Dystopian April #2: Cinder

WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS

(note: my first review got deleted of this because my computer shut down on me. bare with me)

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.

Review: First of all, I hate that there was WWIV (I forget what it's called in the book) and that China got destroyed. That's my home country people! Although, New Beijing isn't very far from Beijing today. Crowded, up-to-date with technology, the capital. GO BEIJING!

Setting: First of all, I love dystopians. Second favorite type of genre. I love the future. Anyway, I love it that New Beijing is so modern yet old. Today, China has a president, not an emperor. There a lot of people that live poorly or richly or are middle class, but there are some that still can afford new gadgets. And the city, well, this is what Marissa had on her site and I love it!

Don't you love it! I do. It's just what China does look like--a bit. Crowded, yes. That ancient, no. Believe, I know. I lived there and have gone back. :D

Plot: Well, true to the actually Cinderella story, Cinder is a cyborg that lives with her horrible stepmother, Adri, and two stepsisters, Peony and Pearl. She works as a mechanic in the market to earn money for the family and does chores Adri assigns her. Well, one day Prince Kai comes along and asks her to fix an android of his that broke. Afterwards, a little boy gets the plague and mass chaos happens.

This scene in the book is what really forms the whole plot to Cinder, what she is, and who she discovers who she is. Because of the plague in the market, Pearl gets it later on, and Adri blames Cinder, and then forces her to become a volunteer at a place where they are trying to develop the cure.

Well, from there, Dr. Erland discovers that Cinder is immune to the disease, and wants to use her and her blood to as specimens and starts paying her to come to palace to get tested again. But while he's at it, he discovers something else that endangers Cinder from then on.

Now because of this, somehow she gets into a situations (not spilling) and comes face to face with the prince, and then again later on. These encounters lead to them starting to really like each other.

Yet, an evil queen, Queen Levana of Luna (the moon) wants to come to Earth and marry Kai, who is now emperor, and take over the world. I thought this was an interesting twist on the tale. Instead of Cinder and Kai living Happily Ever After, Cinder's on the run and Kai might be preparing for war.Yippe!

Characters:

The characters in the book are like the actual characters in the original story, except our Cinderella and Prince Charming are better developed. Cinder is a strong girl that does put up with ther stepmother, but also has that spunk where she doesn't put up with anyone else's crap. Kai is a teenage boy that's emperor and might or might no have to marry the evil queen. But what I love about these two is that their relationship is just a crush. Kai more than Cinder. Smitten is the word Dr. Erland uses. But she lightens up.

The rest of the characters are awesome. Just one thing:

After one review and going through the book a few times, I finally realized that Dr. Erland's the fairygodmother.

Future: I can't wait for Scarlet! And Cress, and Winter! And I already kinda figured out some things, with help from Marissa's blog site.

1: Cress is on the moon. She made a cameo in Cinder as that girl on the other end of that video feed. The one that programmed the chip. It's based on Rapunzel, but I don't get where you get Cress from Rapunzel.

2: Winter is about Princess Winter wanting to escape Luna. Based on Snow White. Only thing I hope is that she doesn't get the hots for Kai. I will be pissed if she does.

And on goodreads, I found this sneak peak!

The next book in the Lunar Chronicles is called Scarlet, and is about Little Red Riding Hood. What is appealing to you most about this character as you work on the book?
Scarlet is awesome—she's very independent, a bit temperamental, and has an outspokenness that tends to get her in trouble sometimes. She was raised by her grandmother, an ex-military pilot who now owns a small farm in southern France, who not only taught Scarlet how to fly a spaceship and shoot a gun, but also to have a healthy respect and appreciation for nature. I guess that's a lot of things that appeal to me about her, but she's been a really fun character to write! (The two leading men in Scarlet, Wolf and Captain Thorne, aren't half bad either.)

I can't wait!

Quotes:

Dialogue between Cinder and Dr. Erland.

“I don't know. I don't actually remember anything from before the surgery."
His eyebrows rose, his blue eyes sucking in all the light of the room. "The cybernetic opetation?"
"No, the sex change."
The doctor's smile faltered.
"I'm joking.”

Forget the page number.

Cinder is a fun, alluring read for anyone. It captivated me every step of the way. I can't wait for the sequel.

Rating,

I just love retelling of fairytales. Cinder was definately one of my favorite retellings. I loved it.

Cover:

Ending:

Hate cliffhangers!

*bought at BN

Keep On Reading!

Up Next:

Actually, I already finished this. Review to come soon.