Cinder

by Marissa Meyer

Story summary: Cinderella as a cyborg. Sounds like a simple and maybe uninteresting premise, but there's a lot more to it, trust me.
Also see the sequels: Scarlet, Cress, and Winter.

Why You Should Read This:

• Cyborgs.
• AIs.
• Did I mention Cyborgs and AIs?
• Also mind control and girl mechanics and strange people from the moon.
• In other words, the world-building is awesome.
• But there are also great familial relationships, interesting characters, and suspenseful plot.
• And "Cinderella as a cyborg" actually works surprisingly brilliantly.

And Why You Shouldn't:

• It is written in a definite Young Adult style. Not my favourite, but if everything else is really good, as it is in this book, then it doesn't matter so much.
• Nothing really gets resolved. You're going to have to read the other three books in the series to get answers, relationships, etc.

Thoughts: This was a lot cooler than I expected. I expected it to be a typical YA romance, and in some ways it was. Especially with the really attractive prince, who basically loves the heroine at first meeting (probably the worst part of the book for me). And yet the romance wasn't as off putting as it normally is for me. Maybe partly because I'm getting better at reading romances. But also I think this book is just really entertaining, and the romance plays into that--especially considering it's a fairy tale retelling. And what a great way to retell a fairy tale! I'm not sure that I've read anything quite like this before. The world-building was really cool, and everything works well together so well with the original tale.

It's not exactly the deepest of books, but it's really, really fun and I can't wait for the rest of the books.

Also, eye-catching and attractive cover, no?

Grade: 3 1/2 stars -- or maybe 4 stars? I really was very entertained.