Recent Reads #6 | Cinder

When I was a child, I was pretty much obsessed with fairy tales - I would always get my Mom to read some to me before bed, or forced my parents to watch pretty much every Disney movie with me.
Those fantastic worlds fascinated me, and they still do to this date, so when I heard that there was a book series that was basically a modern spin on the stories I loved in my childhood, I was more than excited.

What I'm referring to are the 'Lunar Chronicles', a series by Marissa Meyer.
I had never read a book of hers before picking up "Cinder", and boy am I annoyed at myself for not doing that earlier!

"Cinder" is set in the futuristic town of New Bejing, which was founded after World War IV. So much damage had been done during that war that the Earth was split into six big countries - the United Kingdom, the European Federation, the American Republic, the African Union, Australia and the Commonwealth, which New Bejing is part of.

The book follows the story of Cinder, an European teenage girl who was turned into a cyborg after barely surviving a horrible car crash that killed her parents at the age of eleven. Following her surgery, she was adopted by Linh Garan - who ended up dying soon afterwards, leaving Cinder with a stepmother who hates her. Sounds familiar? I told you, it's a futuristic Cinderella story.

But it's not just Cinder's stepmother who hates her - all over the Commonwealth, cyborgs are shunned and despised - so you can imagine that Cinder's job as a mechanic isn't exactly a walk in the park for her.
Well, up until one day, the Commonwealth's prince, Kai, shows up at her booth, practically begging her to fix an android of his that appears to hold some extremly important information.

And if Cinder's life couldn't get any more overwhelming, her younger stepsister Peony, the only human being that showed any sort of affection for Cinder, catches a lethal ilness called "letumosis" - one there isn't a cure for.
When Cinder's dreadful stepmother loses it and sends Cinder to a scientific organization looking for a cure for letumosis as a "volunteer", the scientists discover that there is something more special to Cinder than her just being a cyborg - she is immune to the disease that millions of people have fallen victim to.

What results from that is an even bigger downward spiral of chaos.
Cinder becomes so devoted to finding a cure to save her sister's life, and then there's Prince Kai who appears to be falling for the young mechanic - until the Queen of the moonfolk, the Lunars, comes to visit Earth to negotiate about peace between the two nations.
There appears to be only a small price the Earthern Union has to pay - she's asking for Kai's hand in marriage...

Looking back on that summary of the book, I can see how it might appear pretty confusing and all over the place at first - I did feel that way when I started reading the book, not gonna lie.
I feel like with fantasy books, I always need some time to make myself comfortable with the world, its rules and characters - but once you're fully settled in, you're in for a real treat with "Cinder".

There is so much the book has to offer.
For one, it has an amazing plot, one that keeps you hooked and has interesting and unforseen twists and turns that keep the book exciting. 

Besides that, I really love Marissa Meyer's writing style. It's easy to read without sounding like it was written for kids or teenagers entirely, and it contains a good portion of humor and sarcasm, which is basically me in a nutshell, so I thoroughly enjoyed that.

And then there's the characters, which to me either break or make a book. In this one, they're so complex and carefully structured, that sometimes you feel like you might actually see them in front of you or hear them talking. Especially Cinder and Kai often felt so damn real to me that I couldn't help but not only relate to them, but actually feel for them - I got so attached to this book's characters that I sometimes squealed or swore out loud while reading, no joke.

All in all, I can definitely recommend this book to everyone, even if you're not too into fantasy books or the like, because Cinder is so much more than that.
It's a gripping story told from the view of two rare, relatable main characters - and the best things is that this is only the beginning! There are three more books for me to explore - in fact, I have "Scarlet", the second installment in the series, already sitting on my shelf, patiently waiting for me.
Yes, I'm that excited about this series. That's when you know it's great.

If you want to check it out for yourself, "Cinder" is available on Amazon for 9,05€.

Have you read a really good book recently?

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