Book Review: "Cinder" by Marissa Meyer

"Cinder" by Marissa Meyer
#1 in the Lunar Chronicles series
First published in 2012
387 pages
My rating: 4 out of 5
(image source)

I was pleasantly surprised by this YA novel, the first in a four-book series that concludes next year. Meyer took familiar plot elements -- the Cinderella fairytale, a futuristic dystopia, a badass teenage heroine -- and shaped them into something unique and fresh.

"Cinder" takes place in New Beijing sometime in the future after World War IV. Citizens drive around in hovercrafts, menial tasks are accomplished by android servants, and some of the population are cyborgs -- part human and part machine.The planet is being ravaged by a horrible and increasingly devastating plague called letumosis, for which scientists are struggling to find a cure. And then there's the constant threat of war from Luna -- the moon -- and its malevolent queen and brainwashed inhabitants.

Linh Cinder is a cyborg, talented mechanic and general servant to her witch of an adoptive mother, Adri. Cinder's life is looking up -- she has plans to fix an old car and flee New Beijing and her evil guardian along with it, and a chance encounter with handsome Prince Kai, who's asked her to fix his broken android, has left her feeling quite happy. But when, in a fit of rage, Adri volunteers Cinder for plague research, Cinder learns that the fate of the planet rests more in her hands than she could ever have imagined, and she must come to terms with the fact that everything she knows about herself could be a lie.

Meyer has penned a fun, quick, enjoyable and different read. I found Cinder to be immensely likable -- she's brilliant, strong and selfless -- and I'm looking forward to seeing where Cinder's journey takes her, and what new fairytale friends she collects, in the rest of the Lunar Chronicles. The other books in the series, "Scarlet," "Cress" and the 2015 conclusion "Winter" are loosely based off the stories of Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Snow White.