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A review by brisingr
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
3.0
More like a 3.5 stars out of 5, though.
Ok, I was in the mood for a light read and since usually this also equals YA books, this is what I decided to read. I also have a burning passion for fairy tales, and if those are twisted, than even better.
The world has been 126 years in peace, after World War IV. Cinder is a mechanic in New Beijing, the reconstructed capital of the nation now known as Commonwealth. Her best friend is a robot and she loves her little sister. She doesn't try to think too much about prince Kaito, everyone's secret not-so-secret love, or the plague that kills the population of Earth. Instead, she dreams of escaping, and as usual, her dreams are not something that become reality.
This was everything that I expected from a YA book. Really, I don't think I can come with any other way to describe my experience with Cinder. The setting and time was, though, pretty interesting and I enjoyed reading about this new world, so very changed from the original fairy tale we know. I can at least give this to the author, it was an unique world. And yes, I might have a soft spot for retellings.
Unfortunately, plot wise, it was a disappointment. It was horribly predictable, I could tell the main plot key from the first 50 pages, which kind of takes from the enjoyment of continuing reading. And given that you already have some things you have to keep in mind, since it's a retelling, I feel like the author already took a lot of freedom with this story. I got it that it was supposed to be action-packed and with all the political intrigues and fights for power, but if she decided to write about several themes, then at least develop them equally. Because god, the romance was so, so horrible. I couldn't see any development, any way in which they could fall in love with each other! It simply was not believable, under no circumstances I will accept their feelings as real. Uhm, no, thanks, take the romance from me. I would have loved to see more of Cinder's relationship with her sister, because really, we need more female relationships in books as in general.
You know how in the classical tale Cinderella has the lil mices around her? Here, Cinder has a very opinionated robot named Iko, and Iko was my favorite character. It says a lot about how much I disliked the more human characters in this book. I couldn't personally connect with any of the characters, they weren't developed enough for me to see something worhty in them (even in prince Kaito, I felt he was the common perfect boy trope and I just couldn't like him, no matter how gentlemanish he was or how much he smiled). Cinder was somewhat likeable, but even that was washed away. Iko was literally the only one who seemed human of all of them. Kind of sad.
I would have also liked for the emotional scenes to actually be emotional?? Like, ok, this sad thing happends but... If I, as a reader, can't feel it, then what's the purpose of it? Some scenes came as excuses for the behaviour of some characters, others were just there. I would have expected more feelings and more displayed emotions from both Cinder and Kai in their past tragedies.
I appreciated the humour though, those parts I really liked. Also the sarcastic comments.
But overall it was a nice read. It got me interested and kept me interested through the read, I had fun and enjoyed myself while reading it and although a little bit slow in places, I was so giddy over the last 30-40 pages! Apparently I do enjoy my books to be action-packed or at least to bring me something to gasp at every other page. Those pages were actually the ones where I actually cared what was happening with the characters.
It also ends in a clifhanger and I decided I will continue on with the series, whenever I am in the mood for a light and mostly fun read. I hope the next volumes will get better and I am pretty curious to see what will happen next. 3 stars overall, the 0.5 was added after those sparks at the end. Not the end-end, because that felt sour and I didn't particulary enjoy those last 2 chapters. But the 5-6 before those, yep, those I really liked.
Ok, I was in the mood for a light read and since usually this also equals YA books, this is what I decided to read. I also have a burning passion for fairy tales, and if those are twisted, than even better.
The world has been 126 years in peace, after World War IV. Cinder is a mechanic in New Beijing, the reconstructed capital of the nation now known as Commonwealth. Her best friend is a robot and she loves her little sister. She doesn't try to think too much about prince Kaito, everyone's secret not-so-secret love, or the plague that kills the population of Earth. Instead, she dreams of escaping, and as usual, her dreams are not something that become reality.
This was everything that I expected from a YA book. Really, I don't think I can come with any other way to describe my experience with Cinder. The setting and time was, though, pretty interesting and I enjoyed reading about this new world, so very changed from the original fairy tale we know. I can at least give this to the author, it was an unique world. And yes, I might have a soft spot for retellings.
Unfortunately, plot wise, it was a disappointment. It was horribly predictable, I could tell the main plot key from the first 50 pages, which kind of takes from the enjoyment of continuing reading. And given that you already have some things you have to keep in mind, since it's a retelling, I feel like the author already took a lot of freedom with this story. I got it that it was supposed to be action-packed and with all the political intrigues and fights for power, but if she decided to write about several themes, then at least develop them equally. Because god, the romance was so, so horrible. I couldn't see any development, any way in which they could fall in love with each other! It simply was not believable, under no circumstances I will accept their feelings as real. Uhm, no, thanks, take the romance from me. I would have loved to see more of Cinder's relationship with her sister, because really, we need more female relationships in books as in general.
You know how in the classical tale Cinderella has the lil mices around her? Here, Cinder has a very opinionated robot named Iko, and Iko was my favorite character. It says a lot about how much I disliked the more human characters in this book. I couldn't personally connect with any of the characters, they weren't developed enough for me to see something worhty in them (even in prince Kaito, I felt he was the common perfect boy trope and I just couldn't like him, no matter how gentlemanish he was or how much he smiled). Cinder was somewhat likeable, but even that was washed away. Iko was literally the only one who seemed human of all of them. Kind of sad.
I would have also liked for the emotional scenes to actually be emotional?? Like, ok, this sad thing happends but... If I, as a reader, can't feel it, then what's the purpose of it? Some scenes came as excuses for the behaviour of some characters, others were just there. I would have expected more feelings and more displayed emotions from both Cinder and Kai in their past tragedies.
I appreciated the humour though, those parts I really liked. Also the sarcastic comments.
But overall it was a nice read. It got me interested and kept me interested through the read, I had fun and enjoyed myself while reading it and although a little bit slow in places, I was so giddy over the last 30-40 pages! Apparently I do enjoy my books to be action-packed or at least to bring me something to gasp at every other page. Those pages were actually the ones where I actually cared what was happening with the characters.
It also ends in a clifhanger and I decided I will continue on with the series, whenever I am in the mood for a light and mostly fun read. I hope the next volumes will get better and I am pretty curious to see what will happen next. 3 stars overall, the 0.5 was added after those sparks at the end. Not the end-end, because that felt sour and I didn't particulary enjoy those last 2 chapters. But the 5-6 before those, yep, those I really liked.