Series: The Lunar Chronicles #1
Author: Marissa Meyer
Publisher: Puffin
Year: 2012
"Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .
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."
Well. I feel
sort of underwhelmed. This book seems to be quite popular and has been
recommended to me numerous times. I guess I just expected more. Not to say that
this a bad book, but I feel sort of meh about it.
First of all, let’s
list the things that this book has going for it, because there were a few
things that were potentially redeeming qualities.
First of all the
book was well written, it was an easy pleasant read.
Second, the idea
was great. I love fairy-tales and have developed quite a liking for all sorts
of retellings. So Cinderella crossed with cyborgs sounded like a wicked idea.
The other good part was that the Cinderella element was woven in quite well.
There were a few times where it was obvious that the reader was meant to think
that “Ah, this is the part from Cinderella”, but mostly it was very smoothly
linked to the rest of the story, which by the way was intriguing.
Now there were a
few things that bothered me. Sort of like a splinter under your skin, but less
pleasant.
The cyborg/android
part. Very underwhelming. I was hoping this book would have more of a sci-fi
element, but it sounded like someone had read one too many smart-phone manuals.
All the robotics parts seemed very hurried and not properly researched. And come
on, Cinder fixed up an old-time (which means our time) car and we did not get even
one scene where she actually worked on it!
Cinder. At the
beginning of the book, I really liked her. I thought she was witty and fun. But
she became one-dimensional very fast. I mean how can it be that she has never
been interested in where she came from? Especially if all people carry ID-chips
that should give her info, but presumably doesn’t? How can someone be so
uninterested in themselves?
Kai. Well, I’ll
give you that, he is like a real prince from the early Disney movies. As in
absolutely brain-numbingly boring! I meant he is meant to be a ruler and he
sounds like he sort of looks at everything like a bystander and keeps going: ”Aww,
that is really not working out for you, is it?” Also, how he keeps saying to
Cinder that he doesn’t want special treatment and then goes “Hey, I am a
prince, give me special treatment.” Just give me a break.
And the biggest
one. This was the single most predictable big surprise ever. I usually do not
mind spoilers, because I am more interested in the story than the climax. But
this was obvious from the very beginning and it was very easy to see how it
will all work out. I mean try to throw some twists and turns into it. Give a
little spice. This felt like walking into the same wall repeatedly and
expecting it to turn into a door! It was a good but poorly executed idea.
I do not regret
reading this, but I’m quite happy to put it back on my shelf and go find
something juicier. Three stars. And that feels kind of generous.
This review has been brought to you by your Book Mistress for the day.
-Linda
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