Review: Cinder by Marisa Meyer

Cinder by Marissa Meyer



It's Cinderella.  Except she's a cyborg.  In future China.  And there are moon people (Lunars) who want to wage a war against Earth as a means to control all Eartherns.

I know what you're thinking.  I thought it too.  Cyborg Cinderella just doesn't sound like it's going to be good.  It sounds weird.  Really weird. But then I found myself in a reading slump, trying desperately to become engaged in either of the two books I was reading (The Traveling Restaurant and The Raven Boys) and finding it hopeless.  The assistant librarian kept telling me how awesome Cinder was.  It made the YALSA Teens Top Ten.  I figured it couldn't hurt, right?  390 pages and less than 48 hours later, I'm a convert.  This book is pretty darn good.

Each of the four "books" of the novel begins with a quote from the original Perrault tale that connects with the story focus for that section which I found to be a nice touch of respect and appreciation for the source material.  Even though I'd figured out the big plot twist/secret reveal by around page 115, just pages into the second book, that didn't make me want to read the story any less.  If anything, it deepened my investment in the characters and story and made me want to keep reading to learn just how the story would unfold and come together.  Cinder is the first book in "The Lunar Chronicles" and it was actually refreshing to see the book design not only acknowledge that the title was the first in the series, but to entice the reader to follow Cinder's story by announcing titles and general release dates for the coming installments.  And thus, when the ending (spoiler alert!?) made no bones about it's cliffhanger ending, I didn't feel shorted.  I was just amped up to read the second book, Scarlet, when it releases in February.

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YALSA 2012 Teens Top Ten

You read it here first (or maybe not first, but you did read it here): The winners of YALSA's 2012 Teens Top Ten have been announced!

Here's my take on the list...

#10: Abandon by Meg Cabot
Haven't ever read a Meg Cabot book.  Maybe I should?

#9: Where She Went by Gayle Forman
My love of Forman's first novel, If I Stay, is already well-established.  I wasn't sure where she was going to go with the sequel, and wasn't sure I thought one should exist.  Then I read it.  And cried. And loved it.

#8: The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
This book was pitched to me as "in the vein of the Hunger Games, featuring deadly competition, but this time, it's killer horses!"  I was intrigued, but still haven't read it.  Clearly, I should fix that.

#7: Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Cinderella has to be the MOST retold story ever. Cyborg Cinderella, though? I don't think that's been done before.  Not one I've read, but it's on my list.

#6: Across the Universe by Beth Revis
I definitely started reading this book about a year ago.  I read about 25-50 pages and though I was enjoying it, put it down in favor of whatever else was on my TBR pile.  It's still sitting on my bedside table, waiting for my return. Alright, alright, I'll get to it!

#5: What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen
Am I allowed to continue being a YA librarian (let alone the LibrariYAn) once I admit I haven't read any of Sarah Dessen's books? Oops.  I know I need to read them.  Maybe I'll start with this one.

#4: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Hooray! I read (and LOVED!) this one.  My gushing about how cool this book is (and repeated showings of the trailer) have made this one of the top circulated books in my school library.  If you haven't read this one, GET ON IT! NOW! Plus, it's October, so it's the perfect time for a creepy read!

#3: Legend by Marie Lu
Woo hoo!  Another of my favorites! I know I'll probably get killed for saying this, but I liked Legend better than Divergent.  It just doesn't seem to be getting as much play though, and I'm not sure why.  I'm extremely excited for it's sequel, Prodigy, which comes out in January.  I had an advance copy of it and I was all set to dig into it at the end of August.  Then my dog ate it.

#2: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
It's a book about cancer that isn't just another "feel bad for the patient" book.  Sure, multiple characters in the book are dying.  But they are more than their cancer.  And they certainly aren't victims.  They are full, whole, real people.  Who make jokes! And hate their parents! And still have crushes. And hopes. And dreams. And find other people annoying.  If something else wins this year's Printz, I will have serious doubts about the competency of that committee.

Okay, that last sentence was a bit too strong, but I really found the dialog in this book to be so wonderfully witty and spot-on.  Some people say that "real teens" don't talk that way. To that I say harumph!  Green raises the bar on "literary" fiction for teens.  His characters are sensitive, intelligent, angry, naive, conceited, snarky and all things that teens are.  And teens relate to his characters!  They want to be his characters, date his characters, hate is characters, and everything in between. I think my feelings about this book are clear.

#1: Divergent by Veronica Roth
Even though I liked Legend more, I still really liked Divergent.  Sure, it's another post-apocalyptic novel, set in a world where society has been divided into different groups.  But this one has a cool spin, because if you're designated Dauntless, you get to jump off moving trains, play Capture the Flag in the ruins of Chicago and do lots of cool fight training.  And that's really cool. Divergent is definitely big at my school.  And I liked Divergent's sequel, Insurgent, more than the first installment, which is rare in a trilogy, so hopefully there's only more awesomeness to come!

Having read 50% of the books I feel fairly good about how in-touch I am with what teens are reading (and loving).  That being said, it also indicates to me that I really need to start getting on reading some of the more reliable teen "favorite" authors like Meg Cabot and Sarah Dessen (to name just two).  I am a little surprised that awesome titles like  Me, Earl and the Dying Girl and Variant aren't on the list.

How many have you read? What would be in YOUR Teens Top Ten?

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

YALSA's Teens' Top Ten Nominees

Today YALSA announced the 25 nominations for this year's Teens' Top Ten.  I've read four, but already had intentions to read many of the others.  Guess I've got some reading to do and some titles to recommend between now and September when the winners are announced.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Book Award Update Part 2: Teens' Top Ten

There are so many books out there, and so many new ones published each year, each with a cover and jacket summary prettier and more intriguing than the next. So how do know what to put at the top of your "to be read" pile? Enter book awards! The panelists/judges for these awards read through scores of books to find the best of the best, so you can focus your reading time on books that truly deserve your attention.

And so I bring to you Part 2 in the Book Award Update mini-series...

Teens' Top Ten: A book award for young adult literature chosen by teens! Hosted by YALSA (a division of the ALA), this award, like the middle and high schools where its judges spend their days, is really just a popularity contest. Of course, in this case, that's not a bad thing.

A nominating committee of teen book groups creates a master-list of nominees, which is then passed off for on-line voting during August and September. Winners are announced during Teen Read Week (which happens to have been just last week). Watch this video to hear the winners announced and see John Green thank people and remind them not to forget to be awesome*.

For those not video-inclined, the 2009 Teens' Top Ten are (in order of top-teniness, from 1-10):

• Paper Towns by John Green (Penguin/Dutton)
• Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, Book 4) by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
• City of Ashes (Mortal Instruments) by Cassandra Clare (Simon & Schuster/Margaret K. McElderry)
• Identical by Ellen Hopkins (Simon & Schuster/Margaret K. McElderry)
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins)
• Wake by Lisa McMann (Simon & Schuster/Simon Pulse)
• Untamed (House of Night, Book 4) (House of Night, Book 4) by P.C. and Kristin Cast (St. Martin's Griffin)
  Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, The
  by E. Lockhart (Disney-Hyperion)
• Graceling by Kristin Cashore (Harcourt/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

What a fantastic list! Clearly, these teens know how to read with the best of them. Share the winners with others by printing out and passing along this fab bookmark.

*Am I the only one finding it ironic that the winners were announced by the "Bella" twins? And really John Green, were you so taken by surprise at this win that showering and shaving just wasn't an option? These teens are your public!

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from here to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

What's in Your Top Ten?

Adults (librarians, book sellers, reviewers, other professionals) have signaled their favorite YA books all year long through various awards and whatnot. Isn't it about time that teens had their say? Voting for YALSA's 2009 Teens' Top Ten is now open!

To vote for your favorites from the list of 25 nominated titles, complete this survey. Voting is open to all teens from today (Monday, August 24th) through Friday, September 18th. Winners will be announced during Teen Read Week, October 18-24th. If you're a teen, vote! If you know teen readers, encourage them to vote!

Since I'm not a teen, I'm not eligible to vote, but if I could choose my three favorites from the nominees, I think I'd go with The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Graceling by Kristin Cashore and Impossible by Nancy Werlin. Funny thing is, I always thought of myself as more of a realistic fiction kind of girl (Frankie, I still love you!), but my votes are all for fantasy and science fiction. Weird, huh?