The Lunar Chronicles 1: Cinder

By Marissa Meyer

Genres: Fairytale, YA, Romance, Retelling

Cinder, book 1 in The Lunar Chronicles, a futuristic twist to the classic story of Cinderella.

This one will be short, since for the first time I do not have much to say. Marissa Meyer knew how to grab all those beloved characters from classic fairy tales that we know and love, and somehow mixed them into a world of more wonder with a few splashes of enough strangeness to keep you guessing. Let us begin.

The Characters

We have Cinder, of course, at first I was very confused and had no idea what she was describing or what was happening, then I said: Oh! Alright, that makes sense. She has her two step-sisters and a horrible selfish step-mother, no father in sight from the start. This is all pretty much what you would expect, what I cannot say is all the little twists and extra tweaks that were added to make it extremely different from the original story, like the Lunars.

Then you have Kai, the Prince, the boy that melts you and makes you smile, and can be so incredibly adorable that before the book is over, you are completely starstrucked by him. I know I was but that does happen with various male characters. Though Kai was a bit different, you do not realise but at times would be saying: Aw! That’s so cute.

The Book

A bit about this one. It is the first book in The Lunar Chronicles as I have mentioned, in it the author decided that fairy tales in the traditional manner were not enough and added a couple of fascinating elements in a futuristic world. You will feel years in the future, in a post-apocalyptic world where everything somehow ended up working or at least they are trying to make it work, other than that I will not say a thing about the Lunars what happens with them, the book will tell you all.

I think that is it, other than telling what actually happens and who the enemy is, I do not think I can say much more. I did say it was going to be short. Now, two questions.

Good enough to read? Yes.
Intriguing enough? Yes.

I believe I am done, I am currently reading the second one ‘Scarlet‘ which I should have guessed would not follow Cinder entirely, however going from book 1 directly to the next can be a shock to your brain, since you’re longing to read what is going to happen, only to find the new story waiting for you, in page 1.

“Vanity is a factor, but it is more a question of control. It is easier to trick others into perceiving you as beautiful if you can convince yourself you are beautiful. But mirrors have an uncanny way of telling the truth.”

I really did like Cinder at the end, the last few chapters swallowed me up completely. Alright I guess this is where we part ways, I hope you enjoyed this one and now wish to read the book, and if you have already read it let me know. Do not wander very far, soon I will be done with Scarlet and post the review for it.

Happy reading!