Review: “Cinder” by Marissa Meyer

So this is another book series that I’ve seen everywhere on Instagram and its praises have been sung on Goodreads as well. I actually have had this book on my shelf for months but I’m weird and had to buy the entire series before I started reading it. 🙃

Well, I finally found Cress, the 3rd book in the series, to complete my collection for less than $9 at my local bookstore. Cinder was on my July TBR and I was so excited to finally get to it. I checked it out from my library as an audiobook but I didn’t listen to it as often because I wasn’t driving to and from work. I listened to about half before I had to return it and then I just picked it off my shelves.

Needless to say, I enjoyed it. 🙂 Especially when I realized that it was like Sailor Moon…

Title: Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1)
Author: Marissa Meyer
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Release date: January 3, 2012
Genre: Young adult, dystopian, fantasy, sci-fi
Length: 390 pages (hardcover)
Synopsis: (from Goodreads) “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.”

My rating: 4/5 stars

First off:

Because that was my reaction after I read this book. I won’t go into details about it but if you’ve read this book and you’ve read/watched Sailor Moon, you might just see the connection. 😉

The audiobook, narrated by Rebecca Soler, is great. Soler did a fantastic job bringing the characters to life and I especially loved the way she portrayed Iko. I wished I could have listened to the whole thing. I think I’ll check out other books in the series as an audiobook if Soler continued to narrate them.

So when I switched to a physical copy, in terms of writing, I won’t say it’s necessarily strong. It isn’t abundant in flowery descriptions or lush details like maybe some other dystopian or sci-fis are. Linh Cinder is a mechanic and it’s obvious that Meyer did her research in terms of technical aspects of Cinder’s job. The world building was pretty decent. We get a bit about the history of New Beijing and how it came to be. There’s a disease that wiped out a majority of the population. Since this is a series, I know we’ll get more of the backstory which I look forward to.

In terms of characters, Cinder is relatively average. I can’t say why she’s important because that would be a big spoiler. I look forward to certain aspects of her character being explored later in the series. I guess one of my main struggles is understanding Kai’s romantic interest in Cinder.

Overall, I am pleased that I read it and I do look forward to the rest of the series. I’ve heard nothing but good things about it and this whole Sailor Moon vibe I’m getting is THE BEST FEELING.