Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Cinderella in Space!

Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer

Summary: 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.

Review: A pretty standard Cinderella tale set in a futuristic setting.

I love fairy tale retellings. It’s always fascinating to see what authors can do with the original story, how they can reshape it to their own needs. I was intrigued by Cinder due to the cover (I’m a sucker for pretty covers) and that the book was a retelling of Cinderella set in space. I can’t think of any other fairy tale retellings that I’ve read that haven’t taken place in a fantasy setting or were told through historical fiction. So Cinder was a first for me and I will certainly try to find other fairy tale retellings set in space.

All of the familiar elements were there. While I thought Cinder was a decent character, I liked Iko the best. She was so sassy and funny. She had a spark. The science fiction element added a little to the story, but it was still a pretty standard Cinderella story. I figured out the big secret around page 100. Could you make it any more obvious? The prince didn’t have any appeal to me and if this wasn’t a fairy tale retelling, I would wonder why Cinder fell so hard for him. I am interested in reading the other books in this series to see how the author deals with more familiar fairy tales.

Rating:






Recommendation: I would recommend this book to those that enjoy fairy tales and fairy tale retellings. 

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