i've seen this at the store for quite some time, but reading the back and looking at the cover i dismissed it. sounded to childish. boy, was i completely wrong i finally got it for christmas this year. yiikes why did i wait so long??? cinder is hell of a ride to a new world...or earthen as they call it. as you already know it is a futuristic twist on cinderella, but its a new series within itself. you've got a so called "alien" race with an evil queen trying to take over earth, cinderella and her prince, a deathly disease pandemic, people in fear and repressed, the search for the true princess, non-humane powers, cruelty of stepmother and stepsister and the best the main character is self dependent mechanic. i smell katniss... awesome! love it moves fast and meyers gets right to the point no fillers and funny too. you are going to love iko. my fave character. cinder is like katniss, fairy tales, x-men and mad max (the not so violent mad max) rolled into one. i cannot wait for scarlett. i quickly ran out to get the 2nd book half way through this one. finally!!!! i have found a series i cannot wait to read. i am in to cinder and her world. only downfall we have to wait the next 2 years for rest of the series :(

There is really nothing I can say that can express my love of Cinder. So many feels, not enough words. I recommend this book to everyone! It’s a book that transcends all genres. It’s got romance, science fiction, dystopian, fantasy, and the fairy-tale storyline (which it isn’t defined by; Marissa Meyer takes a lot of great liberties with the original fairytale and just blows me away with her interpretation). You are deluding yourself if you think you won’t enjoy this one. Cinder is extremely likeable. Her attitude towards the world is snarky, humourous, and thoughtful as she navigates judgements from her peers for being a cyborg, while questioning her past and her place in Kai’s life. She’s entirely believable, and sometimes I just want to shout at her through the pages to stop being so silly and admit she loves Kai! Grrr!! Her indecisiveness is totally reasonable, but as a reader you get so frustrated because all this bad stuff is happening to her and you just want the one good thing to actually, you know, work itself out? I love love love Cinder’s android-friend Iko. She’s definitely the comic relief, but she is adorable and hilarious. I want one. She’s pretty much the voice of the reader as she voices her thoughts when it comes to what Cinder is dealing with. I love her quirky personality. Prince Kai…he’s such an adolescent boy. He’s good natured, nice, if a little pushy around Cinder sometimes, but then again, all characters need their faults to be realistic. I love his POV, especially when dealing with Queen Levana (shudder), the Lunar ruler who sets everyone’s teeth on edge. At first when the book talked about the moon colonies I was like…ok, not sure if this is going to work. Is this just in the plot to make it more sci-fi? But then I started to see the connections…Queen Levana’s stepdaughter Winter (Snow White anyone?) is mentioned, and Levana is obsessed with her beauty, which she creates with her Glamour, a Lunar ability that allows the Lunar person to control the bioelectricity in other people to manipulate their thoughts. Over the course of the book there are more hints…Wing Commander Michelle Benoit is mentioned, who is Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother in the next book. Winter is mentioned as well, and Cress (third book) makes an appearance near the end of the book (I won’t give anything else away). I’m just so incredibly excited to see how Marissa Meyer ties everything together when she finishes up the series. The ending will probably kill you, just saying. I’m still trying to get over it, even after rereading it. Prepare to be frustrated, amazed, confused, just everything. Just read it. It’s a stunning debut from Marissa Meyer.

I'm not sure why I put off reading this book for so long. Maybe because Cinderella isn't my favorite fairy tale. But I'm glad I succumbed to all of the hype and picked it up because I tore right through it. Cinder takes place in a distant, dystopian future, where the world has had to reinvent itself after World War 4. There are cyborgs and a very powerful civilization living on the moon, wanting to take over the earth. There is a terrible disease running rampant, threatening the future of humanity. The twists on the Cinderella story are great. Meyer is able to keep up the suspense, even though everyone knows how the story goes. She has a great ability to freshen up an old story and to take it to new places. Sometimes it did get frustrating how confused and down on herself Cinder was, but that was also true to her character and how she was brought up. However, she has great relationships with the other characters (even the people she hates provide good contrast). I especially love her little robot. I enjoyed Prince Kai and how conflicted he is - not a straight forward romance. In fact, there are lots of great twists and turns in this book, some expected and some not. Overall, I loved Meyer's retelling of this tale and can't wait to get my hands on Scarlet, especially because it is based on another fairy tale (as are the rest of the books in this series).

Futuristic fairytale? YES PLEASE! I have never read a re-telling of a fairytale so Cinder immediately attracted my attention. Along, with the beautiful cover! Can you see those mechanical bones? I'm a sucker for unique covers. The first chapter drew me in and I couldn't wait to see how the story would turn out. With Cinder being not entirely human I was a little hesitant because I wasn't sure how I would connect with her. I didn't need to worry, Cinder was a fabulous protagonist. I loved the setting of the book which was in New Beijing. It was futuristic but also very royal like the actual fairytale is. Learning about the plague was really interesting, but what I really liked where all the talk about cyborgs and the royal affairs. I knew nothing about Cyborgs and without going all technical I got a good enough explanation what they were, and why they were made. I loved reading about the royal affairs and the earth's risky relationship with Luna. Cinder isn't all about androids and cyborgs it has magic too! The Queen of Luna was scary and I think she really makes the story more intense with all her evil motives. The character Cinder was great and not what we usually expect are Cinderella to be like. She was a mechanic and the novel starts off with Prince Kai approaching her to fix an android of his. Prince Kai3 He was an awesome and down to earth Prince and I loved the moments with him and Cinder. No passionate romance but it was cute and adorable. Prince Kai wasn't exactly available because the power hungry Queen had her eyes set on him. Each character in Cinder was very different from the other. Cinder's friend android lko was one of my favorites! She was cute, swooning over Prince Kai and watching out for Cinder. Cinder doesn't have a fairy god mother but there's this doctor who's pretty close to it. Dr. Erland was comical and I can't wait to read more of him in the next book. The ending was predictable but was intense nonetheless. The end is a cliffhanger and I need the next one! Don't worry the evil stepmother and sister exist as well! Cinder is not just a pretty cover but had an intense plot line with a swoon worthy prince, mechanical Cinderella and an action packed ending which leaves you wanting more. A huge thanks to Crystal from Raincoast books for a review copy! 5 STARS

Cinder is a twist on the tale of Cinderella, with Cinder being a cyborg who's stepmother treats her like an employee instead of family. Her only friends are her youngest stepsister and Iko, the house robot. Cinder's a gifted mechanic and runs a repair booth, where she ends up meeting Prince Kai. There's also a disease running through the city and when her youngest sister is infected, Cinder's stepmother blames Cinder and gives her away to be tested on. I really wanted to like this book. A cyborg twist on Cinderella? Sounds cool. And I can understand why a lot of people like this book. It had a lot of potential to become one of my favourites. But somewhere in the book, it lost me. I wanted more out of everything, the plot, the characters, the worlds created, but it always felt like the book was barely scraping the surface of the depth it could have. The twists in the plot were predictable from almost the beginning of the book so by the time I got to the end, it was more of a 'yeah, I was right' feeling than a 'wow that just happened' feeling. The book does have some good points, enough to make me want to read the next in the series. Cinder's strength and love for her sister and Iko is touching and her slow development of friendship and mutual attraction to Prince Kai is sweet and doesn't take over the book like some pairings do. And there was one scene between Cinder and her sister that had me tearing up. I will check out the next in the series and hope that the world-building and details are stronger.

I loved this modern retelling of Cinderella! It has been nominated for the ALA Teens' Top Ten Award for 2012. I love fairy tales, and I have to admit that I was initially skeptical when I heard about a Cyborg Cinderella. I thought that the story would be too high-tech for me or just too weird. I was wrong! I loved it!! The story takes place in the future after World War IV. Linh Cinder was originally from Europe, and she was involved in a horrific car accident at the age of 11 years which tragically killed her parents. Seriously injured, she had to undergo numerous operations and procedures and some cyborg parts were needed to replaced her human parts that were no longer working. She is approximately 35% cyborg. From outward appearances, she appears human because skin has been grafted onto some of her visible parts. Cinder has no recollection of her life before the accident, and she was told that the part of her brain that is responsible for memory suffered some injuries. Cinder is brought to New Beijing by Linh Garan, who is a scientist who had been working on a cyborg prototype. Unfortunately, he dies and Cinder is left in the care of her step-mother, Linh Adri, who never wanted her in the first place! Her elder step-sister, Linh Pearl, is equally mean to her. The only one who is nice to her is her younger step-sister, Linh Peony. Cinder spends her days slaving away in her booth in the market square, where she works as a mechanic fixing anything that is electrical in nature. One day, she is visited by the Emperor's son, Prince Kai, who brings a cyborg to her to be fixed. I loved the banter between Cinder and Kai, who becomes smitten with Cinder! He asks her to be his date for the upcoming ball, but she declines his invitation because she is planning to run away from New Beijing. A plague called letumosis has been affecting the world's population for the past 12 years, and the Emperor has become afflicted with the disease. In an attempt to find a cure before the Emperor dies, the scientists call for cyborgs to become test subjects for plague research. So far, none of the cyborgs have survived the disease either. Cinder's step-sister, Linh Peony, contracts letumosis and Linh Adri "volunteers" Cinder to be used as plague research, which results in a hefty sum paid to Linh Adri in recognition of Cinder's contribution to medical research. The secrets about Cinder that the scientists uncover will change everyone's life. To round out the story, Meyer has included a civilization that inhabits the moon called "lunars." The queen of the lunars, Queen Levana, has tried to make inroads with the Emperor for years and wants to marry Prince Kai so that she can become Empress. Lunars have the ability of mind control and can alter people's perceptions of them. She is wicked and wants to rule Planet Earth. I can't believe that this is Meyer's debut novel! It was fantastic!! The flirtation between Prince Kai and Cinder was sweet but had great chemistry. I love that Cinder is a little bit sarcastic and that she doesn't fall all over herself just because Kai is royalty. Linh Adri is delightfully wicked as Cinder's step-mother, and Queen Levana shows promise as an evil antagonist. I loved the sci-fi futuristic element to the story, and I adored Dr. Dmitri Erland, the scientist heading up the plague research. I can hardly wait for the next in the series, Scarlet, which is slated to be released in February 2013. It sounds like Little Red Riding Hood is going to be intertwined with the Cinderella story, and I can't wait to see how Meyer accomplishes that! Narrator Rebecca Soler is new to me, and I enjoyed the attitude that she brought to Cinder. I felt that she brought the right amount of emotion to the characters. Her Dr. Erland voice is my favourite! MY RATING: 5 stars!! It was superb! I loved it, and I will likely re-read it again in the future! You should definitely read it!

The Good Stuff Unusual and fun take on the Cinderella story well crafted and creative world, reminded me at times of the landscape of Blade Runner good uses of humourous dialogue liked the love story wasn't overly angsty broke my heart at times (can't go further than that or would be too spoilerish) Love the relationship between Kai and Dr. Erland Strong willed feisty heroine who isn't afraid to do what is right Enjoyed the android sidekick - she got some of the biggest laughs The Not So Good Stuff A tad predictable at times drags a wee bit about a quarter way through Favorite Quotes/Passages "Iko rolled to her side, clasping her metal grippers over her chest. "Prince Kai! Check my fan, I think I'm overheating." "I'm sure I'll feel much more grateful when i find a guy who thinks complex wiring in a girl is a turn-on." "And yet, the memory of his fingers against her skin refused to fade." Who Should/Shouldn't Read Would say it would appeal more to younger YA readers For fans of YA fantasy (would describe it as bladerunner/cinderella hybrid for the ya set) 4 Dewey's I purchased this at Indigo

The first thing I should say is that this is not exactly a modern sci-fi retelling of Cinderella. Most retellings of any classic tale I read, the book follows the original plot exactly and only changes the characters to make it modern. CINDER is not like that. I kept reading it, expecting it to follow the exact story line of Cinderella, but it didn't! The story of Cinderella was actually quite minor in the actual plot compared to what the story is actually about. The setting of the story strikes me as intriguing. Most stories I read take place in the United States, England and sometimes Australia. I have never read a book that takes place in China that is not a historical piece of fiction, nor does the setting have direct influence towards the plot. This was quite different, and it's a good thing! At times, it was predictable. And by that, I don't mean it was obvious that the protagonist, Cinder, would end up going to the Royal Ball, or other things that happen in Cinderella that we all know about. By predictable, I mean some of the mystery behind certain people were easy to figure out. I was squealing, "I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT!" by the end of the book from something I figured out near the beginning. Like I wrote in the title, CINDER is a fast paced and addictive novel. I finished it in one day and stayed up till 1:30 in the morning doing so. Great use of romantic tension; it really builds suspense and makes it more addictive. If you are a fan of this type of romantic tension, I suggest HUSH HUSH by Becca Fitzpatrick. In my opinion, they both contain similar levels of romantic tension that causes the reader to keep flipping the pages. I can't wait for the next book in this series! EDIT: I am now quite upset. I just looked up the release date to the next book of the series, SCARLET and I found some very upsetting news: the sequel doesn't really even follow Cinder! It's basically a brand new story that is a remake of Little Red Riding Hood, but does occasionally go back to Cinder's story and her journey. I am not kidding you, I just threw my arms up in the air and exclaimed, "THE HECK?!". The retelling of Cinderella didn't even finish yet!! The tale of Cinderella in CINDER finished at the climax of the fairy tale!! I can't believe the second book follows a new character, in a new setting, with a new fairy tale. Now I understand why Meyer got signed to four books in the series...despite that CINDER is her first book. The I AM NUMBER FOUR series does the same thing, and I wasn't such a big fan of the second book compared to the first. Great. Now I'm not so excited for the second book to the series like I was before I found out the news. Sighs. I'll still buy it when it comes out February 2013.

OMG!!! If you haven't picked up Cinder yet, then GO GET IT A.S.A.P!!! The plot was great and I connected to the characters really well. I know people say don't judge a book by it's cover, but for this book, I did and it was great!!!!!!

I really did enjoy reading this novel. Although my usual reads are not normally sci-fi this book has made me more open to reading books of the genre. Although parts that were not originally part of the classic tale were very easy to predict I found.