review: cinder by marissa meyer

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When I started Cinder by Marissa Meyer, I expected it to be much more reminiscent of Cinderella than it actually was. I struggled for the first few chapters as I felt that cyborg Cinder didn’t live up to my expectations. After all, she’s figured out how to subvert her stepmother, has a good robot friend, and gets along quite well with one of her stepsisters. It seems like a fairly decent life, especially since Cinder meets Prince Kai immediately through a job she truly enjoys. I was further put off by the prevalence of new terms like netscreen and magbelt, which is one of my pet peeves regarding futuristic novels. Cinder seemed a little ho hum. But then the plague (which has already infected much of New Beijing) takes someone close to Cinder. It is the catalyst that hooked me as I figured out where the story was going. Often when I figure out exactly what’s going to happen so early on, I’m a little disappointed; this time it actually led to my enjoyment of the book. Meyer’s debut is not without flaws (there are far too many scenes where someone simply told Cinder everything she needed to know), but it is a fun read.
4/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Feiwel and Friends.