Cinder by Marissa Meyer book review

Set in dystopian New Beijing, China it is a new age Cinderella story revolving around a cyborg by the name of Cinder. Right off the bat you see the similarities between the classic fairy tale and this story--the dead father figure that leaves the orphan girl with her mean stepmother, the two stepsisters (only this time there's only one "evil" one), and the handsome prince that comes along and changes everything. However, we're not dealing with a victim in this retold version. Cinder isn't your average heroine, but she isn't your average forlorn girl that's just waiting for something good to happen either.

I give this book a solid 3.9 star rating. It was a definite page turner from beginning to end. It has heart, it has beauty, and it also has grit along with a little bit of grime.

The coolest thing I liked about this book is that it mentions the sort of old school science fiction terms and isn't just introducing a lot of new ones to readers. I also liked the fact that this story isn't on N. American soil, but Meyer took us somewhere abroad and let culture and dystopia collide in a very interesting fashion.

I felt for this character right away mainly because of the unfairness of her situation, of her physical deformities and the way she'd resigned herself to being a leper of society. I think most girls can relate to this character and not in a pitying way, but in a self reflective way.

Don't let the sci-fi stuff deter you from this wonderfully engaging tale. The romance isn't contrived and you feel Cinder's pain as if you're going through it yourself. I thought this was a wonderful book and I'm looking forward to the next installment in 2013, Scarlet.