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!!