Cinder by Marissa Meyer
by Marissa Meyer
Cinder had me hooked from page 1: a scene in which a cyborg named Cinder replaces her foot. What a great way to begin a retelling of the Cinderella tale!
Cinder is set in a future Asian nation. Clearly, this Asian Commonwealth is the super power in the world. There have been wars, great advances in technologies, and a plague. Cinder is a cyborg mechanic, living a pitiful life of servitude after the man who saved her died and made his wife swear to keep Cinder safe. At the beginning of the novel, Cinder is spending just another day at the market when she is approached by a cloaked man asking her to fix his android tutor. This cloaked man turns out to be Prince Kai. The story that follows is not your traditional Cinderella story, however. The plague is sweeping through the nation, the Prince’s father and Cinder’s beloved step sister Peony are dying from it. After Cinder is involuntary drafted for plague testing on cyborgs (thanks to her evil step mother) Cinder finds out that she may hold the secret to the cure the disease. What follows is an exciting tale that keeps you guessing until the end.
I would highly recommend Cinder to any reader. This is a great science fiction read, with the added bonus of a retelling of the Cinderella story. However, this is not a strict retelling, Meyer only has nods to the original fairy tale. For me, Cinder was one of those rare books that I couldn’t put down and it is also one that I have been recommending to everyone!
Also, check out this great book trailer:
posted by Colleen, Teen Services Librarian
