Cinder

Book One of the Lunar Chronicles

By: Marissa Meyer

Narrated by: Rebecca Soler

Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2012 Marissa Meyer (P)2012 Macmillan Audio

Not just a retelling of the tale

I bought this book based on so many good reviews thinking it was a retelling of the Cinderella fairy tale. To my pleasant surprise, it is and it isn't. It uses elements from the fairy tale yet the story is much more than this and is very engaging. Once I started listening I didn't want to stop. The situations and characters were well done. I could get nit-picky and say that there were parts that were a bit predictable and a few places that seemed contradictory but these were all small things and did not detract from my enjoyment of the book. The performance was well done. The only reason for giving it 4 stars rather than 5 was that there were times when the voices were very similar making it difficult to know tell who was speaking. Fortunately in these instances the context of the story quickly cleared up any question. Looking forward to listening to the next book.

Great sci-fi and worldbuilding

3.5 stars. Firstly, props to Meyer for writing the Cinderella story with a sci fi twist without making it twee. It's a brilliant story idea and her worldbuilding is very cool. Cyborgs, plague, people living on the moon who are capable of something like magic, New Beijing. I love it. I also love that romance is an element but not really the focus of the story, and that Cinder is no Katniss Everdeen. She's definitely no Mary Sue, there's no epic scene where she realizes her powers and blasts everyone oppressing her, but she is a strong character. I thought the pacing was inconsistent and the story could have used an editor, there were several words misused (e.g. "belabored breathing"). I don't think I'll continue this series but I want to read more of Meyer's work.
The audio reader was good.

Great book

A total page-turner, I couldn't put it down, Can't wait to start the next book.

Fun fairy tale

What a great way to weave a classic fairy tale into a futuristic story! Entertaining and engaging, I didn’t want to stop listening!

The Lunar Chronicles is one of my very favorites.

I have listend to the series multiple times and still love it! I love that the series is not full of bad language and schmutt.

Loved Every Minute!

I had read the Lunar Chronicles series years ago when they were released and loved them. I decided I wanted to re-read them, but came across the audio book and decided to give it a try. I absolutely loved the narration of this book. It is well done and the book flies by. The reader encapsulates each characters voice exactly how I would imagine it. I highly recommend this to anyone who loves fantasy, action and romance. I loved these when I was a teenager, but I also love them now. They still hold up and are a great choice if you’re looking to be invested in a series because you won’t want to stop at just the first book!

AMAZING

Very vague Cinderalla aspect, but it IS there. Very compelling story and characters! Predictable plot twist however.

MEEEEPPPP (read the caps if you don’t want spoilers☺️)

Okay so: the plot was kiiinnndddaaa predictable I mean it always said she felt like she was burning in her nightmares (and her room got burnt before she got outa there) and the name Cinder sounds soooo close🤷🏼 if you don’t read books you won’t understand what I’m talking about😋 anyway very happy literally punched my leg so hard multiple times in excitement coz I knew he was gonna say it. Thank you SOOOO FRIGGN MUCH THIS IS AN AWSOME BOOK AND IT MAKES SENSE TO MY STUPID DYSLEXIC BRAIN LOVE THIS BOOK DANKE!!!

The story was amazing

I loved the series overall and it's an amazing book the romance and action was amazing

Interesting & Refreshing

I don’t know why it took me so long to FINALLY start reading this series and I LOVE IT!! I am obsessed and cannot wait to read the rest of the series!! This is as so entertaining and such a cool take on the cinderella inspired story. I’d love to see this series made into a well done movie adaptation