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.

I like cyborgs and it’s funny to me that some people didn’t like this book because of that. I don’t see anything wrong with getting help from technology and to me they are very much human. They feel, they have emotions, and just because they don’t have the resources to show that doesn’t mean they have no soul.

Yeah just wanted to get that off my chest.

I’ve heard of Cinder for a while, and by that I mean I’ve seen it on book shelves for a while but never had an interest. I never bothered to read the back of the damn book and I wish I had.

Like many people I grew up watching Disney movies. Cinderella was never my favorite, but as I got older I understood the story much better and took it from a different perspective than it just being a romance. Cinderella just wanted to get away from her horrid family and start anew.

And that’s exactly what Cinder is about.

Cinder is a teenage cyborg living with her awful step-mother , Audri, and two step-sisters, Pearl and Poeny. She makes money from being an expert mechanic with help from the family android, Iko, who actually has a personality unlike all the other androids in the story.

Everything seems to change when Cinder is visited by Prince Kai, who needs his own android fixed. The Prince is going through his own problems. His mother died from the plague and his father isn’t far behind her. He and his doctors are desperately trying to find a cure while dealing with the moon-queen, Queen Lavana, making war threats and eventually coming down to Earth.

After her sister Poeny gets sick, the one/two sisters who actually like Cinder, Cinder is blamed and Audri sends her off to get tested and experimented for a cure. Most cyborgs don’t survive the process, but since Cinder is the main character, you can probably assume she’s different.

Alright to break it down. I like Cinder. She takes care of herself, has ambitions to get out of Audri’s ownership, and thankfully, doesn’t let the story revolve around her crush on Prince Kai.

I didn’t mind the romance. It didn’t feel forced and they don’t let the other person cloud their vision and main problems. It’s not like Kai can’t focus on running the country because he can’t stop thinking about Cinder.

The side characters are likable and memorable. Iko and Cinder’s relationship is something special. Poeny still cares for Cinder despite her mother’s viewpoints. Even the relationship Cinder begins to have with Doctor Erland is fun to see grow.

Like the original Cinderella: you hate the step-mom, root for Cinder(ella) and hope to see her get out, she ends up going to the ball but in this instance things don’t exactly work out. Besides that there’s not many similarities. Cinder’s not all happy-going, optimistic, and singing with birds. I guess Iko is like her mice friends, Doctor Erland is the fairy god(father).

There’s also the ending that seemed to come out of nowhere. By that I mean it ended quite abruptly. You learn the twist (that I’ll admit, as soon as they mentioned it in the beginning I called it) and then the story’s over. I wanted to learn more but that’s what sequels are for.

(Also, I had a special edition of the book so there were a good many pages left and I didn’t actually know when it would end.)

Sometimes I wanted to yell at Cinder though. To not spoil to much, she doesn’t tell the Prince she’s a cyborg. During the first meeting it never really came up and it wasn’t a big deal. Then after a few times and us noticing the Prince obviously has something for Cinder, you would think she would tell him the truth. She’s constantly telling herself that the Prince would never date a cyborg so just tell him and you’ll get your answer. Instead it had to come as a big reveal. And the thing is, I doubt he would have cared.

Instead of just saying how it is, and I hate when characters do this, they hold it in and lie and we wait for the big build up and for it to come out. JUST TELL THE TRUTH INSTEAD OF HIDING SHIT.

I hate that in books, movies, anything.

In the end I enjoyed the book. I looked forward to it and I’m looking forward to reading the next.

But I guess if you don’t like the concept of cyborgs, just avoid this all together.