Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Synopsis

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.

I've been waiting to read this book since I heard about it last summer. Cyborg Cinder? What's not to love? Apart from the whole cyborg bit I loved the sound of New Beijing - it seemed all Blade Runner-ish and wonderful. I wasn't disappointed, what an amazing retelling of a classic story. I fell in love with Cinder immediately as she waited for her droid Iko to bring her a new foot while disconnecting her old and tiny one. So when Prince Kai turns up at her booth wanting her to mend a droid of his she's got her small foot on the counter and my heart broke for her. Kai can't tell she's a cyborg as she has her work gloves on and her legs are hidden. Cinder doesn't volunteer the information either. There's a spark between them, she treats him like a person and he's charming, funny and polite to her which makes a change for Cinder.

A plague is battering earth and once a person contracts it they're normally dead within a week. People who contract it are instantly swept away by robots and taken to awful hangars where they die. Someone close to Cinder is affected and so her troubles worsen. Her home life is awful, although one sister is lovely. But her step-mother is suitably hateful and is disgusted by Cinder's cyborg identity. Although she's the only one who works Cinder is her step-mother's property so has no money of her own. There's more bad news and Cinder is whisked away from her awful life to one much worse - or is it?

I won't say more about the plot otherwise I'll spoil it but I can say that what I expected to happen didn't which both surprised me and made the story a far more dangerous one than I expected. Like a proper fairy tale Cinder is full of horror and the worst of human behaviour but there's also love too and wonderful people. Apart from Cinder I really felt for Kai who was struggling to do the best for his people but confused as to which path to take. The mythology was intriguing too and I'm massively looking forward to book two - Scarlet. I was happy with the ending but there's still loads I want to know - have to know! However, I was checking out Marissa's blog and saw a wordle she'd done for Scarlet and I was stoked to see Cinder's name figured fairly highly. This book goes on my keeper shelf.