story craft

NEW Book Review Template

Genre: YA Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Format: Paperback

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Cautions: language: mild foul language used sparingly; difficult topics: you’ve been bullied or mistreated, you might find yourself wiping away some tears or reliving your own memories. Pause if you need to. Be gentle with yourself; embraces, near-kisses, but no more than that

Main themes: Identity, sacrifice, overcoming

Main characters: Cinder (Linh Cinder), Kai (Prince Kaito), Torin, Iko, Peony, Pearl, Adri, Dr. Erland, Thaumaturge Sybil, Queen Levana

Review:

What would happen if Cinderella traded her soot-stained garments for the grease-stained mechanic’s gloves in a dystopian world? 

Enter Cinder. Amid a tense and fearful world in the Eastern Commonwealth (which seems to encompass modern-day Asia), a Cyborg mechanic named Cinder is just trying to survive. Her survival isn’t just about the plague—letumosis—that has invaded the world from the Lunar kingdom, it’s about surviving even one more day with her stepmother, Adri, and her stepsisters, Pearl and Peony. Although Peony might be the only Cinderella stepsister who isn’t pure evil—in fact, she seems to be the opposite and is a bright spot for the reader and Cinder. 

Through many trials and adventures, I felt like I was viewing her through the ever-sassy Iko’s eyes. We get to see Cinder grow from a timid mechanic who is content to survive in her the space she knows to a woman who embraces her identity—no matter how scary that might seem. And along the way, she begins to open herself to new people like Prince Kai and Dr. Erland. While she feels like secrets might threaten the tenuous connections she’s beginning to build, for the first time, maybe ever, Cinder starts to hope. 

And hope can be such a dangerous thing—especially when you’re a cyborg. 

Meyer consistently pits Cinder against various foes at home (because of her wicked stepmother and stepsister) and in society (because she’s a cyborg) and with the Lunar Queen, Levana (because, well, I can’t tell you because . . . spoilers!) and even with the prince (because, again, she’s a cyborg . . . and maybe something else). Even with the constant barriers to her success, Cinder keeps pushing, and that’s what made me love her so. 

It took me a few pages to really get into the story, but it wasn’t lack of skill on Meyer’s part. I felt the tension and fear that existed in New Beijing. It’s what we all practically lived in the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. The picture Meyer painted made me view the city as full and loud and maybe a bit dirty—with plenty of technological advances not yet available to us. It was a world that simultaneously compelled me and repulsed me. With the opening scene (you’ll just have to read it), I actually thought Cinder was a prisoner whose shackles were screwed through her ankle, which was horrific enough. That wasn’t the case, though she was trapped in a manner of speaking. But from the marketplace to Cinder’s family’s apartment to the palace to the research lab and even the prison, I could see it all so easily and clearly in my mind’s-eye. (And I wonder what it looked like from your point of view?) 

The writing was clear and simple yet compelling—perfect for the YA audience. (And for your friendly neighborhood non-fiction editor in her thirties who just needs a break from heavy content.) Meyer’s storytelling made it simple to pick up on the new terms related to Cinder’s world (like hover, portscreen, etc.), and rather than retelling the same story from multiple perspectives, Cinder’s and Kai’s points of view effortlessly stream together to form the narrative.

By the time I finished the story, I craved the next one. At the end, all our characters are either making big moves or big decisions, and I felt the heady giddiness of anticipation when I thought about the next book, Scarlet. So, of course, I bought it that night from Amazon, and it arrived two days later. And I, impatient human that I am, dove right in. (But more on that soon, friends.

My take:

Heroines don’t always look like beauty queens. They struggle and strive like the rest of us. Sometimes they’re the ones who hurt the deepest, sacrifice the most, and fail the hardest—right before they triumph.