Book Bingo: Cinder

Cinder by Marissa Meyer is a nominee for the Truman Award for the 2014/15 school year. It is the first book in The Lunar Chronicles. Set in New Beijing, a city in the future Eastern Commonwealth, the story revolves around a teenage, orphan, cyborg mechanic named Cinder who lives with her bitter legal guardian and two adoptive sisters. Left behind with an unwilling mother by the man who adopted her, Cinder is raised as a second-class citizen since she is a cyborg and an orphan, forced to earn money for her family while they focus on ballgowns and shopping. She has bold and elaborate plans to escape someday. But when the handsome, young prince drops his android off at her booth to be fixed and Cinder's younger sister contracts a deadly plague which has been spreading randomly throughout the planet, events are set in motion beyond the mechanic's capable hands.

(picture taken from Goodreads;
book design by Barbara Grzeslo)

First Impression: This is sort of weird--it starts out with Cinder taking off her metal foot! I figure this will lead into the whole losing-her-shoe (or foot) thing later on. That's a twist for you, I guess. Also, someone told me this was steampunk, but it's not. It's futuristic, but not steampunk. I actually like it better this way. If it wasn't for the visiting Lunars, the story would feel somewhat realistic. There's also a clue about the Lunar princess toward the beginning that I suspect will bring an Anastasia-like story to the mix, but we'll see. The story is a little girly for me so far, but I like the unique twists on a traditional fairy tale. It's nice to find someone with new ideas.

Conclusion: I have to say, Meyer puts an interesting perspective on fairy tales. She takes a simple, obvious plot-line and adds a little twist to surprise the reader. The futuristic Cinderella story wasn't complicated, but the author's knack for detail and her extensive culture and medical research was obvious. The romance between Cinder and Prince Kai was a bit cheesy and reminded me quite a bit of the movie Ever After with Drew Barrymore and Dougray Scott. Seen from the main character's perspective, however, the romance is sweet and simple as Cinder tries to find her place after several Earth-shattering self-revelations. And talk about a cliffhanger! I saw most of the plot-line coming, but the drop-off at the end was unexpected. Do not read this book if you don't want to continue the series.

Even though I completed my original goal for the 2014 Book Bingo Challenge, I'm going to keep checking off books as I read them, just to see where I end up. This one will be a "Series" choice for the card! Don't forget to subscribe and comment!