Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Book: Cinder by Marissa Meyer (Lunar Chronicles book 1)
ISBN 13: 9780312641894
Average Rating: 4.13 
My Rating: 5 out of 5 cybernetic princesses! 

          Whoa! Marissa Meyer, I am impressed. None too shabby for a first novel. This was such a cool concept. A series that is all about old fashioned fairy tales with a sci-fi twist. Disney! Pleaase give us an alien princess! I didn't know how badly I wanted one until I read this. 
      
             I love Cinder! She feels so much more real than the protagonists I've been reading lately. A lot of the times in Young Adult novels it feels like the writer sits down and thinks ''I am an adult writing a teenage character. How do I write a teenage character?'' In reality, it's not that much of a difference. I felt like Marissa Meyer was thinking more along the lines of ''I am a person writing a person''. If only writers realized young adults are a lot more like adults than they think. My point is, that the character was very fluid. No awkward 'I am forcing this' vibe. 

         I liked the elements of culture she worked into the story. Most books are set in either America or Europe which I suppose makes sense since those are the places that speak English. The cultural elements of Asian countries especially China. Things like saying the last name first when formally introducing yourself, and using 'mèi' after someone's name. Coming from 'mèi mei' (妹妹) A lot of authors don't realize how important the tone mark is when typing in mandarin. And a lot of people say 'Chinese' when there is no language actually called Chinese. It's Mandarin, or Cantonese, or other dialects. I actually speak the tiniest bit of Mandarin Chinese. But my English and Spanish are much better. Anyway! I was just expressing my appreciation that she got the language element accurate. 

      Another really good element was that there was no excessive romance. It's supposed to be a Cinderella story so I mean, some swooning is unavoidable of Prince Gorgeous but I Cinder did a good job of keeping her head...for the most part. I can't judge though, when a guy says my name in school I just turn into a stuttery mess. 

         There was one part of the book that was really predictable but I can't really talk about it without giving so much away. I think it was obvious before Meyer revealed... The truth about Cinder's past. It was funny though since she was so shocked! Like ''Holy crap really?!'' But I think all the readers were glaring at the page like, ''Really girl, we all saw this coming.''

        All in all, I thought this was really great! This book has been sitting in my 'To be read' pile for too long, I should have gotten around to it sooner. I'm just worried for the next book! Each book is supposed to be kind of a new story etc Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Snow White. And so new main characters come in? But I also saw Cinder does come back in the second book.I think that this whole introducing new major characters thing for every book could make the story overdone or confusing. Plus I developed an attachment to Cinder so I won't be happy if I see her only making cameo appearances. Argh! I'm not getting the second and third book for a few days and book 4! Isn't coming out until November! I feel like i'm being tortured! :( 
But as always, Thanks For Reading!
                                                             -R