I am a big fan of fairy tale re-tellings and I did enjoy this book when I originally picked it up in 2012. However, upon re-reading I have a few more problems with it than I did a couple years ago. Perhaps I have become more jaded with the world or just have different tastes now than I did then, but that is an entirely different story. This book was okay. I enjoyed it, but did not think it was anything really special. The world building has the potential to be intriguing, but it was never really explored beyond just a superficial understanding that the world is set in the future after World War IV ravages the Earth.I just wanted to be more immersed in the world. The characters did not seem to have any particular complexity. 
 The characters again were both just okay. Cinder never grows as a character and neither does Kai. They just come to different realizations at the end of the novel. I never really found myself rooting for anyone. The perceptions that they had of the world and the people around them just felt so fixed which can be okay if executed well, but I was looking for more growth from the characters featuring POV's in the novel. 
 Also, this novel suffers from a serious case of "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orienta... Orientalism, which if you don't want to click through the link means a Western perception of the west as seeing Eastern cultures as being somehow less than their Western counterparts and thus easily reproduced. Even thought the novel is set in New Beijing, it is still predicated on a Western understanding of the world and culture. The only references to Chinese culture are used sparingly such as the family using chopsticks or the structure of the gardens around the palace. There is no attempt to understand the culture that the novel is based in, but it instead feels like the novel was just placed in New Beijing half-haphazardly. It felt superficial. 
 One of the most intriguing premises of the novel had to be the integration of the prejudices surrounding the cyborgs and androids, but it was never explained or fleshed out (pardon the pun). I wanted to know why there were particular prejudices constructed around people who had been saved by technology in a world that appeared to fully embrace the luxuries that technology had provided them. I wanted to know why androids, who could develop personalities over time, were considered to be lesser. I wanted to know how Cinder viewed her humanity in light of her cybernetic implants. She never seemed to questions whether or not she was human in connection with her perception of her cyborg parts. I think the novel would have been strengthened if some of these had been explored, but there is potential for them to be addressed in the following additions to this series. 
 I will be continuing with this series as I am interested to see how Meyer develops as a writer. This is her first novel, so I expect to see some growth in her writing style, world building and character development.