Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Title: Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, Book #1)
Author: Marissa Meyer
Edition: Penguin, 2012

Rating: ★★★★★

Synopsis

A forbidden romance. A deadly plague. Earth's fate hinges on one girl...CINDER, a gifted mechanic in New Beijing, is also a cyborg. She's reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's sudden illness. But when her life becomes entwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she finds herself at the centre of a violent struggle between the desires of an evil queen - and a dangerous temptation. Cinder is caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal. Now she must uncover secrets about her mysterious past in order to protect Earth's future. This is not the fairytale you remember. But it's one you won't forget.

Review

Ever since I first saw and heard about this series, I’ve been intrigued and I finally bought it at Christmas, only just now finding the time to read it.

I’ve always been a lover of fairytales. I’m enchanted by the notion of true love, of royalty, of magic, and more recently I’ve fallen in love with the way princesses are being rewritten into warriors, no longer damsels in distress, stuck in high towers. I love how timeless they are and how they are so easily rewritten. I don’t know how Marissa Meyer came to a point where throwing fairytales into a steampunk dystopia sounded like a good idea, but I'm glad she did.

One of the things I loved about reading Cinder was finding and recognising the elements from the original Cinderella. The prince, the stepsisters, the ball, but also the little things, like the foot that replaces the glass slipper and the car that acts as the pumpkin coach. 

May TBR

May has come round so quickly, I can't quite believe it. But there's no time to slow down. I've got more deadlines, more visitors, more reading to do. So here's what I have planned for this month.

How Hard Can Love Be? by Holly Bourne

I'm already coming up to a third of the way through this book, and I'm enjoying it so far. Work and uni, and all those fun things, have got in the way of me really getting into it, but I hope I'll find a few hours somewhere to finish it in one go...a girl can dream...

The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

I am both hugely excited and utterly terrified to read this book. There are so many questions to be answered and I am trying very hard to prepare myself for how this epic series is going to end. I'll also be extremely sad to leave these characters behind.

Cruel Crown by Victoria Aveyard

Yes, I know, I know, my special Glass Sword review isn't up yet. You can blame that on my partner in reading crime who STILL hasn't finished it yet! (Edit: She finished, finally!)
Having seen a lot of Farley already, I'm most excited to learn more about Queen Coriane.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Since this series is now five books long, I am fully aware how late I am to jump on this train. It's shocking, really, given my love for fairytales, that I haven't read this sooner. Better late than never, right?
(Edit: Winter is 700 odd pages. What have I got myself in to?)