all combine to create this wonderful roller coaster of a ride through a wonderfully-drawn, realistic world.
I seriously wanted to SLAP Adri in so many places throughout this book.
I figured out a central theme early on, but that didn't stop me from reading on.
The villain, the Lunar Queen Levana, is spot-on creepy and manipulative.
The romantic aspects are appropriately timed, which, sadly, doesn't happen in a lot of YA.
Cinder is a girl that will make you root for her. You'll smile at Iko's sarcasm, gnash your teeth at Adri's actions, hope against hope that Cinder will be on time for ... (oops, can't tell you, THAT would be a spoiler for sure).
In short, even if you're not a YA/sci-fi/steampunk reader, you'll still like this book, because it's a story about a girl who doesn't fit in, but has not let her spirit be broken. She has dreams and the will to make them happen, as well as the smarts to figure out how to do it.
This is the first in a series by a debut author, and will likely be on my list of 2012 faves at the end of the year. Buy it, borrow it, definitely read it.
QUOTES (from an ARC; may be different in final copy):
And the prince did know her now, sort of. He had been kind to her at the market. Perhaps he would ask her to dance. Out of politeness. Out of chivalry when he saw her standing alone.
The precarious fantasy crashed down around her as quickly as it had begun. It was impossible. Not worth thinking about.
She was cyborg, and she would never to the ball.
They said she'd murdered her older sister, Queen Channary, so that she could take the throne from her. They said she'd had her own husband killed too so that she would be free to make a more advantageous match. They said she had forced her stepdaughter to mutilate her own face because, at the sweet age of thirteen, she had become more beautiful than the jealous queen could stand.
Cinder stared at the holograph and imagined watching herself die. In real time.
"How many different batches of antibodies have you gone through?"
"Med?"
"Twenty-seven," said the med-droid.
"But," said the foreign voice, "they die a little slower each time."
Writing: 4 out of 5 stars
Plot: 5 out of 5 stars
Characters: 5 out of 5 stars
Reading Immersion: 5 out 5 stars
BOOK RATING: 4.75 out of 5 stars by Julie Smith5 STARS Love it
I'm wow-ing at how inventive, creative, and exciting CINDER by Marissa Meyer is!! I honestly didn't think that I was going to like it because I wasn't too sure how robotics would play out in a Cinderella twist, but Oh My Grease Monkeys I was so wrong! So wrong that I ended up paying for it with dark circles under my eyes. I started reading Cinder at around 11pm and next thing I knew day break was peeking through the curtains. Well worth the all-nighter, and will definitely not disappoint!!
The unexpected action pack and drama/suspense had me glued to the pages. I never once needed a bookmark! Although I knew where the plot/climax was going, I totally didn't mind because the written layout has you wanting the events to build up to that point. Enjoying every detail, struggle, and anxiety inducing tale of Linh Cinder!
I love how the introduction of non-earthen characters, the mixing of humans, and human hybrids (cyborgs & androids) made an enjoyable and imaginative twist to a well loved classic fairy-tale, Cinderella. Cinder by Marissa Meyer is no doubt on par if not exceeding the greatness of its classic!
I will be looking forward to sharing the adventure and the thrill of delving back into the Lunar Chronicles in Book #2! A brilliant 2012 MUST READ Debut!! by SpadesHigh
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