Today I am reviewing
Cinder
This was in the category: A Book With Royalty In It - Real or Imaginary
This is a story of a place called New Bejiing. There are humans and androids that live together in this world. A plague has ravaged the human population that has not been controlled or cured. There are a people that live on the moon and they are called Lunars. They are ruled by a ruthless queen who wants to take earth for her own. She tries to persuade the prince to marry her to make peace. But the prince knows better.
Meanwhile, the main character - Cinder - is a half human/half cyborg girl who lives with her stepmother and two step sisters (do you see where this is going). Her adoptive father has died and left her in the care of her stepmother, who makes her work to earn her keep. Cinder is a mechanic in the towns - fixing hover crafts and androids to feed her family. One day the prince comes into the town market becuase he needs to fix his android. He is taken by Cinder and her beauty and kindness, but Cinder knows they could never be together. He can never know her secret that she isn't fully human and has no memory of her childhood.
Cinder befriends a doctor who is looking for a cure and offers to help him when her beloved step sister becomes ill with the plague. The doctor finds that Cinder is immune to the plague, and needs her blood and DNA to try and figure out how to save the people and stop the disease. In the process of analyzing Cinder's DNA, the doctor discovers and amazing secret that will change Cinder's life forever.
I really liked this book. It is definitely a YA novel, and an easy read, but it is well written. What I DIDN'T like is that it is a cliff hanger. I didn't realize that this was a trilogy and that the story would not wrap up in the end. Very frustrating because I don't have time right now to read a trilogy. I am going to have to put it on my list, though, because I won't be able to stand it.
As you may have picked up - this is basically the story of Cinderella. Not the first one I have read that has taken that original story and spun it into a different book. What I liked about this though, is that it was original enough that for a while you could forget that you were reading basically the Cinderella story. There is no happily ever after at the end of this book. There is war, and plague, and defeat. Cinder is a mechanic, and a good one. Her best friend is an android. She is skeptical of everyone around her and doesn't see kindness in everyone she meets.
Check it out. I am hoping the rest of the series is as good as this one.
Stars: 4 1/2
Sounds good! Maybe I'll use this one as my post-apocalyptic book. Would my kids like it? I'm always looking for a new series to read out loud to them.
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