You’ve probably heard of the Cinderella fairy tale before.

But you probably haven’t heard of the story becoming a sci-fi dystopian romance series, have you?

Marissa Meyer’s series The Lunar Chronicles is amazing. Today, we’ll just be reviewing the first book, called Cinder.

Book Blurb

In this novel, Linh Cinder is a talented mechanic and cyborg, living many years after the Fourth World War in New Beijing.

There are laws that demolish cyborg rights to nothing, and her stepmother treats her like trash, calling her junk. Her only friend is an android named Iko, who Cinder built out of spare parts.

A plague by the name of letumosis is raging through the world, killing countless people.

Cinder’s life is routine and repetitive, until Prince Kaito shows up at her mechanic stand with a repair request for a damaged android. Romance, death, adventure, and more await…

This book does contain dark themes, and the series as a whole touches on gore, death, etc. Just a friendly disclaimer!

This book absolutely hooked me right into the rest of the series: which I love to death. But let’s hop into the actual review to see if this book is right for you!

Let’s start with the pros.

Marissa Meyer does an AMAZING job of executing the plot twists, and I just love the dialogue between characters. It flows so naturally.

This story pulls you in with an engaging hook, setting up the absolute masterpieces that are the rest of the series.

The world is so immersive – the book doesn’t throw a ton of exposition at you for you to understand certain parts of the culture, world, etc.

The morality of mind control and influencing others emotions, what makes someone human, and more is tackled in this book and the rest of the series. It’s beautiful to read.

I could not recommend this book more. The series is close to my heart, and Cinder is a stellar hook to pull you in.

You might be wondering – where are the cons?

Books are subjective. Since I love this novel a TON, it was hard for me to find things I didn’t like.

It is pretty lengthy, standing at 387 pages. Cinder is also more tame compared to the rest of the series – and if you read this you’ll want to read the rest, so be wary!

If you’re looking for a dark, yet thrilling sci-fi adventure with a creative world, sparks of romance, and a wealth of references to fairy tales? This one’s for you.

(not sure if there’s anybody specifically looking for that last part, but regardless :p )

Cinder by Marissa Meyer is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.