Cinder
The Lunar Chronicles, Book 1
Marissa Meyer
Square Fish
Fiction, YA Sci-Fi
Themes: Cyborgs, Diversity, Girl Power, Mind Powers, Plagues, Twists
****
Description
Over a hundred years after World War IV, the world seems to have finally learned not to let greed and hatred escalate to violence. That does
not, however, mean that prejudice or hatred are extinct. Cinder knows this all too well. As a cyborg, she's considered subhuman, despite her
unsurpassed skills as a mechanic and the enhancements her brain interface and other additives give her. Only the Lunars - humans changed by
generations living on the moon, gifted with mind-altering abilities akin to magic - are more hated and distrusted. The fact that Cinder never
asked to become a cyborg after a terrible accident she cannot recall doesn't change how her stepmother and others feel about her kind, despite
that fact that her superior mechanical talents are the only thing keeping a roof over the family's heads.
When Crown Prince Kai himself - object of countless crushes throughout New Beijing - walks into her shop with a malfunctioning android, she hopes
her luck will finally improve... but things only get worse, as her sister Peony falls ill with the plague that's sweeping like wildfire through
cities around the world. Suddenly, Cinder finds herself drawn into the heart of palace intrigue, where doctors race to find a cure and Kai
struggles with the diplomatic demands of the Lunarian queen, demands that might save the Eastern Commonwealth or doom it to the mind
control-induced slavery of the Lunar regime. Can one cyborg girl change the course of history?
Review
Though technically sci-fi, this Cinderella-inspired tale almost feels more like a fantasy; the inhabitants of New Beijing even refer to the Lunars' abilities as "magic," despite there being a technobabble explanation. It presents a future with hope and despair, weighted somewhat toward the latter from Cinder's perspective, as she finds herself targeted by humanity's seemingly innate need to find someone or something to hate. Indeed, the disdain heaped upon cyborgs is so great that one wonders why anyone bothers with the procedure at all - yes, it saves lives, but only for a future as something more contemptible and disposable than an android. Cinder struggles to keep from giving in to despair as things go from bad to worse. The fact that Crown Prince Kai takes a shine to her from their first meeting, without realizing she's a hated cyborg, only makes things more complicated. That relationship felt a little convenient and somewhat one-sided, with Kai doggedly pursuing the girl who is, at the very least, several rungs below his station in a society still class-conscious enough to revere its royalty. Some of the plot twists and revelations are telegraphed fairly early on, particularly those concerning Cinder's origins, and some of Cinder's outbursts start to feel less like a justified burst of rage at the unfairness of her lot in life and more like a teenager slamming the door while complaining how they never asked to be born, but overall the story maintains a decent momentum. It ended on an odd note, though, almost as though it was intended to go on longer but was cropped for the purposes of generating sequels. That misstep almsot cost it a half-star, but overall I enjoyed Meyer's world and the story and (for the most part) Cinder to overlook that.