This book deals with mature medical issues, including pandemics, deadly illnesses, medical abuse, death, grief, emotional and verbal abuse, and discrimination.
"Even in the future, the story begins with Once Upon a Time."
Cinder is a story about Linh Cinder, a sixteen-year-old girl living in New Beijing. She is known as a gifted mechanic, but she has a secret. She is a cyborg! What does that mean? It means that Cinder is thought of as a second-class citizen, much like the inspiration for the novel, Cinderella.
Like Cinderella, Cinder has an evil stepmother, Adri, who resents that she has to raise this cyborg and never misses a chance to remind Cinder of it. She and her two daughters, Peony and Pearl, mirror those of Cinderella's story. However, there is a twist.
A deadly plague is ravaging the population of New Beijing. And the fate of Earth rests on Cinder. As a cyborg, she is property of her stepmother, and when the opportunity arises, Adri volunteers Cinder for the experiments being performed on cyborgs to try and find a cure.
But there are some things even Cinder doesn't know. Secrets from her past are about to come to the surface, all while Prince Kai tries to navigate life as the heir to the throne, a deadly plague in his city. Both Cinder and Kai will be torn between duty and freedom as they try to find a cure before it's too late.
The Review
I am not really sure how to give Cinder a review without giving too much away, but I will try. The story of Cinderella is often told for children; this feels like a more mature, almost PG-13 version. And I loved that. It has a creative twist on the traditional fairy tale, layered with darker elements that echo the original story.
In many ways, I think this could be considered a "coming of age" story for Cinder. Throughout the novel and her journey, she grows significantly and begins to understand who she really is. She is a badass, resourceful, stubborn, and far from the typical princess. Honestly, she made my former tomboy heart very happy.
SPOILER ALERT
After Peony catches letumosis (the plague), Cinder feels drawn to helping her. When she discovers that she is immune to the disease because of her cyborg parts, she feels like she can help save Peony, the stepsister who's always been kind to her. Unfortunately, Peony dies before anything can be done, which becomes a major turning point.
Cinder is taken for testing and learns of her immunity. She also learns there are secrets from her past that even she didn't know. Dr. Erland reveals that she is a Lunar (from the planet Luna). Naturally, they assume she is a fugitive of some sort. Dr Erland believes Cinder is a "shell", though she isn't, and soon her powers start to come back to her.
Meanwhile, the evil Queen Levana arrives in the city, She is the ruler of the Lunars and has come to New Beijin to convince Prince Kai to marry her. Once he does, she will give him the antidote for letumosis, so the city's scientists can replicate it. But she has a deeper agenda: to kill Kai and control the Earth.
As the story unfolds, Cinder's identity begins to surface, and she realises she is not just any Lunar, she is the lost Princess Selene, the rightful heir to the Lunar Throne. Queen Levana (her aunt), had tried to kill her, and for her safety, she was taken to Earth to hide.
This book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. While Cinder doesn't save the world just yet, she does find her strength, her identity, and her purpose. After escaping custody, she sets her sights on Luna and her rightful place on the throne.
I bought this book from Chapters / Indigo. And I read it for a Book Club, I put on. It took about 38 weeks, reading a chapter a week.
Rating and Recommendation
I originally gave this book five stars; looking back, I downgraded that to four. I think I would probably go down to three and a half, but I am giving the book the benefit of the doubt and say a part of the problem is that I don't typically read fantasy.
It was a good book. I enjoyed it, even though it's not typically my thing. I still recommend this novel to friends who like fantasy and twists on fairy tales. Or young adults just getting into reading. I think the theme of a Cinderella parallel is interesting and could really capture a young adult's attention. That being said, I do not think I would read this book again. There are other books in The Lunar Chronicles series, and I haven't looked into them yet. So the series didn't pull me in as much as I had hoped it would.
I bought this book so I could read it. I don't regret buying it by any means, but I didn't have the urge to go out and buy the next books. If I do read the next books in the series, I will probably see if the library has them before making a decision on purchasing them for myself. (I must admit, though, seeing the box set does make me want to go out and buy it!)
Conclusion
I did a LONG book club for this novel on Creative Arts' website a few years back. I read one chapter a week and did a bit of a review per chapter. I think looking back now, that may have affected my review of the book. I gave it five stars at the time, though now I wonder if it was just a little bit of salesmanship, also. (No one wants to join a book club that's reading just an average book.) With that being said, years later, I still think about Cinder and Kai. It is a book that stuck with me.
I don't tend to gravitate towards fantasy books (minus the extremely popular ones). But the concept of this one really pulled me in. So anyone who likes fantasy or twists on classics should definitely give this one a try.
You can find Cinder in its respective mediums below:
Cinder and The Lunar Chronicles are being adapted into an animated film by Locksmith Animation, along with Warner Bros. Pictures Animation. The movie is slated to release in November of 2028
* Book cover image retrieved from the author's website. All rights belong to the author and/or publisher.
* All the "stickers" in this blog were provided by Bookish (presented by NetGalley).
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