When I first saw this book in a bookstore a couple of years ago, I thought it was some sort of spoof on Cinderella and decided not to pick it up. Since then, I have seen nothing but great reviews of this book and the rest of the series. So I finally decided to give it a go. It is indeed a Cinderella retelling but it is unlike any I have seen thus far. It is set in a distant future and our main character - Cinder - is a cyborg... I know I know, sounds exactly like some sort of spoof which is precisely what I had thought originally. However, in essence it is really a sci-fi fairy tale. The book loosely follows the plot line of Cinderella, but it is also completely different, so do not think you know exactly what is coming next. The main character is lovable and very easy to relate to. I liked her android friend Iko, and her unexpected ally Dr. Erland. I was not really impressed with the prince and the entire romantic side of the story. For one, it was never clear to me why he took an initial interest in Cinder and started sharing some pretty confidential things with her. It felt more like a superficial interest a lord might take in a pretty servant girl. However, since the story does not end in Book 1, I hope he will get to know the real Cinder, and Cinder will end up with someone who truly knows and values her (who I guess might even be someone else - I am pretty unimpressed with prince Kai at this point). In terms of the plot, there are many twists and turns, some of them I saw coming and some were unexpected. The story is much more complex than a simple Cinderella retelling. There is intergalactic politics, a deadly plague ravaging the earth, a mind-controlling race of people inhabiting the Moon. a wonderful villain in the form of a Lunar queen who threatens world domination, and at the forefront of this all is a lowly cyborg mechanic completely smitten with the young heir to the throne. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. If you like sci-fi and fairy tales, this is a great novel to pick up. I have already started reading the second book called "Scarlet".
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