Title: Cinder
Series: The Lunar Chronicles
Pages: 400
Genre: Fantasy, Fairy Tale
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Date published: January 3, 2012
Format: Whispersync
Source: Amazon
Synopsis:
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.
Review
A few others on the blog had read and enjoyed it, so I had expectations. The cover looks awesome and I had been gifted a copy from a friend, so I used the whispersync deal and bought the audio.
It starts slowly, but I understand why. This is a whole new world and it needs to be explained. Still, there were more than a couple of times that I had to reread parts because I'd zoned out and missed something that may have been important.
As I continued, the pace picked up. I'm pretty sure some expletives were shouted as I read certain bits. Also, and this is why I love whispersync, I would totally "sneak read". One example was when I was listening to it on the drive to my son's school, but I had gotten there early so I was in his class.... and I was looking at my phone whenever I didn't think his teacher was paying attention to me. It was at a dramatic part and I couldn't just STOP reading!
I am generally a fan of fairy tail retellings, and this wasn't an exception. Although, honestly, if I wasn't aware this was a retelling I'm not sure I'd have noticed. It is so vastly different from the original, but in a good way. The cyborg and lunar aspect was awesome.
This was not at all what I expected when I had heard about it, but it is definitely worth reading. I will be continuing on to book 2.