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aidamaria_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
How I wish I would have read this sooner! I should have picked it up when I was still a teenager. As a sixteen-year-old girl with a brand new pair of prosthetic titanium hip joints, I would have loved to read about and relate to a cyborg girl with a prosthetic hand and foot. 🦾
Either way this is one of the best fairytale retellings I’ve ever come across. Even though one plottwist was a little obvious to me, the story remained gripping, the world building is *chef’s kiss* and I’m so excited to start the second book in the series soon! It’s been a while since I’ve enjoyed a story this much so I’m giving it a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5 out of 5 stars) rating. Definitely one of my favourite reads of 2021. 🏆
Content Warnings
Minor: Ableism, Abandonment, Bullying, Body shaming, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Violence, and War
romiress's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Updated: I reread this, and I think it still holds up great. The plot twist is obvious and clearly broadcasted from page one, but the worldbuilding is fantastic. I was less enthusiastic about Cinder's priorities this time around, but I still think it's a great book, and I'm looking forward to reading the sequels.
Original: I had a hard time deciding a genre. Sure, it's YA, but is it Scifi? Fantasy? Dystopian? A bit of everything. I wasn't expecting much of anything from this, but in the end I loved it. While the plot 'twist' is predictable from the first twenty-five pages, it's well written and kept me reading. I read it in only a few hours, and every time I went to set it down, I ended up picking it up again.
Original: I had a hard time deciding a genre. Sure, it's YA, but is it Scifi? Fantasy? Dystopian? A bit of everything. I wasn't expecting much of anything from this, but in the end I loved it. While the plot 'twist' is predictable from the first twenty-five pages, it's well written and kept me reading. I read it in only a few hours, and every time I went to set it down, I ended up picking it up again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Ableism, Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse
Moderate: Death of parent
bushra19's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I really liked this novel, it was like a breath of fresh air
Content Warnings
Minor: Ableism
bookishprincess's review against another edition
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, and Ableism
namzuru's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Ableism, Emotional abuse, and Violence
Minor: Blood and Gun violence
mads_reads_books's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Ableism
lizardbet's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Terminal illness, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Colonisation
tkatt20's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I liked this book but I didn't love it. I found the world itself to be incredibly interesting and the characters are very loveable but the plot was predictable and I felt like I knew everything that was going to happen well in advance. I almost DNFed but continued hoping it would surprise me but it never did.
As previously stated, the characters and the world building are complex and interesting so that redeems it a bit for me. The world itself is set in a sort of post-apocalyptic society taking place on Earth after the 4th world War. The technological advancements are fascinating, my only complaint so that they aren't described well enough. The androids come off as practically human when interacting with the characters but it felt disconnected with the story since there are next to no details about why they respond the way they do or who created them. Im hoping the rest of the series sheds some light on this if I decide to continue reading.
I would have rated this much higher had Cinder's step sister not died the way she did. I had such high hopes when I found out that one of her step sisters was actually nice to her (compared to many other Cinderella retellings) but she was barely in the book long enough to get to know her, and having Cinder right there with the cure was extremely frustrating and I almost put down the book right there
I haven't decided yet if I will finish this series but there is a good chance I will solely based on my fondness if the characters.
As previously stated, the characters and the world building are complex and interesting so that redeems it a bit for me. The world itself is set in a sort of post-apocalyptic society taking place on Earth after the 4th world War. The technological advancements are fascinating, my only complaint so that they aren't described well enough. The androids come off as practically human when interacting with the characters but it felt disconnected with the story since there are next to no details about why they respond the way they do or who created them. Im hoping the rest of the series sheds some light on this if I decide to continue reading.
I haven't decided yet if I will finish this series but there is a good chance I will solely based on my fondness if the characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Child abuse, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Ableism
talkstofish's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Cinder is a cyborg girl who doesn't get along with her stepmother. After a fateful meeting with the prince and someone close to her falling ill, events are set in motion that include a plague, a ball, an interplanetary conflict - and an unexpected ending.
I enjoyed this reimagined fairytale in a sci-fi setting! The world-building is pretty good, but I do find the characters a little lacking in growth. I expect that they grow and develop over the course of the series.
*** Note: The audiobook version is fine. The voice actor plays up the role of a 17-year old girl, so it feels a lot more like the natural thoughts of a teenager.
I enjoyed this reimagined fairytale in a sci-fi setting! The world-building is pretty good, but I do find the characters a little lacking in growth. I expect that they grow and develop over the course of the series.
*** Note: The audiobook version is fine. The voice actor plays up the role of a 17-year old girl, so it feels a lot more like the natural thoughts of a teenager.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, and Medical content
Moderate: Grief and Suicide attempt
Minor: Child death
The main character is a cyborg and many people shame her for having tech parts to survive a traumatic accident. The plot focuses heavily on a plague, so there is medical content and death related to it.theespressoedition's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The first time I read Cinder was when it was first released, nearly ten years ago now and when I was fresh out of high school. It was really interesting to read it again with a fresh perspective to see how it held up after all of these years.
To this day, I think The Lunar Chronicles are the best fairytale retellings ever. They're so unique and fun - and honestly, they're timeless. They stick closely to the original stories in a lot of ways - and then, of course, Meyer always puts her incredibly creative twist on them! She's one of my favorite authors for a reason.
It was hard for me to separate whether I was just doing a great job remembering the book or whether the plot twists I found shocking in the past were actually totally predictable. I definitely remembered a lot more than I expected, but I also wondered if maybe I would've picked apart the narrative if this was my first time reading. However, it really didn't matter if it felt "predictable" this time around or not because it was such an enjoyable read and just like last time, I was immediately ready to jump into the next book in the series to find out what happens!
These are not complicated books at all and they're super easy to digest quickly. I'm looking forward to continuing my reread. It'll be so great to see how I feel about Scarlet after so long (because that was my favorite book the first time around)!
To this day, I think The Lunar Chronicles are the best fairytale retellings ever. They're so unique and fun - and honestly, they're timeless. They stick closely to the original stories in a lot of ways - and then, of course, Meyer always puts her incredibly creative twist on them! She's one of my favorite authors for a reason.
It was hard for me to separate whether I was just doing a great job remembering the book or whether the plot twists I found shocking in the past were actually totally predictable. I definitely remembered a lot more than I expected, but I also wondered if maybe I would've picked apart the narrative if this was my first time reading. However, it really didn't matter if it felt "predictable" this time around or not because it was such an enjoyable read and just like last time, I was immediately ready to jump into the next book in the series to find out what happens!
These are not complicated books at all and they're super easy to digest quickly. I'm looking forward to continuing my reread. It'll be so great to see how I feel about Scarlet after so long (because that was my favorite book the first time around)!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Death
Moderate: Death of parent and Body shaming
Minor: Ableism
I don't really know how to classify this particular trigger warning: there is a lot of disdain and hatred against cyborgs in the book, so in this particular sci-fi universe, I would consider it racism - however, it's clearly a fantastical classification because cyborgs aren't reality.