Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1) in E.Y.A.B.

Jan 25, 2012 Rose rated it really liked it

Shelves: needs-review

Review to come. Dangnabit, I hate myself for sitting on this series for this long, because dude, that was a lot of fun. Still not sure what I'm going to rate it overall, but it's likely to be a solid 4-star read. Need to meditate a bit longer on my thoughts because - lots to cover. ...more

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Mar 05, 2012 ♥ Unaeve ♥ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

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 center of a violent struggle between the desires of an evil queen - and a dangerous temptation.

I started reading this book at 10pm and finished it after 6 hrs at 4 am !
It is a fast paced read ,a real page turner,you just can't let down.

It is an easy and light read wit ...more

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Dec 27, 2011 Grace Fonseca rated it really liked it

A really unique debut that is utterly charming and heartfelt in all the right places. What I utterly felt about this book was even though it had a cyborg as the main character, Cinder is more human than we are led to believe. Which is a wonderful

I instantly liked how she meets Prince Kai, our hero in this story and it was done with something refreshing. He and needs his robot/android fixed and Cinder being a mechanic was something that felt real despite that she is a girl. Every girl in the re ...more

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Sep 13, 2011 Dea rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, paranormal, dystopia, sci-fi, books-i-own, 2012-debut-novels-and-authors, read-in-2012, 2012-release

Being a huge fan of fairytales since I was little girl, I’m always skeptical about retellings. In my opinion they’re either a hit or miss. So since retellings have been a trend the past few years, I try as much as possible to choose which ones to read. Cinder went it to my must-read list the moment I read the synopsis. Cyborg Cinderella? Count me in!

Cinder turned out to be one of the coolest fairytale retellings I’ve ever read and one of my favorite debuts this year. The author created an origin Being a huge fan of fairytales since I was little girl, I’m always skeptical about retellings. In my opinion they’re either a hit or miss. So since retellings have been a trend the past few years, I try as much as possible to choose which ones to read. Cinder went it to my must-read list the moment I read the synopsis. Cyborg Cinderella? Count me in!

Cinder turned out to be one of the coolest fairytale retellings I’ve ever read and one of my favorite debuts this year. The author created an original twist to the Cinderella concept and added a mixture of Dystopia, Sci-fi, and Paranormal elements to the story. To top it off, Marissa Meyer introduced us to a fascinating world and amazing characters.

Cinder is far from the damsel in distress I thought she would be. She’s tough; she’s stands up for herself as much as she could, which is not so much because her stepmother owns her, she’s smart; she’s the best mechanic in the city! And she’s sarcastic and caring. If in the fairytale there’s an evil stepmother with her equally evil daughters, this book has only one evil sister while the other one is really kind and sweet. That compassionate one is Peony. I also love Cinder’s android Iko, who has a penchant for all things girly and is more human than the stepmother will ever be. Of course this won’t be complete without the Prince Charming. I totally adored Prince Kai and his determination! I loved how our two main characters meet and their relationship builds slowly throughout the entire story. The romance lacked development, which I can overlook since there are three more books in the series for progress.

I love it when the twists and turns in the plot take my mind to the world inside the pages. My nose had been literally in this book when I was on the bus and in the jeepney to school. But if there’s one thing I can complain about, it’s the predictability of one major twist. I think I figured it out halfway through so the ending made a lesser impact than I would have liked. With that being said, I still highly enjoyed it. I’m now even more excited when I found out that the rest of the series will be based on other fairytales! How cool is that?! Cinder will still have the central role and hopefully we’ll see more of Prince Kai in the next books.
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Dec 27, 2011 Shubba The Emo Reader rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Author Guest Post: http://totally-bookalicious.blogspot....

Review: http://totally-bookalicious.blogspot....

Cinder is retelling of Cinderella but with a fresh and funky twist. Set in the future in New Beijing, this Cinder is a mechanic, slaving away to support her wicked Stepmother. However, Cinder is your ordinary home girl, she is a Cyborg! And when her stepsister Peony catched the plague, Cinder lifes is turn upside down and secrets from Cinder past are revealed!

Honestly when I first heard ab Author Guest Post: http://totally-bookalicious.blogspot....

Review: http://totally-bookalicious.blogspot....

Cinder is retelling of Cinderella but with a fresh and funky twist. Set in the future in New Beijing, this Cinder is a mechanic, slaving away to support her wicked Stepmother. However, Cinder is your ordinary home girl, she is a Cyborg! And when her stepsister Peony catched the plague, Cinder lifes is turn upside down and secrets from Cinder past are revealed!

Honestly when I first heard about this I was sooooo excited. I had heard nothing but good things about it and when I got a chance to review it I am over the moon. However, I personally found the beginning to be very slow and it didn't grip my imagination straight away but my gut told me to keep reading and when that happens I do it. And boy I am so glad I did. Cinder is like nothing I have ever read before. After the first 100 pages I was completely engrossed in the storyline that I simply couldn't put the book down.

Cinder is such a strong heroine. She is smart, strong, witty and really stands out against some of the YA Protagonist's that are in books just now. I really enjoyed the relationship she had with Iko the family android. It was a really fun and caring relationship and Iko is adorable! lol. When Cinder stepsister, Poeny gets sick she is devastated because Peony is the only one in her family that cares about her and Cinder truely loves Peony. It was heartbreaking reading the aftermath of it. However, being a such a strong character Cinder deals with everything even though she is scared. (So trying not to spoil anything LOL)

Of course being a YA it wouldn't be complete without a romance right? Well there is one kind of with Prince Kai. Now I personally didn't think this was a great part to the story.I get that its Cinderella you need a Prince Charming but Prince Kai just doesn't come across as a "Prince Charming" he lacks personality. But in a way that's good because the romance doesn't take you away from the actual story.

As I said, it was a slow start for me but once I got into it, it was unbelievable. It was truely different to anything that is out there at moment. The storyline was a bit predictable and I knew exactly where it was going but there was no denying that the ride along the way to there was freaking magical, exciting and full of drama that keeped me from the book down.

Marissa Meyer has delivered a fantastic debut novel. If this is how her debut is I am really excited about reading the next book. But I don't think I can wait until 2013 for it. So if you like your fairy tale retelling with a twist I urge you to give this ago!!
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Aug 03, 2011 Kailia rated it it was ok

Shelves: young-adult, ya-fantasy, ya-fairytale-retelling

Originally reviewed on my blog Reading the Best of the Best.

The cover and synopsis of Cinder had me entranced. A futuristic sic-fi re-telling of Cinderella? Yes, please! Sadly, I wasn't happy with this book at all. While I enjoyed certain aspects, like the characters, it wasn't enough for me to love this book. I do have Scarlet, the second book in the quartet on hand and I'm hoping it's better.

Let's start with the plot. I want to point out that there was so much potential for the plot to be ama Originally reviewed on my blog Reading the Best of the Best.

The cover and synopsis of Cinder had me entranced. A futuristic sic-fi re-telling of Cinderella? Yes, please! Sadly, I wasn't happy with this book at all. While I enjoyed certain aspects, like the characters, it wasn't enough for me to love this book. I do have Scarlet, the second book in the quartet on hand and I'm hoping it's better.

Let's start with the plot. I want to point out that there was so much potential for the plot to be amazing but sadly, it was really predictable. Besides knowing who's going to end up with who (after all, this is a re-telling), I figured out a key aspect of the plot almost 15% into this book. There was no sense of surprise in this novel for me and that was not okay. I found myself getting bored and I even admit to skimming some pages because I just didn't care. I thought about not worrying about it since this was Marissa Meyer's debut novel but that seemed wrong. The second half of the book had much more action which was fantastic because the first half was a chore to get through.

I was also surprised at the lack of world building. As I said, this is considered a sci-fi book but I found some aspects to be border line fantasy. All of the special powers that some of the characters possess seem to just be there. I really wanted more background as to how it all came to be. The only explanation was that it was because they lived on the moon. Being the science nerd I am, I began to wonder if it had to do with DNA changes or particles in the air or something else that caused the powers. But nothing was explained and that was rather sad.

I did like many of the characters. Cinder was a fantastic protagonist. She was brave and smart and loving. She was also willing to do whatever she needed to to help her step sister (the one who likes her anyways) and for the people she cared for. Even though she was strong willed, I liked the aspects in which she was confused or sad since it made her seem more relatable. Iko was hilarious and a much needed distraction from all of the drama but she was also the best friend Cinder needed. Kai wasn't as fleshed out as I had wanted him to be but I was willing to put that aside. Honestly, I wasn't in love with their relationship. I felt like there was no spark and all of the times there should have been tension between the two, I felt nothing.

Overall, I didn't like Cinder. I liked out protagonist but combined with the predictable plot and lack of world building, it wasn't a book I enjoyed. I want to give this book more than 2 stars but really, the 2 stars come from liking Cinder and Iko. I will be reading Scarlet and I'm hoping to love it! ...more

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Dec 26, 2011 Roseanne rated it really liked it

Shelves: highly-recommended

This was great. I read a review before finishing the book that stated that the story was predictable. Sure. It is but the author didn't slack the story, cinder's character arc, or other character's depth because of it. Sure it's predictable to the reader. But the characters and story line are believable, and told and unfolded well. No omniscient characters!!! I actually liked the story. And not everything was predictable. Just saying. Did you know EVERYTHING!? Course not.

Plus. Don't forget it's ...more

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