Why Cinder by Marissa Meyer Belongs in the Cinders (but not really)

       by Benjamin C.

       Welcome back to blogging with Benji, where there’s no need to be shelf-concious! This month I’ll be discussing Cinder, a 2012 novel by Marissa Meyer. It details the experiences of a teenage cyborg named Cinder who lives in a futuristic world plagued by a deadly sickness letumosis. Cyborgs are downtrodden and oppressed by society due to their unnerving prosthetics and metal parts that causes them to be seen as ‘inhuman’ and even repulsive. Based on Cinderella, Cinder lives in an apartment with her mother Adri and step-sisters Peony and Pearl, and the story includes a royal ball, a handsome prince, and even magic (or something close to it). However, Cinder is definitely its own unique story and only has loose connections to Cinderella. Linh Cinder is a mechanic in New Beijing, a city in the “Eastern Commonwealth” ruled by Emperor Rikan and Prince Kaito/Kai. Cinder was brought to New Beijing after being adopted by a scientist who died of the letumosis shortly after

Cinder’s adoption. Letumosis is a deadly plague known as the “blue fever” that has four stages that progress rapidly. Letumosis affects many key characters such as Peony and even Emperor Rikan. It is said that Lunars (a mutated race of humans that live on the moon) brought letumosis to Earth through refugees that escaped from Luna (the moon). Lunars are immune to letumosis and also have bioelectric powers that can be used to manipulate human minds. Queen Levana, the ruler of the Lunars, maintains a glamour that tricks others into seeing her as extremely beautiful and also uses her bioelectric powers to silence any signs of rebellion on Luna. She is an evil queen that is trying to take over Earth through a marriage alliance with Prince Kai. Cinder takes place over a short period of time (about two weeks) that leads up to Kai’s coronation and subsequent royal ball.
       The premise of Cinder was very enticing to me since it seemed like a refreshing turn from the classic “Cinderella story” and other parodies. Cinder does a great job of incorporating enough

elements so that it is still somewhat recognizable as a variation of Cinderella while also evolving into a completely different and unique story. The interactions between cyborgs and humans was also interesting in that the reader saw everything from the point of view of a cyborg (Cinder) while it is popular opinion that cyborgs are less than human. The reader sees Cinder develop as a character and experience very real and human emotions while also being contrasted with differences like Cinder not being able to cry due to having no tear ducts. This conflict of what defines a human made Cinder more interesting to me since it deepened the story and made me feel empathy for Cinder since her dilemma is presented skillfully in an easy-to-understand way.
       However, Cinder also has several flaws that made the book less enjoyable. A major plot twist that was revealed near the end of the book was not particularly surprising since Meyer made it too obvious while trying to hint at it and setup the reveal. Though I was able to anticipate the main plot twist, I was not expecting the extremely abrupt cliffhanger ending of Cinder that felt forced and unnatural. When I reached the end of the book, I continued to flip the page since the ending was like someone took two books and split them in half at an arbitrary point. The romantic aspect of Cinder was also boring to me since it was too straightforward and bland. The book would have been much better if there had been more complex relationships, character dynamics, and unexpected plot twists. Overall, Cinder was still an entertaining relatively quick and easy read that I recommend for anyone who is looking Cinder deserves an oleaginous 8.5/13 slices on the authoritative and patent pending Bologna Blog Scale.