Okay, so I'll be honest: going into this book, I was a little skeptical about how everything would play out. I mean, I'm all for fairytle retellings, but a cyborg Cinderella? Moon people? A big plague that has wiped out a big percentage of the population and New Bejing? Hmm . . . This is a very strange summary. How could all this possibly center around the classic story of Cinderella? You know, the slave of mean stepsisters and a stepmother that went to ball and left before midnight, leaving behind a glass slipper that the prince used to track her down? 
 So, basically I was hoping that this novel would be amusing; I wasn't expecting to be blown away or anything. But, let me tell you, I WAS. Cinder was a strong and awesome heroine, and the whole plot really did follow the classic Cinderella nicely. This may be my new favorite retelling. 
 I loved Kai. And I really felt for him; he was under so much presssure to do a good job at being Emporer, but Queen Levana was constantly manipulating him and trapping him. He was sweet and he was honorable, and his romance with Cinder was really quiet interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing how their relationship progesses, especially since the book ended with the pair being on such bad terms with each other. 
 I also appreciated that one of the stepsisters, Peony, was actually Cinder's friend. And I liked knowing why the stepmother was so evil. I mean, in the original fairytale, she's just mean for apparently no reason. In Cinder, she's not the way she in for no reason. It really added depth to her character. 
 I hear that the sequels are going to center around other fairytales, and I'm super excited to read them! Really looking forward to Scarlet - and the end of the series, where Queen Levana will hopefully go down in flames. 
 This is a solid five star novel. I can't think of anything that annoyed me at all.