Series Love: Spotlight on Cinder by Marissa Meyer
PUBLISHER
Cover To Glitches Novella
She had me at Sailor Moon. Sitting at an ALA spotlight panel last June I nearly gasped out loud when Marissa listed her influences range from fairy tales to the aforementioned Sailor Moon heroines. If you haven't watched the show before check out your tube for references.
So back to ALA. Once I attended Marissa’s panel I was lucky enough to snag a signed copy of Cinder! Last week I joined the Blogger Never Ending Stories for the Cinder Read along. The intent was to read 2 chapters a day up until February 5th, finishing just in time for the February 6th release of the Cinder Sequel Scarlet. Yeah that didn’t happen . I finished the book in two days!
WHAT I LOVED
Starting a new series, with a debut author requires a whole lot of surrender. For us book lovers there are a few things that lead us to pick up a book : advance buzz, Cover Love ( it happens!), Genre addiction ( a new YA read with a kickass female? Yes please!). What immediately made me a fan of this book was how quickly I was drawn into the story. Cinder has a lot of elements that could be overwhelming if the reader wasn't so deftly introduced to each new elements : Cyborgs, Androids, plague, A Lunar Queen looking to take over the kingdom of a handsome Prince, and Cinder whose mysterious past ties into the story in unimaginable ways, and add to all these elements many key elements in the Cinderella fairy tale, shake and enjoy! Like the fairytale Cinder lives her life supporting those who take her for granted. As a Cyborg however she has even less freedoms since her stepmother has sole guardianship of her.
Cinder has an innate strength and intelligence that serve her well. The consistent challenges to Cinder revolve around her world’s bias towards cyborgs. Cinder can hold her head high amongst her family and most of the general public but is her interactions with Prince Kai that create conflicts within her self most notably her heart.Yet Cinder still manages to have an open heart to her stepsister Peony, the one family member who shows Cinder kindness.
I inhaled this book, loving every twist and turn and watching as all the pieces fell into place. I'm so glad I waited so long to read it, now i only have mere days instead of months until Scarlet is available :)
Reading Order
Cinder is the first in a four book series. Thanks to the world of e-books however there are a few extra novellas out there to add to your overall Cinder experience. One is the free novella Glitches. This short story could be aptly named Cinder 0.5. I however have a suggestion. Read the first 5 or 10 chapters of Cinder before reading Glitches. I suggest this only because I love the opening chapters of Cinder so much that I wouldn't have wanted to experience them any differently.
There is also a .99 cent novella called The Queens Army that I highly suggest! I read The Queens Army right after Glitches and before the Lunar Queen was even introduced in the book. What a difference a planet makes! The Lunar citizens are scary! There is a strong SF? Militant feel to there society. Through the eyes on one young boy we learn about the queens plan to create a feral group of warriors anxious to obey their Queens whims.
Both of these stories add wonderful components to the overall enjoyment of Cinder and has me excited for what’s to come.
Give this great series a try!
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