Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1) by Marissa Meyer

I have heard quite a bit about The Lunar Chronicles in the past, but had never really gotten the chance to pick theme up. I'll go ahead and blame that on my taller-than-me TBR pile, because there's nothing about this that wouldn't appeal to me. A sci-fi fairytale retelling? Yes, please! A cyborg Cinderella? Count me in!

A coworker of mine who has heard me rant and rave about how much I love YA Fiction approached me about a month ago to ask if I'd read these books. She is in love with them and had learned that the author was going to be speaking at a Tacoma library at the end of January and wanted to know if I wanted to come with her. I regretfully told her I hadn't yet read them, but I would totally come with her and would do my best to read the three books in The Lunar Chronicles that had already come out.

Linh Cinder, our cyborg Cinderella, is a mechanic in New Beijing, known for being one of the bet at her craft. She works constantly to support her stepmother and stepsisters, who technically own her, since cyborgs are considered property, not people. When Prince Kai shows up in her shop one day, asking her to fix an android of his, Cinder doesn't want to admit that she likes the boy that every girl in the empire would kill to meet. Soon, it becomes clear that the information the android carries is more important than Cinder could have realized and may be the key to holding off the threat that is Queen Levana, the Lunar queen. Cinder wants to do everything in her power to help her country and the boy who has been so kind to her, but when she ends up getting pulled into the political skirmish, she can't help but wonder if she'll even be able to make it out alive.

I really loved everything about this book. Cinder is a great heroine. She struggles with her own insecurities and these insurmountable odds that rise up against her, but she's also smart, strong, and kind. I love the idea of a mechanic Cinderella. Her relationship with Prince Kai is incredibly believable and the romance almost creeps up on her. I really enjoyed that she was pretty resistant to the idea of falling in love with him and that he fell for her because she was someone he could talk to, not because she was the prettiest person who walked into the ball.

Cinder was a great opening to what looks like a pretty stellar book series. It keeps the reader on the edge of their seat from beginning to end, eager to put the pieces together and find out what is going to happen next. If this first installment is any indication, we have a pretty amazing series to look forward to, and it's going to be an interesting ride from beginning to end.

Rating: ★★★★★