Cinder by Marissa Meyer, Finished audio 5-17-12, rating 4/5, YA, pub. 2012

Book 1 of The Lunar Chronicles

Unabridged audio 10 hours. Read by Rebecca Soler

Cinder is 16, New Beijing’s best mechanic, and a cyborg.  After the 4th World War the Earth divided itself into peaceful provinces and the real threat is from the moon, where the Lunars are ruled by the evil Queen Levana.  For Cinder there is evil at home too as she is owned by her guardian, Adri, who resents her very presence.  Cinder has two “step-sisters” and is lucky to call one a friend.  Unfortunately, that one friend is stricken with the plague, an epidemic that no one in New Bejing survives.

I remember reading reviews for this when it came out in January and actually won a copy (forgive me for not remembering where) of the audio.  It sat on my shelf until I was caught without an audio book for the car (Gage is going to be a very well read little man :))  I knew it was a Cinderella retelling and that everyone seemed to like it, but didn’t remember much else and that’s probably a good thing.

For someone like me who doesn’t read a lot about cyborgs I needed to check the definition, which was embarrassingly simple.  A bionic human.  Okay.  So, then it made sense when Cinder found out she was 36% cyborg, limbs and all.  In New Beijing cyborgs are essentially slaves so Cinder is mistreated by her guardian.  Imagine Cinder’s luck then, when Prince Kai shows up at her mehanic booth at the weekly market and needs her help.  Sparks fly and Cinder is relieved when Kai doesn’t realize she was cyborg.

I was surprised that I enjoyed this so much.  I loved the audio, Rebecca Soler did a fabulous job.  As much as I liked it, the big reveal was fairly obvious from early on, but Soler’s performance and a few turns here and there made it a very fun story.  I will seek out the audio when the next book comes out.  Which leads me to my big complaint…

The non-ending ending.  I dislike when books do this, even series books.  I was probably more mad at myself that I had forgotten it was a series, but still!

This book was a fun, exciting and very modern retelling of the Cinderella story and I loved it, obviousness and all.  I’m looking forward to the next one (stupid cliffhanger).