Cyborg-ella

Cinder: Lunar Chronicles I

by Marissa Meyer

Cyborgs, androids, and Cinderella – smash 'em all together, you get Cinder. Reworking the fairy tale, Cinder is a gifted mechanic and a cyborg. In this society, any machinery is deemed second class, they are not human, and that includes humans that have replacement limbs or minor body repairs. A mysterious plague ravages the city of New Beijing, where Cinder lives. And, of course, there's a prince – soon to be emperor.

The story lures you in and takes you away. It's a face paced read that you can knock off in a day at the beach. The main character of Cinder is delightful, loveable, sarcastic, and thoroughly confused. Her step-mother and older step-sister make life practically unbearable. Cinder supports the family with her mechanic business and her step-mother makes her feel guilty for her father's death.

The only glimmer of hope is the relationship she has with her younger step-sister, Peony. I loved Peony. I loved Cinder. Meyer also improved the character of the prince. Cinder and Prince Kai actually interact well before the famous ball. And it's definitely not love at first sight.

I am certainly intrigued by the world. Little detail is given, only hints. There has been a World War IV – no details. Gasoline cars are antiquity, but somehow still around and functioning. A colony has lives on the moon (hence Lunar Chronicles), for hundreds of years, and have somehow flourished and evolved into ethereal, manipulative beings. Think Tolkien elves only sinister.

The next book, Scarlet, is Little Red Riding Hood; the third, Cress, is Rapunzel; and the last (coming soon), is Winter, The Snow Queen.

I am a huge fan of a fairy tale retelling. Done right, they make you think differently about the original. Add depth or unexpected motivation to otherwise unexplained actions. I gobbled this one up and I highly recommend it.

5/5 STARS

Classroom: One could use this in the classroom – sparking debates on how much human qualifies humanity and how much robot defines machinery. Topics of treating people with disabilities differently. Many “what if” questions. However, because of the romantic aspect, I would suspect this would only be a hit with the girls and very few (if any) boys.