Welcome to the Speculative Chic Book Club! Each month, we invite you to join us in reading a book that is voted on by YOU, our readers. Following a short review, please feel free to discuss the book in the comments!
Cinder (2012)
Written by: Marissa Meyer
Genre: Science Fiction
Length: 10 hours and 2 minutes (audio)
Series: Book One of The Lunar Chronicles
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Why I nominated this for book club: It’s been on my radar for a while just as a book that friends thought I would enjoy, but there always seemed to be something else to read first. The fact that it was a NaNoWriMo project made it the perfect nominee for this month.
The premise:
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl….
Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.
Obvious spoiler warning for a book we should have all read.
Discussion: I did like this book, enough that I’ve already checked out the second (easy enough when they’re instantly available at your library via hoopla) and want to see where the rabbit hole goes. As a fairy tale rewrite, Meyer definitely used Cinderella as a jumping off point rather than a plot device. I mean, yes, her name is Cinder, she’s got two stepsisters, and she left her cyborg foot on the steps of the palace, but that’s really about it. It also had some Snow White elements and I’m curious to see if that gets its own book or not.
The world building was interesting — I liked the differences between Earthans and Lunars, how Meyer talks about each group evolving over time. I found myself wishing at some point in the story that it was actually told from a Lunar perspective, they’re definitely the more interesting group. How did this society evolve? What keeps the Lunar queen in power, other than her glamour? Is that honestly it? How do they survive on the moon without resources from Earth? (Is any of this information I glossed over because I was listening instead of reading?)
I liked that Cinder had a good relationship with one of the sisters, and that Peony made Pearl and Adri seem at least a little sympathetic and human. Like when Iko talked about hearing Adri crying in the bath, or the whole confrontation with Pearl later in the book.
I wish that the fact that Cinder is actually the lost Lunar princess (shades of Anastasia, anyone?) had been more of a surprise, instead of basically being telegraphed from the first chapter. Just knowing a Lunar princess exists, whether or not I know she’s dead, would have made me suspect that Cinder was this girl, but knowing that she’s believed to still be alive? That only parts of her were found? Yeah, okay. It’s obviously Cinder. I’m not sure if Meyer truly meant that to be a surprise or not, but if it was, it definitely didn’t land.
In conclusion: I like that it used the fairy tale as a jumping off point instead of a straight retelling, which I don’t think would have worked well here. I enjoyed the characters and the world building and am looking forward to where this story goes in future installments.
This was a very fun series that you’ll enjoy all of if you liked Cinder! I also really appreciate that she uses the fairy tales as more of prompts than rewrites.
Yeah I’m already on the fourth one, lol. I really do enjoy them a lot! It’s a fun twist on the fairy tales.
I agree that this was fun to read, though I am undecided about whether I will pick up the next books or not. (My TBR pile is ridiculous.) I heard lots of good things about it when it came out, so I’m glad to have been given the opportunity to read it.
Having finished all of them, can confirm that the rest of the series is worth it, though the fourth has some problematic elements that would spoil some things if I revealed. Still, good stories! And the short story collection was really good as well.
I’m so glad that this was the November book, and now I need the rest of them. Right now. The question becomes: binge, or Read Responsibly.
(I mean, we all know that I’m probably going to binge, but I have to at least pretend to consider the responsible option.)
I definitely binged, but it FEELS less irresponsible to binge when it’s an audio book. :p
I’m also listening to the book and enjoying it. I agree that the foreshadowing on Cinder being the missing princess and even the doctor being lunar was overly heavy.
Reading it now, in 2020, with a global pandemic and racial justice unrest going on in our world definitely adds some extra topical oomph to the story’s setting.
I’m currently 3/4ths of the way through and very annoyed with Cinder’s conviction to drive away in the car. It doesn’t seem to make a ton of sense. Would it not be easier for her to take whatever tracking device out of a modern vehicle? Won’t a gasoline car be super easy to track by virtue of it being a completely anachronistic anomaly? Will there even be streets to drive it on since modern vehicles hover? Where I’m at in the book, Audrey just confiscated her foot and she’s at her booth in the festival turning away customers because she’s running away later… But why not do quick jobs and get some money while she’s stuck? She’s so needlessly petulant.
Honestly, I’m not sure why she even went home after being voluntold. She could have just snuck in and taken Nancy and Aiko or told the doc she’d only work with him (which like… What did he need her for again at that point?) if he brought her things. They could’ve sent med-droids or whatever “to clean up her contaminated belongings”