New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2012
Young Adult
In futuristic Asia, the situation is bleak. A dreadful
plague without a cure ravages the population, and the evil and powerful Lunar
queen threatens the freedom of the countries on earth. Meanwhile, the royal
prince is preparing for the annual ball and desperately hoping to uncover the true
heir to the Lunar throne. This is one of those books that isn’t actually very
good, yet somehow contains an intangible spark that makes a reader care about
the protagonist. The story’s weaknesses
are all upfront: It is a young adult fantasy romance (not a promising genre). There
are logical gaps that require suspension of disbelief. Its futuristic
setting shows very little worldbuilding. In fact, even though a royal prince
and international intrigue are involved, they are portrayed as they might be
imagined by a historically ignorant ninth-grader.
Yet something about the heroine—a orphaned, teenage
cyborg who supports her unkind stepmother and her stepsisters by working as a
mechanic in New Beijing—kept me turning pages. She is interesting. She makes me want to see her survive and succeed.
As a retelling of Cinderella, the tale is creative and imaginative. I enjoyed seeing how the source material was used and reinvented. After all, how often do you see Cinderella-as-cyborg? Cinder does end up going to the ball, of course, but her story is only begun in this novel. If I want to find out whether or not she marries the prince (and, more important to this retelling, whether the evil Lunar queen is defeated) I will have to read the other three books in the series.
As a retelling of Cinderella, the tale is creative and imaginative. I enjoyed seeing how the source material was used and reinvented. After all, how often do you see Cinderella-as-cyborg? Cinder does end up going to the ball, of course, but her story is only begun in this novel. If I want to find out whether or not she marries the prince (and, more important to this retelling, whether the evil Lunar queen is defeated) I will have to read the other three books in the series.
ITYM "Marissa Meyer"
ReplyDeleteAlso, while I'm probably not going to get this, cyborg Cinderella is a great idea.
Thanks!
DeleteYes, it is.
I really enjoyed Cinder too. I've read the second, Scarlett, but not the third, Cress. The second isn't really about Cinder, but develops some new characters. I have a penchant for re-told fairy tales and Cinder is very well done.
ReplyDeleteWait a minute! There are prequels and other books written in the Lunar Chronicles series? What? https://www.goodreads.com/series/62018-lunar-chronicles
Yes, fairytales retold can be lovely, and I think Meyer (I'm spelling it right this time!) is smart to change the setting completely instead of writing a quasi-medieval story. When I was reading Cinder, I ended up telling my husband (SPOILER ahead) "The prince had better end up holding Cinder's cyborg foot during the ball, or I'm going to be mad."
Delete