Cinder is a futuristic Cinderella retelling in which the titular character is an adopted cyborg in New Beijing. Cinder works as a mechanic, the best in the whole Eastern Commonwealth, in order to support her adoptive family, who are varying degrees of ungrateful and unkind. In fact, Cinder's only friends are her younger adoptive sister Peony (who is actually sweet, despite being one of the "ugly stepsister" characters) and Iko, an android with a defective personality chip that has caused her to be rather sassy. 
 A plague has been devastating Earth, causing thousands of deaths with no cure in sight. The handsome and dreamy young prince Kai must stand helplessly by as this deadly disease not only continues to sweep through his nation, but also takes his father, the emperor. On top of all of this, Earth has also been at odds, for decades, with the country on the moon called Luna and their cruel but beautiful queen Levana, who wants nothing more than to enter into a marriage alliance and rule the Easter Commonwealth. 
 Of course, romance ensues. But it's really not as big a part of the story as would be expected for a fairy tale retelling. Really, it's just sweet moments sprinkled throughout the bigger story. 
 Pros: 
 - Cinder is such a great character. She is strong, smart, and really takes her story into her own hands. The original story has bothered many over the fact that Cinderella is so docile, submissive, and doesn't do much to change her lot in life. The whole story is just about how Cinderella is beautiful enough to win over the prince in such a short time. But Cinder is not Cinderella. She totally wins over the prince, but it's with so much more than her looks. 
 - Adri, the stepmother character, was of course horrendous. But instead of just blindly hating Cinder, as she did in the source material, she at least has a reason, even if it's not exactly logical or fair. Her husband brought Cinder home without warning and died shortly after, from the plague. Adri blames Cinder for his death. Like I said, not logical, but at least it's a reason. 
 - The storytelling was lovely and engaging, if a bit simple. 
 - The whole thing is so unique and so refreshing in a sea of fairytale retellings. 
 Cons: 
 - I didn't have any! 
 Overall: This is my second time reading this series. Upon rereading, I bumped Cinder up to 5 stars from my previous 4 star rating and added it to my 'Favorites' shelf. It's such a fun and light read that still deals with some majorly important themes. The whole series is filled with strong female characters, as all modern fairy tale retellings really should have. Let's not perpetuate the idea that if you're meek, docile, and beautiful then you will magically earn a prince and live happily ever after. Let's instead show full formed humans with actual personalities and actual emotions who are strong enough to write their own stories.