fairy skeletons.: Book Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Pic from turn-the-page.net

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 interface 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 "honor" 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.


Wow, what an amazing take on an overdone fairy tale! Woot! While at one end, it's a retelling of "Cinderella", at the other end, it's the first book of a series about relations between the Earth and the Moon - YAY! (Read a sample here. Also, if you have Google Wallet set up, you can get the first five chapters as a free Google Ebook.)

Cinder's concept was so original - in a dystopian setting, as a cyborg? Did you ever think of Cinderella like that? I loved how she always came up with defiant replies to her stepmother's insults, which was so unlike the conventional, obedient, overly nice Cinderella.

I love that it's set in post-World War IV Asia... but that's just me, I guess.

So the next book is called Scarlet and I will hunt it down as soon as it comes out! Cheers!!