The Lunar Chronicles 1: Cinder - Marissa Meyer

Sixteen-year-old Cinder is considered a technological mistake by most of society and a burden by her stepmother. Being cyborg does have its benefits, though: Cinder's brain interference has given her an uncanny ability to fix things (robots, hovers, her own malfunctioning parts), making her the best mechanic in New Beijing. This reputation brings Prince Kai himself to her weekly market booth, needing her to repair a broken android before the annual ball. He jokingly calls it "a matter of national security," but Cinder suspects it's more serious than he's letting on.

Although eager to impress the prince, Cinder's intentions are derailed when her younger stepsister, and only human friend, is infected with the fatal plague that's been devastating Earth for a decade. Blaming Cinder for her daughter's illness, Cinder's stepmother volunteers her body for plague research, an "honor" that no one has survived.
But it doesn't take long for the scientists to discover something unusual about their new guinea pig. Something others would kill for.

Cover
Pretty! I feel like the cover on the left is not that special, but so fitting! You can see the cyborg parts, and since this is loosely-based on Cinderella, I thought it was great that there was a heel on the cover.
The Russian/Slovenian/East-European-I-don't-mean-to-offend-you cover is also absolutely gorgeous. I cannot see Cinder in that dress though, so I think hat must be Levana? Anyway, I like the moon on it, since this book is sort of about people on the moon.

Linh Cinder aka a great, great main character
I really enjoyed reading from her perspective. She's no where near arrogant, but she knows how to stand up for herself. She has her own insecurities, but she's very strong and she knows how to hide them. She didn't spend all her time pitying herself, but most of the time worrying about her special gifts. She's selfless, hence why she cares about her sister more than she does about herself. And when meeting the prince, she spoke to him in a normal, polite way and she didn't freak out. Yeah, I totally loved her, although she was a bit confusing in the beginning, with her being a cyborg and all.

Prince Kai(to), an Asian representative
Okay, yes, I didn't love Kai to death. I liked him, but he didn't make me squeal out of love. Anyway, one thing I did love about him, was the fact that he was Asian. I am white, so again, I cannot say anything for the Asian community, but I have noticed that Asian people are not represented enough. It was very fresh and lovely to see more people in ya books. But yes, I think Kai's greatness was just average, but that might change in later books, because then he'll start to understand Cinder more and such.

Queen Levana
She was probably the most interesting character in this book. An experienced Lunar with a dark history and with powers that can change everyone's opinion about her. Her 'glamour' powers were really intriguing. I want to know more about Lunar people and what they can do, because I feel like this book was just an information bomb in the first half. What I actually wanted to know is how Lunar people became Lunar people and how they got their powers. I might read Fairest (the novella about queen Levana) sometime if everything is explained in there.

Pacing, ending, secret-reveal
The pacing.... was a bit slower than I'd expected. I couldn't really get through the first few chapters and it was all so confusing that I doubted that I would like it. But yes, I did like the book. Maybe a bit too much, cause I couldn't put it down. I finished it in two days! Wow! 
The ending was also a bit less exciting than I'd expected. At the ball, Cinder started saying such weird stuff that I actually had to close the book and get time to facepalm myself. Yes, I later found (through a friend who had also read the book) that she said these things because Queen Levana forced her to. Still, what happened at the ball just didn't make sense and was so unbelievably dramatic. The secret-reveal was also quite predictable. 

I'm definitely looking forward to reading Scarlet, the second book in the series. Although I've heard some bad reviews, I liked Cinder, so I only expect the series to get better and better. This book deserves, in my opinion, 4/5 stars.

Dominique