Book Review – Cinder by Marissa Meyer

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Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Published: January 3rd 2012
Rating: ★★★★/5

I read Cinder a few weeks ago, and I made a note to write up a proper review for it when I had time… So, here I am.

Marissa Meyer has created a beautiful anthology series called the Lunar Chronicles, with each book being a retelling of a classic fairy tale.The first book in the series is based on Cinderella, and follows the main character Cinder.

I went into this with really high expectations (holy crap so much hype for this series) and although I really enjoyed it, I didn’t fall completely in love with it. I absolutely loved the retelling aspect of the book, and I thoroughly enjoyed the spin that Meyer put on the classic tale… but there were a few things that fell short for me.

For starters, there were a lot of gaps in the world building *sad face*. It’s like I was expected to know what ‘New Beijing’ looked like, what their culture was like, why it was called ‘New Beijing’ etc.

The characters also felt really one-dimensional and flat to me.
Now, I know it’s a retelling of the classic Cinderella story so there’s Cinderella, the evil stepmother, the stepsisters and the prince… But I was hoping that Meyer would give more depth to the characters in the world she had created. I really wanted to see stronger relationships between them as well – I loved the relationship between Cinder and Peony, but there wasn’t enough!

Aside from those two little negative parts, the book was beautiful. And like I said earlier I did really enjoy it!

The story flowed so well, and once I got over the lack of world building info, I did really sink into the story. One thing I did LOVE about this book was how Meyer twisted the traditional Cinderella character into a strong heroin.
STRONG BAD ASS FEMALE LEAD: CHECK CHECK CHECK.

Cinder’s character growth throughout the story was my favourite thing, and I feel like Meyer did a really good job at making it a believable transformation. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the magical makeover from the original fairy tale didn’t make it into this story – A maid doesn’t need a magical makeover to be beautiful!

All in all this was a beautiful read and I can see why it gets the hype that it does. I will definitely be continuing this series, so hopefully the world builds from this first installment!

 

 

Have you read Cinder? Tell me what you thought of it! Or if you haven’t yet, are you planning on giving into the hype and picking it up?

Published by sammyreadsbooks

35 thoughts on “Book Review – Cinder by Marissa Meyer”

  2. I agree with you about some of the characters and world building in Cinder. I will sau, though, Scarlet and Winter were much better to me. Cress was a slow read in my opinion, it just lacked the action and intensity that Scarlet and Winter had. Overall, I really liked the series. I hope you will too!

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    1. I finished Scarlet recently, and I definitely agree with you. Scarlet was a great sequel to Cinder and it really picked up in all the areas I thought fell flat in the first book.
      I’ve ordered Cress for myself so I will have to wait and see how I feel about that one.

      Have you read Fairest and Stars Above as well?

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      1. I have. I loved all but one of the novellas in Stars Above, just because I was confused why one was even there. And Fairest, I felt was s little unnecessary. It’s Levana’s story, but I didn’t feel like it gave anything extra to the story she already had. But so many people love it, so it may just be me.

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      3. I honestly did not know what they were til I was done with the series lol. That’s when i read them.

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  4. I didn’t love Cinder, and while I didn’t hate it, I definitely felt let down after all the hype. I couldn’t even get through Scarlett though, so that’s about as far as I went trying to love The Lunar Chronicles. :/

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    1. Ahh 😦 I’m really sorry to hear that.
      I just finished reading Scarlet and I actually really loving it, so I was glad to see that Meyer redeemed herself (in my eyes anyway).

      Have you read anything lately that’s lived up to the hype?

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      1. Recently, I read The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows, and I thought that it lived up to the hype for sure! I read the entire duology in like 26 hours. It was great! The Mirror King especially. If you like fantasy, I’d recommend them. Maybe I’ll give Scarlett another try. I WANT to like the Lunar Chronicles, but I just could not finish that book last year. Sometimes it really is about when you read though…

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    1. I can totally see why her personality would bug you, but in comparison to some of the female characters I have been reading lately – Cinder was refreshing hahaha!

      Are you planning on reading Scarlet soon?
      I finished it recently and I loved it a lot more than I did Cinder, and it’s made me want to keep reading the series.

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      1. I agree that Cinder was a bit refreshing. But then I can’t help it. Hahaha. Good thing Prince Kai was there to help me finish the book.

        I am planning to read the book as soon as I have the copy of it. The cover is what makes me want to buy it … Ohh! I can’t wait to read your review about Scarlet. 🙂

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  8. I felt the same way about Cinder. I didn’t really get as obsessed with The Lunar Chronicles as I was expecting to, but then I read Scarlet and absolutely fell in love! That one is by far my favorite, but I love my little baby Cress! Haven’t picked up Winter yet (I’ve been crazy busy and super into reading Six of Crows!), but I can’t wait to see how these characters develop in Winter! I love the entire cast and I just really want to see them all happy!

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