Cinder
Cinder (Lunar Chronicles, #1)by Marissa Meyer
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future. (goodreads.com)
Internet, you will be seeing posts about this book in abundance right now. That's likely because Tuesday was release day for Cinder, the debut YA novel by Marissa Meyer. BUT I BEG YOU! Do NOT turn away from my blog post! You might be tired of seeing people blog about it, but I promise you, IT IS WORTH IT!It's rare I have books read and reviewed on their release date unless I am actually reviewing them for someone. This is not the case in this instance. In fact, this book was sent to me as a gift back in...er.. November? And I purposely put it aside to read closer to when it was coming out. However, I thought it was out in February. Apparently not. Oddly the timing worked out in the book's favour, I think.Though I had seen this cover bounced around on various blogs, pine for posts, Waiting on Wednesday posts, I have to admit that I was ignoring it myself. I do like a good fairytale retelling, but something about this one was making me think nothing of it. Maybe it was the foot on the cover (I hate, hate, hate feet! Yuck! *shudder*). Maybe it was the "android" part of the summary, but something wasn't connecting with me.Until I saw a friend of mine post about it on Facebook. This same friend is the one who sent me the book as a surprise. Since I trust her opinion of many things implicitly (she shares my deep love of Muppets and all things Joss Whedon) I asked her if she thought I would like this. She said yes.So I started it today (er, yesterday, by the time this goes up) and despite my migraine and sick day I finished it in one afternoon.It was THAT GOOD!This book ended up being nothing that I was expecting. Nothing. I thought it was dystopian, but I don't think it is, really. I guess it's more Sci-Fi with Fantasy and Fairytale? I can't quite categorize it.What I can tell you is that this book has excellent world building, character development and dialogue. There's even a romance in here that was just so wonderfully woven into the story that it puts so many other YA and some adult paranormal ones to shame. There's a genuine connection between Cinder and Kai and you can actually see a relationship (and I don't mean a romantic one) build from the bottom up.Cinder herself was a brilliant protagonist. I loved her. I loved her android Iko to pieces as well (er, sort of literally and no pun intended). Cinder was a character that I felt like I needed to know in real life and befriend. I don't feel this way about many fictional characters, so that's saying a lot.Cinder's step-mother was deliciously dislikable. I felt my stomach clench and my blood start to boil whenever she was in a scene. The relationships that Cinder had with each of her step-sisters were well done as well. They were both frustrating and heartbreaking.The one thing that bothered me in the story wasn't about this particular book itself, but it's more something that bothers me about a specific plot line. The tension between Earth and the Queen of the Lunar people had my hair on end. I HATE that feeling of powerlessness that is all over the place as the Queen threatens war if she doesn't get her own way. The way the Lunar Queen has her claws in everything and Earth seems to have no way to stand up to her.I guess it's sort of a bully situation, but it's something I hate in story lines. I just don't get why every bloody non-earth creature is always the one with the power. I mean, you see it in movies, TV, books. Are we really that powerless and useless here on Earth that we wouldn't be able to stand up to some alien invasion? Why is it always assumed that aliens (I say alien as an example) are always going to be light years ahead of us and will want to conquer us. WHY ARE WE ALWAYS CONQUERED? Why are we always the weak ones?In the case of this story, with all the technology and advancement that's apparently happened in this future world, why are the people of earth STILL abysmally behind those people on the moon (and who knows where they came from, because if it's OUR future, there's no one there now). It just bugs me. This has nothing to do with the story, I'm sorry, just ignore me. It's something that makes me really agitated, this entire concept of always being conquered. Jeez.Um, but I digress. A lot.The storytelling in Cinder is just bloody fantastic. You will be gripped from the first page to the last and NOT want to put it down. You might even go so far as to walk around the house with the book and take it into the bathroom with you each time you have to pee because you have started drinking green tea because it's supposed to be healthy for you and yet all it does is make you have to pee every fricken 5 seconds. And it tastes like seaweed. The tea, I mean, not the book. I have no idea what the book tastes like because I didn't nibble it while I was reading. I don't nibble books, I sniff them. The book didn't smell like seaweed either, in case you are curious.Er... so yes. This book is FANFRICKENTASTIC and if you like YA literature and you like whimsy and great character development and gripping mysteries and future stuff - then get your hands (be they human or cyborg) on a copy of this book right away!Or, wait 11 months to read it because if you enjoyed it as much as I and other bloggers have you will realize that the 12 month (or more?) wait for the sequel may just make you go mad.The end.The Lunar Chronicles