A review by calypso_the_oboe
Cinder by Marissa Meyer

adventurous emotional sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

       Cinder by Marissa Meyer is a wonderful 390-page-long sci-fi novel. It was published for the world in 2012. The main theme is how horrible life is for people who are discriminated against. In this future those people are cyborgs and lunars. People think that all lunars are evil because they have a corrupt government and that cyborgs owe their lives to save the rest of the population from letemosis, a virus with a 100% death rate that has turned into a pandemic, because they should have died years earlier. 
        Linh Cinder is the protagonist and titular character. The book is written in third-person-perspective following her. She lived with her adoptive mother and her two adoptive sisters, Peony and Pearl, and worked as a mechanic. The main love interest, Kai, is the prince of The Commonwealth which is modern-day Asia. His dad was sick with letemosis and was expected to die very soon. Iko is Cinder’s best and only friend. She is a android with a broken personality chip which made her act like a human woman. She loves makeup and fashion and has a crush on the prince like most every other teen girl of the Commonwealth. 
       
The book starts with Kai coming to Cinder’s mechanic’s shop asking for her to fix his android that was his nanny. Then Cinder’s sister, Peony, finds out she’s caught letemosis. The Linh family feels heart broken. They blame Cinder for Peony catching the plague and volunteer her for experimenting on cures. However, scientists find out she’s immune. After that the king died from letemosis and then the evil queen of Luna comes down to earth to try and get Kai to marry her so she can conquer earth. Because of this chaos ensues at Kai’s coronation. The lunar queen convinces Kai to let her hold a trial in Luna, which is nearly always a death sentence because they find out Linh Cinder is actually a Lunar herself.
       This book is wonderful and it is impactful. The characters are realistic. The world seems so awesome. However, I romance has to much of a spotlight and I wish more of the romance parts were put into world and character building. The romance is well written, however, it’s quite realistic to how real teens would really act in situations like this. The book was very exciting and it pulled on my heartstrings quite a bit. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good sci-fi or romance. This book is perfect for fans of The Hunger Games and Percy Jackson. 
       I read this book quickly. It has been one of my favorite reads in recent months. I love how Meyer writes characters with flaws, hopes, and dreams.
Peony’s death and Iko’s temporary one were very sad.
Queen Levana seems like pure evil. No characters are over powered or flawless. I am looking forward to reading the other book in The Lunar Chronicles series. 
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