Clip from the “Cinder” audiobook!

Hey, guys! This is just a quick PSA to inform you all that Macmillan Audio has kindly allowed me to post an excerpt of theCinderaudiobook, read by the excellent Rebecca Soler! Give it a listen, and if you like what you hear, you can purchase it directly from Macmillan Audio or through Amazon/Audible/etc.

Cinder excerpt is here under the cut! 😀

My 4-star review of Cinder is here.

 

Book Review: “Cinder” by Marissa Meyer (Lunar Chronicles, #1)

I have to say, this cover is definitely one of my faves of 2012. Love the juxtaposition of the red shoe and the cyborg leg. Another plus? My mom actually picked this one up for me BASED on the cover. Said it looked like "something you'd like". So congrats, cover people. You did a good job. 🙂

ETA: Macmillan Audio has kindly allowed me to post an excerpt from the Cinder audiobook to this blog! The link is here.

Title: Cinder (Click to add to your Goodreads!)

Author: Marissa Meyer

Available In: Hardcover, eBook for Kindle, eBook for Nook, Audiobook. (If you just want to try out chapters 1-5, you can get those FREE for your Kindle/Nook here and here.)

Maturity Level: YA. Some disturbing imagery and mild language, along with the usual sci-fi trappings.

You May Like This Book if: you enjoy science fiction, Fullmetal Alchemist (there are definitely a few shoutouts in here), and fairy tales.

You May NOT Like This Book if: you expect it to closely follow the format of the original fairy tale.

Linh Cinder lives in a pretty bleak world. As a cyborg in the predominantly human New Beijing, she is shunned and hated. A deadly disease is sweeping the land, wiping people out in droves, and Earth is on the brink of war with the ruthless, extremely powerful Lunars. Cinder’s only saving grace is her skill as a mechanic, and when she is contracted by the crown prince Kai himself, she falls into a terrifying political melee—and possibly, in love with the young prince.

My biggest issue with this book is that the balance between the fairy tale and the sci-fi aspect is kind of off. Don’t get me wrong, I love sci-fi—but I went into this expecting a fairy-tale retelling with sci-fi elements, as opposed to a sci-fi with fairy tale elements. Also, the world-building could use some work. I counted at least three or four different cultures that Meyer seemed to be trying to meld into the unifying society of New Beijing, but for some reason they just kind of clashed.

Wow, reading that last paragraph, you would think I really didn’t like this book. The thing is, I really DID like it for many reasons: the plague aspect was handled really well, I really liked Cinder as an MC, etc, etc. The storytelling definitely has a cinematic edge to it—I would not be surprised to see this one made into a movie in the next five years. However, the issues I outlined above did seriously detract from the story, merely because I found them jarring and somewhat annoying.

Overall, I thought this was a pretty solid sci-fi book, though it did have some issues. I was a little nervous when I discovered that this is meant to be the first in a quartet— I thought that minus the cliffie ending it could have easily stood just fine on its own—but I will definitely pick up Scarlet when it hits shelves in 2013. J

Pros

• The plague, obviously modeled off of the sweep of the Black Death through Europe. Very well done.
• Cinder. I thought she was a badass, and who doesn’t love a cyborg?
• Prince Kai
• Dr. Erland as the fairy godmother.

Cons

• The Lunars are weak conceptually.
• Occasional unnecessary over-description.
• I’m not sure if this should be a quartet.
• Melding of cultures in New Beijing is kind of awkward and heavy-handed.

Favorite Scene (s)

• pg 349-onward. Love this as a “ball scene”.

Star Rating on Goodreads: 3.5 stars, rounded up for GR.

Final Grade:  B. Nice read, but had some issues that I simply couldn’t ignore.

FridayReads 3/9/2012

So I have been skipping FridayReads most weeks, as you guys have probably noticed. I got so caught up in reviewing that I just plain forgot about it, to be honest. When I did remember, I decided it was probably time to revamp, as you can see by my nifty little graphic. It takes up less space in the post than inserting each cover picture and contains more information, and mostly, I just like fiddling around with graphics on occasion. 🙂

Without further ado, let’s go on to the ‘reads!

Cinder by Marissa Meyer: This one is not quite living up the hype, I just have to say. I kinda like it, but it feels to me like the core of the story– the Cinderella retelling– gets lost amongst all of the sci-fi trappings. Don’t get me wrong, I love sci-fi, but I did go into this expecting more of a… well, Cinderella story. Overall, though, it’s been a good, fun, fast read so far. Here’s hoping that the fairy-tale comes out a little more while still keeping all of the awesome sci-fi elements in the rest!

The Only Ones by Aaron Starmer: So far, this one is awesome. It’s a bit like City of Ember meets Lord of the Flies. Sometimes, the plotting gets a little overly convoluted, but overall, it’s proving itself to be a solid read. 😀

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner:The worldbuilding in this one is PHENOMENAL. At only 15% in, I don’t really have much to say aside from that.

What are YOU reading this Friday? Drop me a comment and let me know!