Marissa Meyer is the Queen of Fairy Tale Retellings. I was incredibly skeptical when I first found this book. The cover looked childish, the summary on the back didn’t hold much promise. I found this book at a time when I had hit a rather rough patch in my ability to find good novels to read. I bought it on a whim and it ultimately sat on my shelf unread for several months before I found myself with nothing else to read and decided to give it a try.

This is where the phrase don’t judge a book by its cover becomes especially relevant.

My original concern that this book would be yet another in a long line of crappy, childish attempts at writing something interesting could not have been more wrong.

I was hooked from the start. Cinder blew me away. Often times I become skeptical of authors who try too hard to write a strong female character because there seems to be a tendency for them to write overpowered or annoyingly weak characters. Meyer did none of that. Cinder, from the very beginning, was believable and impressive. Not only was she a formidable female character, but she was flawed in the most brilliant of ways. As far as I’m concerned, Meyer could not have done better.

It is rare that I find almost no flaws in a book I’ve read. Cinder is one of few that falls into this category. And Meyer, fortunately, has never let me down with anything she has written.

Naturally, Cinder is first and foremost a fairy tale retelling. There are, obviously, plot points that are easily foreseeable. It is easy for the reader to catch on to what will happen next. But, miraculously, that fact takes absolutely nothing away from how impressive this book is. The twists Meyer implements in the story are fascinating and impressive. She does an absolutely brilliant job building this futuristic world and adapting a cyborg-esque nature to the character. Meyer truly did a number on this fairy tale and it was incredible.

She ends on a cliffhanger, something anyone who reads her books will quickly come to see as a common thing for her. But she executes it perfectly. In no way can you claim she leaves you in any place other than one wanting to know more.

I have recommended this book to a great many people and it has replaced every single one of my previous all time favorites. Currently, I’ve probably re-read it at least seven times. I would suggest it to the world, if I could.

🦊🦊🦊🦊🦊

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