Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer

Cinder
Marissa Meyer
YA Modern Fairy Tale
4.5

So this sat around for a long time before I finally decided to give it a shot.  The sci-fi/mechanicy aspects kind of scared me, and I didn’t think there was any way I could possibly like it…but I did...a lot. It was very hard to put this one down.

Cinder is a fresh, futuristic take on Cinderella with enough plot changes to keep readers guessing til the end. Cinder is different, cyborg, part machine, part human which makes her disliked by full humans. She does have an “evil” stepmother, spoiled stepsisters, makes friends with an android (animal parallel) and does the family’s dirty work for them. And of course there’s a ball and a Prince, but there the similarities start to fade rather quickly. Cinder has a mysterious past since she can’t remember what happened before she was turned into a cyborg at age 11.  She’s also a skilled mechanic and quite independent.

Meanwhile there’s a deadly plague with no known cure sweeping the post WWIV era world and the threat of war with the ruthless Lunar people of the Moon hanging over everyone. Somehow Cinder finds herself involved in the middle of everything making a wonderful story.

Despite the fact it's a pretty fun, fast teen read, there are a lot of good discussible ideas within the actual story. Like why is is it such a big deal that Cinder is part machine? Why does everyone assume ALL lunars are horrible because there ruler is? Why did the citizens of the nation so easily accept that cyborgs should be guinea pigs for the plague antidote? and the list goes on  and on...I need to go talk some people into reading this so discussions can start happening!

Can’t wait to read the next one in the series!!

Matched by Ally Condie

Mathched
Ally Condie
YA Dystopian
Rating : 4

 Matched is another teen dystopian fiction story, however, it was one I consumed within two days; a super speed read.  Not one with a whole lot of depth, but it has quite a bit in the way of discussible topics.  Cassia finds herself in love with two different boys, Ky the mysterious boy so full of words and Xander the image of perfection.   She is only “allowed” to be with the one the Society has matched her with though, Xander.  However, Cassia finds herself resisting the Society’s rules and guidelines ever since she discovered a piece of paper with real handwritten words from a poem  on it her grandfather secretly left to her.  Poems not part of the Society’s approved list of reading material aren’t allowed, but once Cassia realizes there is more to life than just what the  Society has shown her, something inside of her starts to change.  Her views about the “perfect” Society she lives in transform as she becomes more aware of her surroundings and the people she cares about. Can she be the only one who feels this way?

“Growing apart doesn't change the fact that for a long time we grew side by side; our roots will always be tangled. I'm glad for that.”