Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publication date: January 2012
Pages: 400
Source: ARC sent by publisher
For: Review
Series: Lunar Chronicles, Book 1
Things I Liked:
What a fun, unique book with a stellar concept. I loved the futuristic twist on a classic fairy tale. There is nothing I love more than fairy tale retellings, so adding a sci-fi element made it even more fun. I love Cinder - the tough, vulnerable, realistic cyborg who is trying to figure out where she fits in her world. I loved the world Meyer has built and the societies she has created to inhabit this bleak future. The sci-fi elements are simplistic enough to make it accessible for those who don't like sci-fi, but believable enough for the true connesieur. The original story is there, but with originality and twists that make it much more interesting and fun. Just a darn good story.
Things I Didn't Like:
Ok, so I had Cinder figured out long before the end of the story, but I thoroughly enjoyed watching her figure it out. And really, that's all that might have bothered me. Very much looking forward to the next books!
Read-alikes:
Not exactly like other fairy tale stories and not exactly like anything sci-fi either - it's pretty unique
BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: !
occasionally
mrg-factor: none
just some kissing
v-factor: ->
maybe a little gruesome in relation to the plague
Overall rating: *****
What other fairy tales do you think could be great sci-fi?
Check out this clip from the awesome audio version of Cinder!
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Posts
I'm hoping to get Cinder from my library soon; it sounds great! I think Sleeping Beauty has sci-fi potential. She sleeps forever, wakes up in some future society... maybe on a spaceship... Wait. That sounds like Across the Universe. :D
ReplyDeleteSleeping Beauty would make an awesome sci-fi story! And rather like Across the Universe :)
DeleteI loved Cinder and I'm so glad that Marissa is going to have each book in the series be a different fairy tale! Who knew that sci-fi and fairy tales could go together so well? :)
ReplyDeleteI know, I'm so excited for the next books in the series! What a fun concept.
DeleteI love fairy-tale retellings as well and really wanted to love this book, but a lot of things kind of fell flat for me. Not that I didn't like it -- I just didn't love it like I hoped to. I didn't like figuring out the twist so early on in the story and the setting just didn't feel like New Beijing to me. But I am still planning to read the rest of the series!
ReplyDeleteBummer that you didn't like it as much. Hopefully the next ones will be better for you. I can see how figuring it out too soon can make it not as fun.
DeleteYeah, it was predictable but I still liked it too. I'm glad you enjoyed it!
ReplyDeleteI know! Weird how it works sometimes and it doesn't for other books.
DeleteI too loved Cinder, despite figuring out the twist early on. I gave it to my most voracious eight grade reader and she reported back the next day that it was the best book she has read so far this year.
ReplyDeleteOh I love that story! I think it has tons of teen appeal.
DeleteI have a copy of this one because I know everyone is saying they really do like/love it. I'm glad you found yourself among those people and that even though it wasn't a true fairy tale retelling that it worked out in the end. I think it sounds great that sci-fi worked in this one without being too much. I really enjoy lite sci-fi elements in books so this will probably work for me.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great review.
Oh I bet you'll like it if you like lite sci-fi. Looking forward to what you think of it.
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