MINI-REVIEW #58: Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1) & The Queen's Army (Lunar Chronicles #1.5) by Marissa Meyer

Title: Cinder
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #1
Author: Marissa Meyer
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Release Date: January 3rd 2012
Pages: Hardcover, 387 pages
Rating: 5 Stars

Summary from Goodreads:
Humans 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, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future. 


I decided to re-read Cinder before starting Scarlet and I am SOOO GLAD I did. AHH I loved everything about this book! Cinder is a fantastic twist on the classic Cinderella story that takes place in futuristic Beijing. Marissa Meyer does everything right in this story. Even though the story is loosely based on a fairytale it still has very unique and fun aspects to it.

The plot is fast pace with a mix of a love story, family, adventure and evil queens. The friendship between Cinder and Prince Kai slowly evolves through the story and the chemistry builds gradually. There is no insta-love, which is a bonus!  Marrisa Meyer develops each character so well, giving them unique quirks and personalities.  Even the evil queen is perfectly developed with her evil mind controlling and power hungry nature.  Not only are there great relationships in the story, there is also another aspect to the plot: Beijing is facing a contagious disease outbreak which is taking the lives of many. This 5 star book blends the various plot lines and relationships into a beautifully crafted dystopian fairy tale.   Moral of this mini-review... GO READ CINDER NOW!


Title: The Queen's Army
Author: Marissa Meyer
Publisher: Tor
Release Date: November 23rd 2012
Pages: Free, 17 pages
Source:http://www.tor.com/stories/2012/11/the-queens-army

Summary from Goodreads:
It is time. The boy must leave his family to serve in the Queen’s army. To be chosen is an honor. To decline is impossible. The boy is modified. He is trained for several years, and learns to fight to the death. He proves to the Queen -- and to himself -- that he is capable of evil. He is just the kind of soldier the Queen wants: the alpha of his pack. 



There is no reason not to check this out, it's FREE :) This short story describes Z's younger life, how he left his family for the honor of serving in the Queen's Army.  It further develops the Queen's character and evil evil nature.  Here is what you have to look forward to:

"This new creature had rounded shoulders, and enormous hands that were covered with a fine layer of fur, and fangs that jutted from a grotesquely twisted mouth.  More fur covered his face, surrounding sever yellow eyes."



 
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6 comments:

  1. Yes!!!! So glad you loved Cinder! I totally wasn't expecting to like it - Well, I was HOPING all those bloggers were right and I would, but I was nervous. I was really happy that there was no insta-love too and I really loved how creeper the Lunars were! Or the queen, anyway :)

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  2. As a villain, I think the Queen is pretty awesome. I loved Scarlet even more than Cinder

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  3. I love this book! The series as a whole is also amazing! I was def an Iko fan. She was just too cute! I am really not a big fan of Prince Kai though. Thank you for sharing your review!

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  4. Great review. I met Marissa Meyer a month ago and I cannot wait to read this book during the summer.

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  5. I just picked this book up at the library this afternoon. I'm looking forward to reading it.

    slehan at juno dot com

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  6. I've heard nothing but good things about Cinder and, more recently, Scarlet. I'm a very slow person to want to read books -- I need to be sure they are quite good (for example, I waited until July 2007 to read the Harry Potter series, then picked up the last book the morning after the midnight release). I think I'll have to give in and take the chance!

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