Another fairy tale pastiche, Cinder is the Cinderella story cast in the distant future. The quirky spin on this YA novel: Cinder is a cyborg.There is a selfish, avaricious stepmother, one good and one egotistical stepsister, an evil queen, and a handsome prince.
Of course, Cinder and the prince are immediately attracted to one another. This is a retelling of a fairy tale, after all. It is easy to understand on Cinder's part-- I mean, what teenage girl would not fall into fandom with a handsome prince who seems down t0 earth and unassuming. Not that Cinder doesn't try to deny her insta-liking; of course, she does. She is fully aware that if poor and socially unsuitable isn't enough to put off any male (much less the PRINCE), the cyborg factor would be a game changer.
The cyborg device makes for an interesting twist to the familiar tale, an ill-fitting prosthetic leg instead of a glass slipper. However, several things bothered me, and some areas felt either repetitious or unnecessary. The plague aspect didn't work for me; it felt unreal and glossed over, used as a convenient plot device, but never generating the fear and panic such a deadly plague would create.
A lot of potential, but everything felt very surface, which is, indeed, a characteristic of fairy tales.
Cinder is the first novel in The Lunar Chronicles. Young readers who want a fast read and enjoy a fairy tale romance will enjoy this novel. In fact, it seems to have been extremely popular and most reviews are very positive. It isn't that I disliked it, but it didn't have the "je nais se quoi" that Megan Whalen Turner, Jane Yolen, Robin McKinley, and Donna Jo Napoli have in their books.
YA/SciFi. 2012.
I love retelling of classic stories or fairy tales. I, too, have read some positive reviews for this one. Too bad it didn't quite work for you.
ReplyDeleteI am curious about this one, and have been wanting to give it a try. I don't know if I will like it as much as others have, but hopefully I will enjoy it. Maybe?
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ReplyDeleteoops. Forgot I was on the HT account. As I was saying, I didn't love this, but I still want to read the rest of the trilogy at some point.
ReplyDeleteI've really been curious about this one. I will probably have to try it one of these days!
ReplyDeleteWishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Marie - It almost worked! And I probably will read the next one.
ReplyDeleteLF - Cinder has a lot going for it; most readers loved it.
Kailana - Exactly! I will probably finish the trilogy, too.
Iliana - Give it a try. I'm definitely not a gauge of excellence. :)