From goodreads:
Humans and androids
crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the
population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make
their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .
Cinder,
a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a
mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her
stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the
handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an
intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty
and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her
past in order to protect her world’s future.
I'm a sucker for a good Cinderella story. It's a classic that has all the elements that make great stories: an evil step-family, the underdog who comes out on top (in a beautiful gown, no less), and a romance with a prince. I love movies like Ever After and A Cinderella Story. And a favorite book of mine is Ella Enchanted. But when I read the synopsis to this book, I was a little skeptical. A sci-fi Cinderella story? Intergalactic struggles...what? Thanks, but not really my cup of tea. You've got to love amazon, though. When I saw that I could download the first five chapters to my kindle for free, I thought, what the heck, I'll give it a shot. But, it didn't take me five chapters to realize I was hooked.
Great characters make great books. The step-mother is truly evil, the step-sisters are self-centered. And there is a old robot for Cinder's sidekick. Cinder is a character I felt instant sympathy for. I loved the fact that she meets Prince Kai early in the book, so their relationship really has time to grow. Cinder is strong-she doesn't wait around for a fairy godmother. She takes fate into her own hands and stops at nothing to discover who she really is as she tries to save their world from a Lunar invasion. This is a fun ride into a creative and new series.
Rating: 4
Published: 1.2012
Awards: Labels: Review, YA
