Find my reviews on Blogger ~ Reviews by Bookish Sarah 
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 3.5 stars 
 In this futuristic retelling of Cinderella, we follow the story of Cinder. Cinder is a mechanic, but more importantly; she's a cyborg. Half -human, half-machine. After a tragic accident when she was 11 years old (one she doesn't even have memories of), she was repaired by surgeons and made cyborg. 
 In this dystopian future, cyborgs are treated as less than people. They are treated virtually as slaves and viewed as inferior. Such is the case with Cinder. She has no parents, and was taken into the care of a man who died shortly after bringing her to New Beijing - leaving her with her wicked stepmother and stepsister. Adri, and Pearl. There is one bright spot in their home though - and that is stepsister number two; Peony. 
 One day while working her mechanic stall at the local market, THE Prince Kai of New Beijing shows up requesting her help with an android. Cinder is dumbstruck! Not only is he there at her booth (incognito, of course!), but he is as charming as can be. After Cinder is done falling all over herself in awe, and plans are made to fix the royal android - the prince takes his leave, but then Cinder hears a scream. A scream that Cinder quickly realizes means something very bad. 
 Someone at the market has the plague, also known as Letumosis. A disease with no cure, that kills the host in four stages. It's sweeping through not only New Beijing, but all of Earth. 
 Then, the worst happens. The plague hits home. Cinder is out at the junkyard searching for parts with her beloved stepsister Peony, when she sees a dark spot on Peony's skin. A dark spot that can only be the plague. Cinder has no choice but to call quarantine. She then watches as her poor sister is carted away, and is left feeling that Peony catching the plague can only be her fault. 
 Cinder's horrid stepmother agrees. Since Cinder is her "property", she volunteers her for plague research. Cinder is taken away to take part in research that's killed every cyborg ever to be used in it. 
 In the meantime, all of the commonwealth is readying themselves for the ball and the coronation of the prince. Cinder never truly thought she would go to the ball, but it seems that even the tiny flame of hope she had left has just been doused. Cinder didn't think her "life" could get any worse, but long-held secrets are about to be revealed, and Cinder will find out she isn't just a cyborg, but something much, much worse. 
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 I had a love-hate relationship with Cinder. I always love futuristic ideas - androids, cyborgs, hovercars, dystopia, etc. I just love all of that being put together here. I think the world-building was done really well. A clear, crisp landscape was created for this story. A+ on that aspect. 
 Character building, however, was not so great. We know next to nothing about Cinder, Prince Kai, or the supporting characters. Now, Cinder doesn't have memory of her life before age 11, when she became cyborg - but still, the development of her personality and experience living in New Beijing could have been shown a bit more. Same goes for Prince Kai! We know he has a temper problem, but at the same time he's a doormat. His royal adviser treats him like a little kid all through the book and he lets him do it. I hated that. I kept waiting for him to put the guy in his place, but it never came! That one little thing made Kai less of a hero to me. *shrug* Aside from that, I really don't feel I know anything at all about Kai. Charming, sure - handsome, yeah. What else though? 
 I do have to say that the descriptions of Cinder's machine aspects was so fun! I liked the way her "brain" (interface) would tell her things. Like if her body temperature was getting too high, if she had too much adrenaline going through her, and best of all - if someone was telling her a lie. Very neat. :) 
 The romance was subtle, and I felt like it was realistic enough, but still had a magical aspect to it. The intense moments between Kai and Cinder were really fantastic. A+ there! 
 I didn't like the way we were left with a big, fat question mark on the outcome of the "relationship" though. Not only that, though - almost everything just dropped off! A cliffhanger is one thing, but this book just completely left you going "OH MY GOSH, WHAT HAPPENED?!" - and NOT in the good way. Sadly, I am more angry than anxious for the second installment. I feel that the author could have written the ending a little differently. It was like going to a commercial break during a TV show. Something else needs to happen to wrap up the episode, ya know? It needs something more to leave you satisfied! 
 Overall, I did like this book. I plan on reading the next installment when it's released. I teetered between 3 stars and 3.5 stars. I decided on the rating I did because this was a very fun book. I think it was a great beginning of a retelling, but since it's first in a series... you don't get to see if the retelling aspect continues to be good until you get to read the rest of the installments. I almost think this book should have been a stand-alone novel. There are many different ways for the plot to take though, as there is a lot more going on than just Cinder and her could-be love with the prince. LOTS! I'd recommend it to people who enjoy futuristic and dystopian novels, but aren't too picky about details, because if you are nit-picky, you will just be angry after reading this book. 
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 ARC source: NetGalley.com, publisher Macmillan Children's Publishing Group.