sheilaraeo

Cinder is a futuristic version of the classic Cinderella story. The earth has survived a 4th world war and is a peaceful planet, yet it is not without conflict. Discrimination runs rampant against the cyborgs. For some unexplained reason, humans are repulsed or afraid of these, once fully human –now part machine – individuals. They are considered second class citizens at best and slaves or property at worst. Cinder is one such cyborg. After surviving a terrible accident as a child, Cinder was operated on by scientists and turned into a cyborg to save her life (which seems to be the reason anyone becomes a cyborg - a second chance at life when facing certain death otherwise) After adopting Cinder and bringing her to the Eastern Commonwealth her adoptive father fell ill with the plague that is sweeping the planet and dies. Cinder is left in the guardianship of her resentful, adoptive mother who of course has 2 daughters. After a tragedy occurs in Cinder’s household, her “step-mother” offers Cinder up to authorities for the experimental trials being conducted on cyborgs to find a cure for the plague – in essence a certain death sentence for Cinder. I don’t want to give too much away in this review but I would like to say how much I enjoyed the way the author brought all the elements of the classic tale into this retelling. Very clever writing. I found the book hard to put down and the cliff hanger has me anxious for the next novel in this planned quartet series. This YA series is sure to be a hit with adults as well, ala Harry Potter.