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isabel_is_reading's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
I found this book to have a very interesting setup and the author is definitely talented. A Cyborg Cinderella living in a post apocalyptic futuristic Beijing is a very interesting premise. However, I do think the book wasn’t executed in the best way. I’m going to split this up into sections on characters, plot, world building, and writing.
Characters
Characters
- Cinder- Cinder is a pretty lovable character, she’s stubborn, caring, kind and tomboyish. I liked the fact she’s a talented mechanic and I enjoyed her relationship with Iko and her younger step-sister. She played an active role in the story, which is always a good thing.
- Kai- Kai is an interesting twist to the ‘Prince charming’ character, he’s focused, he’s pretty smart and he has always wanted to lead his country. But, I got so annoyed with the way he dealt with the marriage storyline.
*Let my dramatic interpretation begin*
“We’re going to war!” 💂🏻
“No, I am going to marry her and avoid war!” 🤴🏻
“No, you can’t marry her, war is coming anyway and she might kill you!” 💂🏻
“Despite the fact that I know that marrying her will not help with previous problems and It might hurt me I’m still going to do it for no reason.”
“No, don’t marry her! She’s evil” 👩🏽🔧
“ I have to marry her!”
“I am evil and I will kill your loved one if you don’t marry me!” 🦹🏽♀️
“ I am sorry evil one, now that you want to kill my loved one, so now there is an actual reason to marry you I can’t marry you…despite the fact that I was going to marry you like...one second ago!”
LIKE, Why!!!! Your supposed to be smart, why are you changing ur mind in 6 seconds!
I’m a Libra and I’m not this indecisive.
Rhe rest of the characters we one dimensional and forgettable so I don’t have much to say.
Plot
I found the plot to be pretty interesting, but predictable. Now you can kinda expect this from a retelling since the basic plot outline is already laid out for you and sent it from an old very well-known fairytale. Most people know how the basic structure is gonna go, but some of the twist which were supposed to be impactful, were pretty obvious to me since the beginning. I’m not a huge fan of this genre anymore, but if you enjoy young adult fantasy you might like it. The romance was ok, but it was to insta loving for me and I wish there was a better foundation for the realtinonship.
World building
The world building is my biggest problem with this novel despite the fact, it was the reason why I actually wanted to pick it up. For one this is in a futuristic Beijing and I wanted to see what it would be like to be in this world white with new technology and especially with a culture that isn’t represented a lot and young adult fiction, especially during the time this book was written. However, this wasn’t really explored. I wish we got more details of how life is to live in this area. I wanted to see more about how the world works and the information that we are given is just confusing.
The cyborg discrimination makes no sense to me.
Just to simplify things;
~Cyborgs are people who have one or more metal parts. A human becomes a cyborg when they experience an accident and need this technology to, you know, NOT DIE.
~Androids are robotic machines that are programmed to act like humans. They function according to commands.
~Lunars are people who posses magic and live on the moon. They have the ability to mind control (glamour) humans.
The biggest problem that I have with the world building is that I don’t understand why cyborgs are look down upon and discriminated in society. I mean first of all the cyborg is just a person who have metal part so someone who for example, gets a prosthetic leg and maybe a prosthetic arm is going to be “ more human” then someone who has like a fully metal brain and heart and lungs and arms and legs, and just everything as prosthetic. So if the problem is that they’re discriminated because they’re not fully human wouldn’t certain individuals be treated better than other individuals? Just like the same way with real life racism individuals wear darker skin experience, colorism compared to light skin individuals who don’t experience colorism. Also, I just don’t understand how someone being saved by new technology that gives him another chance at life after horrible accident would be treated badly by society that just doesn’t make sense to me at all and the author doesn’t explain it in a way that makes sense.
Writing
“Vanity is a factor, but it is more a question of control. It is easier to trick others into perceiving you as beautiful if you can convince yourself you are beautiful. But mirrors have an uncanny way of telling the truth.”
This is a debut novel and the writing is actually pretty good 👍🏻.
“We’re going to war!” 💂🏻
“No, I am going to marry her and avoid war!” 🤴🏻
“No, you can’t marry her, war is coming anyway and she might kill you!” 💂🏻
“Despite the fact that I know that marrying her will not help with previous problems and It might hurt me I’m still going to do it for no reason.”
“No, don’t marry her! She’s evil” 👩🏽🔧
“ I have to marry her!”
“I am evil and I will kill your loved one if you don’t marry me!” 🦹🏽♀️
“ I am sorry evil one, now that you want to kill my loved one, so now there is an actual reason to marry you I can’t marry you…despite the fact that I was going to marry you like...one second ago!”
I’m a Libra and I’m not this indecisive.
Plot
I found the plot to be pretty interesting, but predictable. Now you can kinda expect this from a retelling since the basic plot outline is already laid out for you and sent it from an old very well-known fairytale. Most people know how the basic structure is gonna go, but some of the twist which were supposed to be impactful, were pretty obvious to me since the beginning. I’m not a huge fan of this genre anymore, but if you enjoy young adult fantasy you might like it. The romance was ok, but it was to insta loving for me and I wish there was a better foundation for the realtinonship.
World building
The world building is my biggest problem with this novel despite the fact, it was the reason why I actually wanted to pick it up. For one this is in a futuristic Beijing and I wanted to see what it would be like to be in this world white with new technology and especially with a culture that isn’t represented a lot and young adult fiction, especially during the time this book was written. However, this wasn’t really explored. I wish we got more details of how life is to live in this area. I wanted to see more about how the world works and the information that we are given is just confusing.
The cyborg discrimination makes no sense to me.
Just to simplify things;
~Cyborgs are people who have one or more metal parts. A human becomes a cyborg when they experience an accident and need this technology to, you know, NOT DIE.
~Androids are robotic machines that are programmed to act like humans. They function according to commands.
~Lunars are people who posses magic and live on the moon. They have the ability to mind control (glamour) humans.
The biggest problem that I have with the world building is that I don’t understand why cyborgs are look down upon and discriminated in society. I mean first of all the cyborg is just a person who have metal part so someone who for example, gets a prosthetic leg and maybe a prosthetic arm is going to be “ more human” then someone who has like a fully metal brain and heart and lungs and arms and legs, and just everything as prosthetic. So if the problem is that they’re discriminated because they’re not fully human wouldn’t certain individuals be treated better than other individuals? Just like the same way with real life racism individuals wear darker skin experience, colorism compared to light skin individuals who don’t experience colorism. Also, I just don’t understand how someone being saved by new technology that gives him another chance at life after horrible accident would be treated badly by society that just doesn’t make sense to me at all and the author doesn’t explain it in a way that makes sense.
Writing
“Vanity is a factor, but it is more a question of control. It is easier to trick others into perceiving you as beautiful if you can convince yourself you are beautiful. But mirrors have an uncanny way of telling the truth.”
This is a debut novel and the writing is actually pretty good 👍🏻.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Child death, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Classism
Minor: Death of parent, Blood, War, and Gun violence
rwnhlfx's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Honestly, this book is really fun. I read it & the sequel for a class & I'm thinking about finishing the series on my own time. It does, however, lose a star due to some repetitive phrasing & Meyer's failure to portray an Asian culture in a respectful or believable way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Police brutality, Xenophobia, and Medical content
Minor: War
noellegrace8's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
This is such a cool modern (future, actually??) retelling of Cinderella. She is NOTHING like any Cinderella we've read or watched before. She is a mechnic with a good portion of her body being mechanical in and of itself. Meyer does a fantastic job creating interesting plot points that surprise the reader yet also point them to the original source material of Cinderella. Overall a quick-paced, clever book. I can't wait to read the next installments! The few issues I had with the book were just that it was a bit hard to get into at first, especially because some of the characters weren't as interesting as they could have been, and sometimes the word usage was odd, almost like she used the word adjacent to what she actually meant.
I don't include the audio performer in my overall star review, but I'd give Rebecca Soler 3.75/5.0. There isn't much to say outside of her performance falling flat. It wasn't actively bad, but there wasn't enough excitement and variance in her narration to intrigue me; my inner reading dialogue is much more enthusiastic than her performance itself is.
I don't include the audio performer in my overall star review, but I'd give Rebecca Soler 3.75/5.0. There isn't much to say outside of her performance falling flat. It wasn't actively bad, but there wasn't enough excitement and variance in her narration to intrigue me; my inner reading dialogue is much more enthusiastic than her performance itself is.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Classism, Grief, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Medical trauma, Blood, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Death, and Medical content
Minor: Deportation, Car accident, Colonisation, Confinement, Murder, Violence, Death of parent, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Vomit, Xenophobia, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, and War
Those listed in "graphic" are central themes, although the ableism is more of metaphor (Cinder is a cyborg and treated poorly because of it) than a direct commentary. Moderate categories listed are related to the death of a loved one in the plot, a medical research focus due to the epidemic theme, and the aforementioned ordeal of Cinder being cyborg. "Minor" category items are straightforward and not too present in the book.brebeingwell's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book is a very loose Cinderella retelling taking place in the distant future after several world wars and major world events that have changed the borders and culture of the planet. Humans have gone off world and settlements have been made on the moon and possibly other planets (other planets unconfirmed in this book).
My favorite trait of the main character was that she was capable. So many fantasies and sci-fi books make the main female character out to be unskilled until a major event happens. Cinder, from the beginning, was a very capable and skilled being. But she is also still a teenage girl and has the desires and feelings of someone befitting her age. I thought she had a good personality and very interesting abilities that made her POV enjoyable.
The world building, while complicated, was explained in a very digestible way. The only issue I took was with the lunar colony. Besides doing things for power and seemingly to be evil, there was no real reason presented as to why they were so ruthless. I suspect this may be explored throughout the series.
Kai's response towards the end was not akin to how I pictured him as a person, which makes me think that his actions were only for dramatic effect. The ending straight up sucked and was super unsatisfying, which is why this book only received a 3 star rating.
My favorite trait of the main character was that she was capable. So many fantasies and sci-fi books make the main female character out to be unskilled until a major event happens. Cinder, from the beginning, was a very capable and skilled being. But she is also still a teenage girl and has the desires and feelings of someone befitting her age. I thought she had a good personality and very interesting abilities that made her POV enjoyable.
The world building, while complicated, was explained in a very digestible way. The only issue I took was with the lunar colony. Besides doing things for power and seemingly to be evil, there was no real reason presented as to why they were so ruthless. I suspect this may be explored throughout the series.
Kai's response towards the end was not akin to how I pictured him as a person, which makes me think that his actions were only for dramatic effect. The ending straight up sucked and was super unsatisfying, which is why this book only received a 3 star rating.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Slavery
Minor: War
jessicadoom's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
After reading Renegades, I had high hopes for the rest of Marissa Meyer's books. World-building wise, I was still very much impressed. And the story was great! There was just something missing to keep it from being a full 4 stars. Maybe it was the insta-love. Maybe the fact that I called the twist from very early on. Not sure, but I did still enjoy it! Just not yet ready to pick up the next book in the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Medical trauma, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Xenophobia, War, Abandonment, and Violence
Minor: Murder, Self harm, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
michimiya's review against another edition
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood and War
jadeandherbunny's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
fast-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Ableism, Blood, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Toxic relationship, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Self harm and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Slavery and War
moomoo_'s review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and War
kal_el_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Blood, Gaslighting, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: War and Violence
Minor: Gun violence
melissaslibraryy's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Omg!! The Lunar Chronicles was one of my favorite series back in middle school and being able to reread it the way I’ve always planned too makes me so happy. I forgot how much I loved this book and feeling as though I’m reading it for the first time again makes me live it even more after all this time. If you’re looking for a thrilling, adventurous YA dystopian novel with a romantic side plot, Cinder is the book for you. 1000000% recommend !!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, and War
Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Suicide attempt