The Lunar Chronicles - Cinder (Review)
Back on my reading kick and with a bang! I was recommended this series by my boyfriend, he told me that it was totally my thing and he was right.
The series is written by Marissa Meyer and is a four book collection. It's a cyberpunk dystopia that is themed around the fairytale figures of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Snow White.
The first book, Cinder, is about Cinderella but has multiple pov's that switch quite frequently. It is from the third person though so that always helps.
The story follows Linh Cinder, a human-cyborg hybrid, as she figures out she isn't exactly who she seems. The major plot beats of the Cinderella story happen. She has an evil stepmother figure who treats her as less than human, she works as a mechanic to support the family and even gets an invite to Prince Kaito's (Charming) ball. Her stepsisters, Peony and Pearl are different though. Pearl is as cold and unwelcoming to Cinder as her mother but Peony is a friend to Cinder.
Some worldbuilding that is important to note is that this part of the story is set in the continent of Asia and boy does the author really mash all the different cultures together. Grated the book came out in 2012... but still the Asian cultures are not exactly treated with much nuance. The city that Cinder is living in is New Beijing and yet it feels as though the author could have been describing any vaguely Asian country.
There are people who live on the moon, named the Lunar people, and they have sort of mind altering powers got to do with manipulating bioelectricity. It's never really explained in much detail but basically Lunars can make people see things that aren't really there. The queen of Luna is Queen Levana, a tyrant who uses her Lunar power to subdue her people into submission. She is eager to make an alliance with Earth by way of a political marriage with the emperor of the eastern commonwealth.
There is a plague spreading around Earth named Letumosis that is highly contagious. It was brought to earth by runaway Lunars. Cinder, while manning her stall at the market, is exposed to the virus and her sister Peony later catches it and passes away. Her stepmother, in a rage, signs up Cinder for plague research, believing she will die from exposure to the virus. Instead the doctor reveals to Cinder that she is immune to the virus as she is in fact Lunar.
Cinder has no memory of her childhood and had always been told that she was in a car accident (or something to that effect) and that her parents did not make it. That was the reason she had to have so many cyborg enhancements to her body.
Cinder and Kai meet before she is signed up to volunteer and Kai asks her to fix his palace droid Nainsi, whom he has become very fond of. He needs her fixed due to sensitive information that we later find out is about Princess Selene, the true heir to the throne of Luna. Years ago, the story goes, Princess Selene's nursery burnt down and the young princess was believed to be dead. Kai does not buy into that. He hopes by finding Selene he could forge an alliance with the two planets.
Cinder fixes the droid and tries to return her to the palace on the night of the ball as she has found out some even more important news. A communication chip from Lunar was installed in the droid and Cinder is contacted by a girl we later find out to be Cress (Rapunzel). She warns Cinder of Levana's true plan - to marry Emperor Kaito and become the Empress of the Eastern Commonwealth. After doing so she plans on murdering Kai and enslaving the people of Earth.
Cinder makes it to the ball and delivers a warning to Kai, who is being manipulated by Levana. She is angry that Cinder is here, as a Lunar she should not be on Earth, and orders Kai to have her imprisoned and executed. In the palace prison the doctor, from the plague testing, visits Cinder and reveals that she is Princess Selene. He aids her escape from the prison and wishes for her to join him in Africa where he can teach her how to use her powers and begin her rebellion against her aunt Levana.
So! Long yap but this book was so so much fun! It is a really interesting take on the YA genre, especially using the fairytale characters in the way that they did. I think Cinderella's story translates very well into the dystopia thing. Her being a cyborg is a creative way of having her being discriminated against in her household as well as in the world at large. She is a typical quirky girl protagonist, never dressing feminine really and having grease stains all over her clothes and yet... I really like her. She is a strong willed and stubborn girl who is very set on her morals. She is a blushing mess in front of her crush Kai, but the romance is a sweet one with buildup to the kiss.
Overall, I really recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of YA dystopia, YA complicated magic lore and royalty shenanigans. A very fun romp overall, the racial stuff is slightly weird though.
