Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1) in Into the Forest

Mar 04, 2014 Ronyell rated it it was amazing

Shelves: recommended-books-from-friends, chinese-books, fantasy, fairy-tale-romance, dystopian-world, read-in-2014, sexy-good-girl-heroine, strong-heroine, strong-hero, my-blog-reviews

5.5 stars!!!

I have read many different interpretations of my favorite fairy tales over the years, but there is one type of fairy tale retelling that I had never stumbled upon before: STEAMPUNK CINDERELLA! It seriously is better than it sounds as Marissa Meyer has created one awesome retelling of 鈥淐inderella鈥� in the form of 鈥淐inder!鈥�

In the city of New Beijing, Cinder is a sixteen year old girl who happens to be a cyborg and she lives with her cruel stepmother Adri along with her two stepsist ...more

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Jul 05, 2012 Carrie rated it really liked it

Shelves: m-g, science-fiction, 1st-in-a-series, young-adult, teen, fairytale-like, aliens, library, hardcover, red-shoe

Rating 3.5/4

I love the cover of this book, I am after all a sucker for red shoes. It is a very look at me, pick me up and read me cover. Well atleast that's what it says to me.

So I picked it up and read it, well first I had to request it to be sent from another library as mine had "lost" it's copy. Meaning someone enjoyed the book and didn't want to share it.

On to the book itself.

I don't know if others agree with me or if I'm in the minority as I have yet to pay much attention to the other rev ...more

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Nov 19, 2011 鈾� Rebecca 鈾� rated it really liked it

Shelves: sci-fi, romance, reviewed, young-adult, retellings

It has been awhile since I have read a YA that was so sci-fi heavy and I really relished it. Not only that it was so sci-fi heavy, but it wasnt a dystopian. Dystopians are not the only kind of futuristic stories that exist, and I am so glad to be reminded of that. There seem to be too many YA dystopians saturating the market imo.

This book had everything I love about YAs. It had great characters, incredible world-building, danger, a twisted plot, and a touch of romance. I dont know if the twist a ...more

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May 11, 2013 Christine rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: cinderella, diverse-and-women-authors, diverse-hero-or-heroine, young-and-new-adult, sci-fi-fairy-tales

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. 2.5 or something. Might round up eventually.

There is much too like in this book. The idea of a cyborg Cinderella is neat. The fact that Cinder is not good looking but intelligent 鈥� especially intelligent in terms of mechanics 鈥� is great and wonderful. It鈥檚 the best selling point of the book. The prince, Kai, is well drawn. The Step-mother and evil step sister are somewhat shaded. The big reveal fits the world building. The ending is a brave ending. So why two stars?
Well, it has to do with the c 2.5 or something. Might round up eventually.

There is much too like in this book. The idea of a cyborg Cinderella is neat. The fact that Cinder is not good looking but intelligent 鈥� especially intelligent in terms of mechanics 鈥� is great and wonderful. It鈥檚 the best selling point of the book. The prince, Kai, is well drawn. The Step-mother and evil step sister are somewhat shaded. The big reveal fits the world building. The ending is a brave ending. So why two stars?
Well, it has to do with the character of Cinder herself. I just don鈥檛 buy the character. Her status as a cyborg seems to be both common knowledge and secret. Which is it? I can understand how the prince wouldn鈥檛 know, but only one person at the market does? If the prince is so smart and intelligent, how does wearing a simply glove disguise the metal when he touches her hand? But these are nit-picking remarks. My main issue is with Cinder鈥檚 relationship with Peony, her stepsister, whom Cinder loves 鈥� in fact, Peony seems to be the only person Cinder loves in book. Except, she doesn鈥檛 really seem to love Peony. The reader is told time and time again how Cinder feels about Peony. Told, mind you, not shown. When it comes time to show, Peony comes as an afterthought to Cinder鈥檚 mind. You might a cure to the plague that is killing your beloved sibling. Wouldn鈥檛 her cure be foremost in your mind? It鈥檚 more like Peony is there to show the reader that Cinder is human despite having metal. In fact, Cinder seems more upset at the destruction of her android then the death of her stepsister. I鈥檓 not faulting the grief at the loss of Iko, and it was a well written scene. But it is far more powerfully written than the grief at Peony. Additionally, the stepmother and step sister are implied to be at fault for not visiting Peony, yet they couldn鈥檛 visit (nor did Cinder try to get them in). This wouldn鈥檛 be a problem, except the book is told in third person, not first.
The other problem I had is also tied to Peony. Peony is only good woman, girl, besides Cinder. And Peony disappears even before she dies. Ever other women 鈥� the majority of whom are older 鈥� are bad in somewhere or another. Even Cinder鈥檚 biological mother is not someone you would want as a parent. Why couldn鈥檛 the doctor be a woman or Kai鈥檚 councilor? I get that young adult books geared towards young girls do this for a reason 鈥� most likely tied to the feelings of a teenage girl (there is a psych paper here). But teenage girls have friends, friends who are girls. I think of Ash or most of the works of McKinley where even if the heroine is at odds with other women, she still has female friends. No offense, Iko doesn鈥檛 cut it.

So that鈥檚 my problems with this book. Still, it鈥檚 worth giving to a young adult reader and a cut above many books with the standard pretty heroine who has every one lusting after her
...more

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Nov 14, 2011 Dorlana rated it really liked it

Shelves: fairy-tale

My favorite kind of fairy tale adaptations are the ones where the writer goes outside the original plotline and uses the classic story to inspire their imagination to create a unique story but one that still holds the magic of the fairy tale.
I believe Marissa Meyer has done this with Cinder. The use of the original Cinderella (and I鈥檓 pretty sure I caught a couple of nods to more fairy tales) was very clever and fun. I like that it wasn鈥檛 just a romance plot, there are several things going on. ...more

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Dec 15, 2012 Lacey Louwagie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: retelling, sciencefiction, fairy-tales, youngadult

I'd heard very mixed reviews on this one, so I went into it a little cautiously. On an objective level, I can see the book's shortcomings: the characters felt a tad bit underdeveloped, there was sometimes a "lot going on", and clumsy writing in the form of cliches and melodrama occasionally made its way into the prose. Its roots as a NaNoWriMo novel show a bit in its short timeline (it all happens within a two-week span) and it's, "Whoa, now let's make this happen!" plot twists.

Still, somehow, t ...more

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Jan 04, 2012 Danyelle Leafty rated it really liked it

Shelves: bookshelf-2012

When I first heard of this book, I fell in love with the cover, but not so much with the premise. I was wrong. I adore fairy tales, and have learned that a fairy tale is a fairy tale is a fairly tale, regardless of the genre. :) I thought the plot was well done, and the reactions toward cyborgs fitting with human nature. My only quibble is that this happens in New Beijing, (Old Beijing was destroyed with the rest of the countries during WWIV.) but there is not enough in the story that makes me f ...more

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Jun 28, 2013 Lesley rated it it was amazing

A retelling of Cinderella... in the future... she's a cyborg. What's not to love about this book. I am looking forward to Book 2, Scarlet, which adds a futuristic Red Riding Hood to the story!! I am a true fan of fairy tales, and I love updated versions, so this was a perfect read for me. If you want to put a smile on your face, go look at the reviews for "Scarlet" on goodreads! ...more

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Jan 07, 2014 JS added it

Shelves: ya, fairy-tales, fantasy, sci-fi

I didn't love it, but it was reasonably enjoyable. I do think it's funny that people call it sci fi. I mean, I guess, but mostly it's just fantasy masquerading as sci fi. Nothing wrong with that, but I think that's much more true.
I read this so long ago that I can't remember anything else to say about it. ...more

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