Cinder - Marissa Meyer

Rating: ★★★★★

Publication Date: January 3, 2012
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Genre: YA
Pages: 390 pages
Goodreads

The internet has failed me. For YEARS I have seen the Lunar Chronicles books pass and while everyone seemed to love them, no one really told me why. And that's why I didn't read them until now. AND HOW I LOVED CINDER. Next time, please let me know when I'm blatantly ignoring a book series that I could be falling in love with - it's what the comment section of this blog is all about after all!

Cinder is the story of the future world where a cyborg mechanic named Cinder meets the prince of her country in a most crucial historical time. Cinder is, like her fairytale namesake, stuck with a stepmother that hates her and one evil stepsister, but surprisingly also one nice one. When the prince asks her to fix something for him, she's suddenly thrown into a major medical problem which is basically the future version of the plague. Mechanics aside, the real problem is is whether a cyborg can help a human being, and a prince at that, save the world.

Now the first 50 pages of CInder had me in belief that fantasy isn't for me and that I wouldn't enjoy reading this book after all. We're introduced to Cinder and for me, the whole "she's not like other girls" vibe was just laid on too thickly. We get it. YA narrators are never like other girls and are special little snowflakes. But then again, they are not because they do things other girls will do and most importantly, what's wrong being like other girls? That pet peeve put aside, I struggled through these pages and after them, I was completely hooked. 

I'm still on the fence of Cinder as a character. She shows some amazing moments, but sometimes she just read too generic for me. I like the play on the original Cinderella character; not only is Cinder poor, she's also a cyborg while the prince is a human which is something just not done in that world. It made the divide between the two characters bigger and more believable when Cinder insists on constantly lying to the prince. However, at times I felt that Cinder was just kickass just to be kickasss. It was fake and out of character, but since there are more books in this series, I'm very excited to read them so I'll get a better grasp on her as a character.

A character that I did fall in love with is Lunar princess Levana who is just AMAZING. She's mean, cunning, intelligent and beautiful - exactly everything I want my villain to be. She doesn't hesitate to do whatever she needs to do to get what she wants and she manipulates absolutely everyone in the process. I loved how brutal she is and I can't wait to read more about her story in the other books.

Overall, this book was far from perfect. Cinder is an average character and the big plot twist at the end is something most readers will see coming before the halfway mark. However, I LOVED this book. I can see all its flaws and I can discuss them and yet I still absolutely adored it. It was just so much fun to read and so easy to escape in the world that Marissa Meyer created. This book really transported me from my own life to Cinder's and I think that's an amazing achievement for any book - so just for that reason, I can't give this less than 5 stars.

How to... read dystopian and fantasy novels

Let's talk about books you usually do not read. I've mentioned before that I was raised in a household of books. My parents are readers and I've grown up always reading some kind of book.

Interestingly enough, these books were never dystopian or fantasy until about a year ago. Yes, I've dabbled in Harry Potter as a teenager, but I never really loved it and that was the limit of my fantasy adventure.

Last year, I decided I wanted to read more fantasy and dystopian novels, since I felt like I was missing out on so many books that so many people in the book community were loving. However, to start reading these books is quite an overwhelming process. Where do you start? How do you pick books? To help others struggling with the same problem, I made a few points that helped me - or that I wish I knew when I started reading dystopian and fantasy books.

1. Find people who love the same books as you and also read fantasy and dystopian

Go socialise with all your book friends. Ask them if they read fantasy and if they do, pick those. Your book friends know your taste better than Goodreads and they know exactly what you'll like. Also, Goodreads (though one of my favourite sites) has some weird ratings on there. Books that aren't even published are 5 stars and other books are spammed with haters. Trust your friends and ask them what they think you'll like. 

2. Don't start with big series right away

So the thing about fantasy and dystopian is that there is a lot of world building, which means that there is usually more than one book in a series. I get the temptation of immediately jumping in with Games Of Thrones (really I do - I have had book one for months), but it's probably not the best idea. A series is a commitment and before committing, it might be smart to just dabble in the genre a bit. Pick a great standalone or a start series like The Hunger Games. 

3. Loved the movie? Read the book

Talking about The Hunger Games, if you love movies with dystopian or fantasy elements, try the books! So many Hollywood films nowadays are based on books, so you're bound to find one this way. Another bonus is that if you don't love the books, but still want to know how the story ends, you can just switch to the movies again. 

4. Find crossovers

This really helped me the most. Luckily for all of us, the book industry is big on crossovers right now. Nothing is really one genre anymore. There is YA and fantasy, romance and dystopian, adventure and fantasy and everything in between. Try and find a book, and here Goodreads is your saviour, that combines fantasy/ dystopian with a genre you know you love. This way there'll be enough familiar elements for you to enjoy the story.

5. Stick with it

The beginning was rough for me. I didn't get it. I like book without too much description and I really had to learn to not glance over the description in dystopian books. Unlike with books set in this world, you need the description in these books to help you understand the world. Once you get used to it, and after a few chapters I'm sure you will if you picked up a good book, you'll love the description and crave to find out more about this new excited world. 

These were just some general tips. If you want real recommendations, here's a short list of my favourite fantasy and dystopian novels. It's short, because I'm new at this myself so feel free to add more in the comments! (There are links to the Goodreads pages of the books or to my reviews if I've written about the books)

- Throne of Glass series (YA/ dystopian)

- The Selection (YA/ dystopian)

- The Queen of the Tearling (historical fiction/ dystopian - if that's even a thing)

- The Grave Mercy Series (historical fiction / fantasy)

- Half Bad (fantasy / adventure)

-  The Winner's Curse (fantasy/dystopian)

- Harry Potter (YA/ fantasy)

- The Night Circus (fantasy elements)

The Winner's Curse - Marie Rutkoski

RATING: ★★★★☆

I joined a new book club recently to try and read YA books that I normally wouldn't pick up. I really want to expand my literary horizons this year and since I'm writing a YA novel, I want to read as much, and a lot of diverse YA, as possible. This is how I ended up reading The Winners Curse by Marie Rutkoski - I always loved the dress on the cover of the book but was never really motivated to buy it. Until now.

Plot

Winning what you want may cost you everything you love 

As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions. 

One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction. Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin. 

But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined. 
 

Summary sounds kind of familiar... 

So that summary from Goodreads sounds like it's a one in a million young adult book. Boy and girl. Some weird world. Unfair relationship. Blossoming love. Difficult choices. Blablabla - I've read a handful of books like that before and I only started reading YA fantasy a few months ago.

However, what it says about the book is that it's impossible to create a blurb that does it justice. I tried to make a better summary, but I just couldn't think of anything that can really explain the book.

At the core, it is just that summary with all the elements you have seen time and time before. But when you read it, it's so much more. And that's mostly because Kestrel is not like other YA narrator.

Kestrel is not kick-ass

Kestrel is not strong. Kestrel does not have any superpower. Kestrel is basically just a normal girl who is stuck in a difficult position. Some might argue that Kestrel is extremely intelligent, but I don't think that's even the case. She's just smart enough to know how to survive, yet she doesn't do anything really extraordinary. Kestrel is brave and stands up for what is right and that doesn't always end well for her, which is so refreshing compared to the female YA characters that can defeat everyone and everything - it doesn't always work like that and it doesn't work like that for Kestrel.

Romance

Besides the fact that Kestrel is surprisingly normal for a fantasy narrator, the romance is also so much more realistic than the average YA book romance. Usually, it all goes VERY fast and it's intense - it either ends perfectly or it ends horribly. No in between.

However, in the Winner's Curse, there is a middle ground. Both Kestrel and Arin realise the difficulties that come from a relationship where one person is in power and one isn't at all (as slave, Arin really has nothing to say) and neither of them try to gloss over it. It's a real issue and the book takes the time to really explore what that issue means for both of the characters.

Rating

So basically, this book takes all the cliché YA fantasy elements and just gives them a little twists. You'll still recognise all the things you love to read in another YA books, but the story surprises you with all the twists and turns it takes. This book won't ever be one of my all time favourites, probably because fantasy just isn't my favourite genre, but it was a very enjoyable and surprising read so four out of five stars.