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A review by etinney
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
4.0
3.5 out of 5 stars
I'm just going to be honest here. I didn't really want to read this book.
Ok, Erin, why did you read it then?
Because of the hype.
So I read the synopsis for this a while ago and didn't want to pick it up because I am not really interested in robots and I really dislike the Cinderella story. However, some lovely people on booktube convinced me to pick it up, so I did. I was surprisingly not disappointed.
Cinder is funny and sassy, and that is probably my favorite character trait. I could identify with her so well because she uses sarcasm to calm her down in a bad situation, which is my go-to coping mechanism. The plot was fast paced and I really liked the whole intrigue with the Lunars and the politics surrounding them. Kai sounds like a mega-hottie coated in a candy shell of charm. The plague was an interesting touch and at first, I found it to be unnecessary, but after a while, I realized that the plot needed something like that to tie all the characters together. I really enjoyed reading this book.
However, there were a couple of flaws that caused me to lower the rating.
1. Peony should not have died this early in the series. I think that if she was the same cute little stepsister throughout the whole book and then died in a later installment, I would have been more devastated by the loss. However, I did not have time to get to know her as a character, so I really didn't care about her dying.
2. The whole Princess Selene thing. Is it just me, or did anyone else see the fact that Cinder was Princess Selene coming from a mile away? I mean, as soon as they mentioned the "dead" princess, I went "Oh duh, Cinder is her". And at first, I thought it was the author's way of introducing some dramatic irony to the story. The reader knows that she is the princess, but Cinder doesn't. During the story, however, I began to believe that this was supposed to be the plot twist. Even when that other girl claimed that she was the princess, I knew it wasn't true. So does anyone else feel like that was the most obvious plot twist in the world?
3. Probably the worst one: the romance. Oh god, this is one of the worst cases of instalove I have ever seen. I understand that that is what the Cinderella story is like, but still. I just did not understand why Kai was so obsessed with her. I thought maybe he knew that she was the princess and so he needed her, but then we learn that he doesn't know. So then he was just infatuated with this girl he didn't know. And I understood the first time he asked her to ball; she was a pretty girl and he wanted to ask her out. So after she said no, you would think he would become disinterested. But no. He kept going after her for NO reason. Why? I get that you're super hot and charming but I do not get the extreme persistence in courting Cinder.
4. And why are cyborgs second class citizens? I mean, if I had those robot parts, I would totally have taken over the planet by now. Maybe that will be explained later.
All in all, a good read if you don't mind instalove and some lack of world building and a slightly predictable plot.
I'm just going to be honest here. I didn't really want to read this book.
Ok, Erin, why did you read it then?
Because of the hype.
So I read the synopsis for this a while ago and didn't want to pick it up because I am not really interested in robots and I really dislike the Cinderella story. However, some lovely people on booktube convinced me to pick it up, so I did. I was surprisingly not disappointed.
Cinder is funny and sassy, and that is probably my favorite character trait. I could identify with her so well because she uses sarcasm to calm her down in a bad situation, which is my go-to coping mechanism. The plot was fast paced and I really liked the whole intrigue with the Lunars and the politics surrounding them. Kai sounds like a mega-hottie coated in a candy shell of charm. The plague was an interesting touch and at first, I found it to be unnecessary, but after a while, I realized that the plot needed something like that to tie all the characters together. I really enjoyed reading this book.
However, there were a couple of flaws that caused me to lower the rating.
1. Peony should not have died this early in the series. I think that if she was the same cute little stepsister throughout the whole book and then died in a later installment, I would have been more devastated by the loss. However, I did not have time to get to know her as a character, so I really didn't care about her dying.
2. The whole Princess Selene thing. Is it just me, or did anyone else see the fact that Cinder was Princess Selene coming from a mile away? I mean, as soon as they mentioned the "dead" princess, I went "Oh duh, Cinder is her". And at first, I thought it was the author's way of introducing some dramatic irony to the story. The reader knows that she is the princess, but Cinder doesn't. During the story, however, I began to believe that this was supposed to be the plot twist. Even when that other girl claimed that she was the princess, I knew it wasn't true. So does anyone else feel like that was the most obvious plot twist in the world?
3. Probably the worst one: the romance. Oh god, this is one of the worst cases of instalove I have ever seen. I understand that that is what the Cinderella story is like, but still. I just did not understand why Kai was so obsessed with her. I thought maybe he knew that she was the princess and so he needed her, but then we learn that he doesn't know. So then he was just infatuated with this girl he didn't know. And I understood the first time he asked her to ball; she was a pretty girl and he wanted to ask her out. So after she said no, you would think he would become disinterested. But no. He kept going after her for NO reason. Why? I get that you're super hot and charming but I do not get the extreme persistence in courting Cinder.
4. And why are cyborgs second class citizens? I mean, if I had those robot parts, I would totally have taken over the planet by now. Maybe that will be explained later.
All in all, a good read if you don't mind instalove and some lack of world building and a slightly predictable plot.