Series: The Lunar Chronicles
Author: Marissa Meyer
Year: 2012
When I first saw this book I loved (the cover and) the idea. Cinderella is a cyborg in a futuristic world. Instead of loosing a shoe, she looses her cyborg foot. HER WHOLE FOOT. If we're taking fairy tales literally, that makes a lot more sense than the original story. Seriously! How incredibly ingenious! How could you not want to read that?
So I bought it aaaand it was great! Yes, yes, it's a teenage romance, but it really is very entertaining and it left me wanting MORE. (Thank God the sequel is already out!) Sure, it's a light read; at first I thought it was only good for times when you need to get away and relax, but it got my attention real quick. I read most of it in one sitting and I only stopped because I had to go to work. The author fits the fairy tale's elements very well into the setting (although this setting is a bit faulty, I'll get back to that later). In this new world, robots (androids) do most of the work. Cinderella, instead of having to do the chores around the house, fixes these robots for a living. She's a mechanic, and because she's a cyborg, she's the best mechanic around.There's no fairy godmother, though. Cinder makes it clear from a start that she doesn't need one. She can be her own hero and work her own magic. (I'll have to say, though, that there is a certain old gentleman that deserves some credit, but he merely provided the weapons, not the strength of character.)
Also, there's a side story that develops quite well. Lunars are the Moon's population, evolved from a human colony centuries ago. Their dictator, Queen Levana, wants to ensure control of Earth by (brainwashing and) marrying one of Earth's princes. The author makes it quite clear that this whole business will connect Cinder's story to the sequels: Scarlet (Little Red Riding Hood), Cress (My guess is Rapunzel) and Winter (Snow White?).
The side story also generates a conflict that gives the choices Cinder must make a lot more importance. Going to the ball suddenly is a matter of life and death, not just a night out partying. That gives the whole business a thrill I hadn't felt in a book in a while.
On the con side, the setting could have been worked better. It's a bit lazy. What I mean is, there are some things that wouldn't work that way anymore with the kind of technology they'd have. Having to carry tablets, for instance, when they all have chips incorporated.
Also, the book's awfully predictable. Ok, ok, we all know the Cinderella story, but I'm also talking about the subplots the author slips in. You can see them coming. The fact that these connections are invisible to the characters makes me want to scream... which probably just proves this is a damn good book!
I loved it. I loved the idea, the simpleness of its narrative, the strength of its characters and how dear they have become to me. Thumbs up, absolutely!
(P.S: Lovely prequel short story found here!)
