Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer
Published  January 2012 by Fiewel and Friends
Source: bought for my Nook

Publisher's Summary:
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.

My Thoughts:

• Why I Read It: Because it's fairy tale based and because Rhapsody Jill (Rhapsody In Books) told me four years ago that I should read it. And because it fit with the Once Upon A Time X challenge. Except that I didn't read it in time for the Once Upon A Time Challenge (just like I didn't do any of the other things for that challenge - hangs head in shame).
• Why I Didn't Read It Sooner:  Because it's also sci-fi and young adult, neither of which I pick up a lot. Which doesn't make them not perfectly lovely genres. Just out of my usual comfort zone.
• What I Didn't Like About It: Well, let's just get this out of the way, shall we? I can only assume that the last thirty pages or so are intended to include a major surprise. But I wasn't surprised. Maybe if I were in the target audience? But that would be shortchanging the minds of young adults - I'm pretty sure they wise on to it early as well. Plus, super abrupt ending. I knew going in that this was the first in a series; I just didn't know that it wouldn't be at all self-contained.
• What I Liked: Cinder - she's fierce. A teenaged girl who who has more than the normal share of things to stress about, when the going gets tough, Cinder puts on her big girl panties and does what needs to be done. Meyer hangs on to the basics of the fairy tale and it's fun to see how she manages to update some of them (including a fairy godmother who's not exactly what you'd expect and a pumpkin that runs on gasoline). The book could have stood on its own even without the Lunar plot line - for a relatively short book, there was a lot going on. 
• Will I Read The Next Book In The Series? Yep. These are just the kind of books I need to break things up. Probably won't even wait four years to decide to read Scarlet.