Cinder

The future.  New Beijing.  Cyborgs.  A plague.  Lunar life.  Interested?  You should be.  Cinder is a futuristic Cinderella story complete with an evil stepmother, a handsome prince, and a magical ball, but there are differences too.  An android has replaced the singing mice.  A plague-fighting doctor has replaced the fairy godmother.  And Cinder doesn't lose a glass slipper, but she does lose her cyborg foot.

I'd had Cinder in my "to be read" pile for months.  My pile grows like evergreen - fast and beautiful.  I was especially intrigued by Cinder - the character.  I wanted to read about this teenage cyborg mechanic.  She wasn't a helpless beauty.  In fact, she's described as rather plain with unkempt hair and a wardrobe of grease-stained cargo pants.  She sounded like my kind of girl.  It turns out she is.

Cinder  reads like the first book in a series - you know there's more to come.  There are some unanswered questions and a few spots where I wanted more backstory, but not so many that Cinder becomes confusing or dull.  On the contrary, I was hooked from the very first chapter.  It's a new take on a classic fairy tale, so there are some obvious conclusions to be drawn, but there were also lots of surprises, twists, and original characters to delight YA readers.

Marissa Meyer has done a fantastic job of leaving her mark on the classic Cinderella story!

Blog you later!

Ali B.