Prasetya Nababan

Cinder: Book One of the Lunar Chronicles (The Lunar Chronicles, 1)

Book by Marissa Meyer

DETAILS

Publisher : Square Fish (February 4, 2020) Language : English Paperback : 448 pages ISBN-10 : 1250768888 ISBN-13 : 978-1250768889 Reading age : 11+ years, from customers Grade level : 7 - 9 Item Weight : 13.6 ounces , The first book in the #1 New York Times - and USA Today -Bestselling Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer like you’ve never seen it before, now with new cover art! See where the futuristic YA fairytale saga all began, with the tale of a teenage cyborg who must fight for Earth's survival against villains from outer space. "An interesting mash up of fairy tales and science fiction . . . a cross between Cinderella, Terminator , and Star Wars ." ― Entertainment Weekly "Prince Charming among the cyborgs." ― The Wall Street Journal 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. With high-stakes action and a smart, resourceful heroine, Cinder is a Cinderella retelling that is at once classic and strikingly original. Don't miss Marissa Meyer's other books and series': The Lunar Chronicles: Cinder Scarlet Cress Winter Stars Above Fairest The Lunar Chronicles Coloring Book Wires and Nerve: Vol. 1 Wires and Nerve: Vol. 2 Renegades: Renegades: Book One Archenemies: Book Two Supernova: Book Three Heartless Read more

REVIEW

I've been slowly making my way through a long list of books recommended to me by a librarian friend of mine. Next on the list was a novel with a plot summary too intriguing to pass up on---a futuristic, cyberpunk retelling of the Cinderella fairytale. And upon completion, I now can't wait to read the rest of the series. Taking place on a far flung future Earth---a world in which humans, cyborgs, and androids live alongside each other, the titular Cinder is a bright and talented teenage mechanic. But due to her status as a cyborg (which marks her as a second class citizen by the general populace), she lives under the oppressive thumb of her abusive stepmother and equally mean stepsisters (though one of them shows her a bit more kindness than the other). But when one of her sisters catches a deadly disease that's been ravaging the planet, Cinder is blamed for bringing the plague to their home, and is promptly shipped off to be used for medical research. And upon discovering that she's miraculously immune to the disease, Cinder is soon swept up into a complicated world full of political intrigue, a secret past she has no memory of, a dashing prince who catches her eye, and an evil queen from the moon who's hell bent on using her mind manipulation powers to conquer the Earth. And through it all, Cinder will discover that she's more special than anyone ever realized. This is a rather long book, but not once does it drag. Every page is filled to the brim with either character development, or some new world building element. The story sports a really well-thought out setting with futuristic technology that reminds me a lot of Josh Whedon's "Firefly". This is a lived-in world, with an intricate history that's explained or hinted at periodically. And much like our own contradictory real world, this is an Earth that's mostly united and promotes peace and understanding, but treats cyborgs like second class citizens who are barely human. This fear also extends to the Lunars; a once-human colony who evolved on the moon, and have since developed a brand of telepathic abilities, the likes of which their leader, Queen Levana, uses to brainwash and subjugate her people. Queen Levana is totally psychotic, completely power hungry, and though she comes off as "evil for evil's sake", her overbearing, diabolical attitude remains a lingering presence everywhere, and makes every situation with her tense, as you're never sure what she's going to do. Thankfully, the situation on the moon isn't all black and white, because as it turns out, not all Lunars are bad people, and also want to see her de-throned, and hate living under her dictatorship. Cinder's stepmother, Adri, is pretty much the cold and vain character from the old fairytale, who treats Cinder like garbage, though at least in this version, it's a bit more understandable why she acts the way she does, as her late husband is partially responsible for placing the family in a difficult situation. (Though that doesn't excuse her deplorable attitude.) As for Pearl and Peony, the two stepsisters don't have as huge a role to play, but in a refreshing change of pace, Peony is actually very kind to Cinder, and when she tragically falls victim to the plague, the race to cure her is what initially spurs Cinder to action, and Peony's presence is still felt throughout the story, even when she's not there. Thankfully, there's plenty of nice characters to brighten up an otherwise gloomy situation. Prince Kai is a truly charming royal, who is incredibly kind, considerate, and smart, and tries his absolute hardest to be the best and fair ruler he can be. He always puts his people's needs ahead of his own, at the expense of his own happiness. He and Cinder have great chemistry, and it makes me hope that they can someday get together. There's also Dr. Erland, the chief scientist put in charge of trying to find a cure for the plague, and when he and Cinder cross paths, he acts as the pseudo- fairy godmother who gives Cinder the tools and valuable information she needs to stay safe and out of the queen's clutches, especially when our young mechanic begins to discover information about her past that was kept a well-guarded secret. As for the main heroine herself, Cinder is one of the best female protagonists I've come across in fiction. She's extremely smart and capable, but makes her share of understandable mistakes. She's snarky and emotional, but doesn't let her emotions overtake her and get in the way of what needs to be done. She starts off loathing the cyborg side of herself, but comes to appreciate it the more that aspect saves her life more than once. As she discovers more about her forgotten past, the more she starts to stand up to those who belittle her, until she cleverly engineers her own escape from her crappy home life. And even though she's given every opportunity to hide or run away and be free, she actively chooses the harder path and decides, on multiple occasions, to put her life at risk to do the right thing, and try to stop Queen Levana's tyranny. And all of this is wrapped up in clever parallels to the old fairytale, from a beat up car replacing the pumpkin carriage, to a cybernetic foot in place of the glass slipper. It really isn't until the final third of the book that the "Cinderella" elements start showing up full force, proving that this world is well-developed enough to stand out on its own, even without the fairytale parallels added in. On a final note, although I was able to pretty much guess the plot twist regarding Cinder's heritage early on, there's enough political intrigue and other stuff going on that there's still plenty of other twists and turns that left me guessing as to what would happen next. Being able to figure out a plot twist ahead of time isn't always a bad thing. I'd rather have a story be semi-predictable, but still enjoyable and make sense, versus a story that has a twist for the sole purpose of shock value, without any regard of if it's logical or not. Simply put, this is an amazing first installment to what I hope will be a unique and creative futuristic twist on the classic fairytales we've all come to know. If the rest of the series is as excellent as this first book, I think I'm in for a good ride. Bring on "Scarlet"!

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