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. (Goodreads)
Okay, so I read this a few weeks ago and I just never got around to actually reviewing it! I am fairly behind in my reviewing which I plan to change now! Starting with this book. This was one of those books that I didn’t really go into with open arms because I was pretty sure that I wouldn’t like it. When I eventually got out of it on the other side, I was converted.
This book took me a while to actually get into and I found myself actually putting it down to go and do something else. I think I got into the book about half way through and then I was itching to get back to it. I was worried, going into this book, that the essence of what Cinderella is (being my favourite Disney of my childhood) would be ruined – plus the hype monster! However, the important points to Cinderella and what made the story that it was remained, even if there was a major twist going on.
I think what took me so long to get into this book was the onslaught of information. We are suddenly being thrown into this world that is significantly smaller than ours, with android and cyborgs and who knows what else running around. Then there is the Letumosis, a deadly disease, and the idea that there are things (namely Lunars) living on the moon. Yeah, headache! When I actually got used to all of the crazy things going on, I felt like I could finally understand what was happening and enjoy the book itself.
The easy banter between Kai and Cinder was probably my favourite part of the book. They drew out the easy smiles and laughs from me and I genuinely believed that they had a good relationship going on. Of course there were moments where I wanted to shake one and slap the other, but in which book does that not happen??
What I am not sure I understand, even after having read all three instalments, is why the Lunars have that weird glamour thing going on? Was it a result of some form of genetic mutation, was it science? Why doesn’t it work on cameras, mirrors and the like? I understand the concept of not being able to trick them, but surely with that amount of technology they would have found a way by now to trick them??
I mostly enjoyed this book, despite the fact that it took me ages to actually get into. I went and read Scarlet straight afterward! I gave this book 3/5 stars.
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