Cinder
by Marissa Meyer
Buy on AmazonHumans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth's fate hinges on one girl. . . . Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She's a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, but mostly a forbidden love, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world's future.
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Goodreads Choice Awards — 2012 · goodreads.com
"I completely agree; before reading Cinder I would never have thought about the tale being retold as a dystopian thriller with the main character being cyborg! I think it could also reflect the changing ways of the world as we become increasingly more capable with technology. Not only does the main character have mechanical parts, but she also owns an android which is able to have its own characteristics thanks to its personality chip. I think Meyer was clever in including this, as it essentially has us being able to relate with a robot. Sign up here for our newsletter featuring the best children’s and young adult books, as recommended by authors, teachers, librarians and, of course, kids. The tale does follow the classic Cinderella story to some extent, but has so many more elements that make it seem very original. Prince Kai commissions Cinder to fix his very old android, which is the beginning to the unfolding of secrets concerning the ‘Lunar’, a species that live on the moon. As pressures involving the formation of an alliance between Earth and Luna weigh down on the Kingdom, as well as the letumosis virus becoming more and more of a threat, the story weaves politics, technology, and fantasy with the classic fairytale that we all know and love."
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