[Review]: Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer

Summary:
Cinder: a gifted mechanic in New Beijing, is also a cyborg. She's reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's sudden illness. But when her life becomes entwined with the handsome Prince Kai's she find herself at the centre of a violent struggle between the desires of an evil queen - and a dangerous temptation.

Cinder is caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal. Now she must uncover secrets about her mysterious past in order to protect Earth's future.

Status: Book Won

What it's about?
A re-telling of the Cinderella tale with a very modern twist. :) Years later after surviving a terrible car accident, Cinder, living as Adri's ward is a mechanic and a cyborg who is treated as a second-class individual (or more like throw-away if Adri could help it), perseveres and dreams of heading to Europe, leaving New Beijing permanently. However, when Peony (the younger step-sister) contracts Letumosis and dies from the unforgiving clutches of the disease that continues to ravage the planet, Cinder, unwittingly places herself in the spotlight  under the baleful eyes of Lunar Queen Levana when she attends the ball  to warn Emperor Kai. To prevent a war due to a breach of harboring Lunar fugitives, Cinder is imprisoned after she inadvertently reveals her Lunar heritage.

What made me go for it?
The story of  the young girl who has the affinity to fix things from busted portscreen to replacing the magbelt of a hovercraft. She's quite reliant and if it wasn't for the laws of the land, she might have been living on her own after the death of her adoptive father. Of course, following the blog tour helped a lot in liking Cinder's World.  The Cinder Blog tour if you want to visit or re-visit it. :D

What are my thoughts after reading it?
Even with the telltale signs of re-imagining a well-loved fairy tale, I think a lot of work is still cut out for any author to tell the best story possible. In the back of my mind, I had this little fear that I will only end up looking for any of similarities of the fairy tale, there are some but it wasn't too glaring that one would be derailed by it. There were a lot surprises along the way that would make you turn the pages quickly. A couple of surprises for me were Dr. Erland and Iko. Why? Well you have to pick up a copy of the book.  I enjoyed the whole ride and I'm re-reading the book for the second round.

Author Meyer made me care for the characters: Cinder, Peony, Kai, Dr. Erland, Adri (while she was likely to make me grit my teeth every so often), Iko and I even wondered about Queen Levana ,aside from being power hungry, I was curious what made her turned that way. It was quite scary though for the things she did to her sister and her niece.  

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a fairy tale re-imagining with a nice dash of sci-fi appreciation. Looking forward to Scarlet!

4 Stars