This book–more specifically, the ending of this book–is going to piss off a lot of readers. I just wanted to get that out there before I carry on with the rest of my review of Marissa Meyer’s Cinder.
Cinder is, as expected, a retelling of the Cinderella story. In Meyer’s version, the retelling includes magical people who live on the moon, androids and cyborgs, a deadly plague, references to a World War IV, and an evil alien queen. It’s amazing what Meyer crams into a surprisingly small amount of exposition. In this version, our putative Cinderella is a mechanic living in New Beijing. She’s also a cyborg. She has an uncaring stepmother and one stereotypical stepsister. (The other stepsister is a very nice person.) Because she has a reputation as a very good mechanic, she gets a commission to repair an android by the incognito prince. And, of course, there’s a ball.
But in including all those fantastical and science fiction elements, getting Cinder to the ball is a lot more complicated than it was in the original fairy tale. First, Cinder gets drafted into the search for a cure to the aforementioned deadly plague. Then she and the prince start to fall in love with each other. Then the stepmother steals Cinder’s biomechanical foot…and there’s no fairy godmother to help Cinder out of her predicaments.
It’s a fascinating read. And I really enjoyed it…right up until the end. Well, I say ending. This book ends, I’ll be blunt about it, with a cliffhanger. And now I have to wait for the next book in the series to come out in February to find out what happens to our plucky heroine. Readers, if the above description of the book sounded good to you, wait for the next entry in the series to come out.