Friday, August 15, 2014

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

You are right. This is a modern, sci-fi twist on Cinderella. This one takes place in the future of Bejing, after WW IV, where computers are utilized to the max. In this story, she’s a cyborg, which means she’s human but with lots of robot parts, like her foot and her hand, for example. It also means she loses certain human rights and is owned by her stepmother. She was, at age 11, turned into a cyborg because of some kind of hover accident where she was burned and so her hand and foot were replaced with synthetic parts. Cinder is also a mechanic, a very good mechanic and not at all interested in girlie things. She has 2 stepsisters and lives with them and her stepmother.  Obviously the stepmother is mean to her and just uses her to work and make money and do things for her but doesn’t love her or care of her really at all. This is a story about Cinder’s need for her own identity and independence, much like the fairytale. There is, of course, a prince and  he falls for Cinder but she knows she’s inappropriate and there’s tension there. There is also a ball, but again, was different in a good way and there is an evil queen, which is a nice addition to the tale. This is a clever twist on an ancient tale and the ending...well I liked it. It was interesting and not predictable. Definitely made me want to read the sequel. I also thought, from the cover, that it was going to have inappropriate content, but it didn’t. I guess I shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover!

Ages 10-14

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