Original Language: English
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Country: USA
Publication Date: January 3, 2012
ISBN: 0312641893
Page Count: 400
My rating
Blurb
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, the ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. Only few are looking for the Lost Princess who just may be the last hope for Earth’s fate .
Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.
In this thrilling debut young adult novel, the first of a quartet, Marissa Meyer introduces readers to an unforgettable heroine and a powerful new world.
My thought
Cinder, a cyborg mechanic, is working on the market one day when Prince Kai shows up, asking her to fix his personal android. She agrees, obviously, because he is the prince and well, he is hot.Soon after that, however, Cinder's stepsister Peony gets infected by letumosis - a plague that has been terrorizing the world for a while, with no known survivors - and gets taken away.Stepmother Adri is outrageous and blames Cinder for Peony's illness. Therefore, Adri sends Cinder to the palace, where scientists are looking for humans and cyborgs to use in letumosis research, which is just as lethal as catching the plague itself. But, as it turns out, Cinder is immune to the plague. She meets Dr Erland, who runs the research for plague cures. Cinder agrees to take part in the research, but only to find a cure for Peony. Meanwhile, Prince Kai worries over his father, who has letumosis as well, and Queen Levana, who rules the Lunar colony at the moon and wants to discuss an alliance with him. (Meaning: she wants to marry him, even though she's like ten years older.) After that, Cinder meets the prince and they like each other *swoon* (even though Kai doesn't know she's a cyborg!) and then Cinder goes on trying to fix Kai's android and visiting Dr Erland and trying to find a cure for Peony and fixing up an old car to escape Adri one day as well. Busy life.
When Kai's father, the Emperor, dies, Queen Levana comes down to Earth to be there for Kai - aka try to force him into marrying her. But meanwhile, Cinder gets Kai's android to work and finds out that Kai and the android had been searching for Princess Selene - Levana's niece who was presumably dead, but now turns out to be very much alive.bCinder takes the android to Kai immediately, but unfortunately, at the same time that Queen Levana arrives. Who, even though she's at a balcony far away, spots Cinder and is suddenly furious. Levana tells Kai that Cinder is, in fact, Lunar, and wants her dead. But obviously, Kai has fallen in love with Cinder by now, and when she returns his android to him, he asks her to the ball. Cinder declines. Dr Erland tells her that she is Lunar. Even though Queen Levana brought an antidote to the plague, Peony dies, and Adri is devastated and angry at Cinder and tells her she can't go to the ball. But then Cinder finds out that Levana is planning to destroy Earth by marrying Prince Kai and she gets into her now fixed car and races to the palace.She dances with Prince Kai, but then Levana gets there and tries to get Cinder to shoot herself. Kai finds out that Cinder is a cyborg and also Lunar and puts her in jail.
Dr Erland stops by Cinder's cell to tell her the big news: that she's not only Lunar, but, in fact, Princess Selene, Levana's niece. He also tells her to escape, which she does.
Cyborg Cinderella! A future with mind-bending moon dwellers! Super fun! I really enjoyed all of the nerdy mechanicalness. A girl covered in grease and renowned as the best mechanic in the city - get it! At times the romance annoyed me a bit, as did Cinder's whining and lack of confidence. But when the leading characters were at their best - man, they were fun to read!
I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to seek out the next volume in the series. Meyer has taken a traditional fairy tale and turned it into an exciting science-fiction, young adult romance. Well written, exciting, and original, this is a must read.
