Reading – Page 34 – Lyndsey Hall

Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder Marissa Meyer Review Lyndsey's Book Blog

Raise your hand if you’re years behind the curve and have only just gotten to the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer? *Raises hand*

I buddy-read Cinder with one of my Goodreads groups back in July and I actually burned through it way quicker than I should have and skipped ahead of the rest of the group. Sorry guys! But it’s a really great read if you love fairy tale retellings with a twist. Sci-fi isn’t usually my first choice, but I enjoyed this fresh take on a much-loved classic.

TL;DR Cinder, a cyborg, lives in New Beijing and works on a market stall as a mechanic. One day, the prince drops by with an android he needs her to take a look at, but a plague breakout shuts down the market. Cinder’s evil step-mother sells her to a medical study which is testing the plague on cyborgs and looking for a cure. There she discovers the truth about herself and the moon-residing beings called Lunars…

Cinder is set in a futuristic, fantasy version of China, and the Moon is now home to a colony of humanoid creatures called Lunars who possess the ability to manipulate Earthans. A deadly plague has killed thousands of people, and a medical study has been set up to test potential cures on cyborgs – people who are part human, part robot.

“I’m sure I’ll feel much more grateful when I find a guy who thinks complex wiring in a girl is a turn-on.”

As a cyborg, Cinder is treated like a second class citizen, not least by her step-mother, Adri, who blames her for the death of her father years earlier. After an outbreak of plague at a nearby stall forces Cinder to flee the market, and her sweet but spoilt step-sister Peony falls ill, Adri sells Cinder to the medical study out of spite. Desperate to help save her sister’s life, Cinder goes willingly and works with the doctors to discover why she didn’t become infected, but was able to pass the disease on to Peony.

“Imagine there was a cure, but finding it would cost you everything. It would completely ruin your life. What would you do?”

In the meantime, Cinder keeps bumping into the handsome and charming Prince Kai, whose android needs fixing after crashing in possession of an important message. Unfortunately, she’s a little busy being a test subject and trying to hide the fact she’s a cyborg from him to actually fix the robot. That is, until the Lunar Queen decides to make a rare visit to Earth, and specifically to New Beijing, to talk potential marriage plans with the King.

“Prince Kai! Check my fan, I think I’m overheating.”

And, what would any Cinderella retelling be without a ball? Prince Kai convinces Cinder to join him at the ball thrown in honour of the Lunar delegation’s visit, but with no dress and an old, ill-fitting robot foot, how can she possibly accompany the most eligible bachelor in the whole of the Eastern Commonwealth to the biggest party in decades?

“She was a cyborg, and she would never go to a ball.”

As fairy tale retellings go, Cinder is an incredibly inventive and fresh take on an old classic. There are just enough familiar elements to keep it in line with the original, and plenty of new twists to make it a fun read for fairy tale fans (the robot foot instead of a glass slipper is a cool update!).

I gave Cinder 3.5 stars, because whilst I enjoyed it I wasn’t gripped like I hoped. Usually fairy tale retellings are my jam, but sci-fi isn’t, so I didn’t love this one as much as I wanted to. I still plan to carry on reading the rest of the series as that cliffhanger ending was a killer! And I’m hoping to enjoy each book more and more as I get accustomed to the sci-fi elements and get more invested in the characters.

Have you read the Lunar Chronicles? Did you instantly love them, or does the series get better with each book? I’m hoping to read Scarlet next year at some point, once my raging TBR starts to dwindle. Maybe I’ll love another protagonist better, I’m not sure what it was about Cinder that just didn’t click with me, so maybe me and Scarlet will get along better!

Lyndsey

Ten of my favourite autumnal reads

Good day fellow readers and writers! It’s Tuesday and we all know what that means, another edition of Top Ten Tuesdays by The Broke and the Bookish. If you’re new here and you’ve never heard of TTT, pop along to the lovely ladies’ blog and educate yourself, son!

It’s a brilliant weekly meme where we all choose ten books/characters/etc. on a particular theme. This week, as the nights draw in and the weather turns decidedly chilly (here in the UK, at least), the theme is Autumn.

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

Look at that cover! It screams Autumn to me, like bonfires and caramels and toffee apples. This is a sci-fi dystopian about sixteen year old Ruby, who survives a deadly illness that kills most American children, and the survivors discover they’ve been left with strange new abilities. It sounds like the perfect dark read for the longer nights and cooler days.

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

Who doesn’t love a gentle evening stroll once the stars come out? Even if death is following in the shadows… They Both Die at the End is a contemporary about two boys, Mateo and Rufus, who find out they are going to die on the same day, so they decide to spend it together and make it a last day worth living.

Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson

Autumn brings with it some of the most beautiful sunsets, and as they’re so early we’re much more likely to be able to enjoy them! Plus, this girl’s dress is either on fire or full of magic, so there’s that. Walk on Earth a Stranger is the first in the Gold Seer trilogy, which follows Lee Westfall, a girl who can sense gold in the environment – nuggets in riverbeds, veins of it running through the earth (handy in Gold-Rush era America). Her ability has kept her family alive through many a harsh winter, but it might just put them in the gravest danger if someone finds out…

All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater

This cover is pretty abstract, but the combination of colours strikes me as autumnal. This is a sort of modern fairy tale about a family of miracle workers who live on a ranch in Colorado, the Sorias. The miracles they perform consist of exposing the deepest, darkest secrets of their clients so that they can overcome them, but unfortunately the Sorias are not permitted to help them do so. If they do, they will be punished. Maggie’s speciality is strange and magical settings, characters with flaws and layers, and fantastical elements unlike any you’ve ever read about.

A Shiver of Snow and Sky by Lisa Lueddecke

I’ve thrown a few wintery book covers into the mix, so fingers crossed there isn’t a Winter themed Top Ten Tuesday in a few months or I might struggle to find ten books without duplicating! A Shiver of Snow and Sky is set on a remote island called Skane, the description gives me a very Scandinavian vibe. The sky lights up with colours that indicate different messages – green means all is well, blue a snow storm is coming, and red is a warning. Doesn’t that sound like the Aurora Borealis? Perfect reading material for frosty nights under a blanket with a mug of hot chocolate.

Whichwood by Tahereh Mafi

Look at that gloriously wintery cover! This is a companion novel to Furthermore, so check that one out too, but both can be read as standalones. Laylee spends her days washing the bodies of the dead and preparing their souls for the afterlife. Her own mother passed away, leaving her alone with her father who is driven mad with grief. Laylee’s own sadness and loneliness are causing her hands to stiffen and turn silver, like her hair, until a pair of strangers turn up in the village and she rediscovers colour, magic and the healing power of friendship.

The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

There’s nothing like a walk through nature in the Autumn months, kicking piles of russet leaves and collecting shiny conkers. The Darkest Part of the Forest sounds right up my street – a strange town where humans and fae live side-by-side, a glass coffin deep in the woods containing the body of a horned fae-boy, who has slept for eternity. Until now. It sounds very Steifvater, I must say, which I obviously love.

The Girl of Ink and Stars by Karen Millwood Hargrave

I think this is the only Middle Grade book on this list, but I can’t resist a good fantasy, and this one centres on a cartographer’s daughter on an island filled with monsters. And just look at that gorgeous orange cover! Girl of Ink and Stars has won several awards for children’s literature, so I’ve definitely got to give it a chance, even if I tend to lean towards more mature reads.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

Another contemporary! I know what you’re thinking, it’s unlike me to include more than one contemporary novel in any list, but I’m trying to expand my horizons, alright? Let me try. And that evening sky is just beautiful. So, Ari and Dante are two teens who meet at the pool and gradually realise they have more in common than they first thought. They’re both loners, but one is a rebel and one is a geek (or so I understand from the blurb). Their friendship comes to change both their lives beyond recognition.

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

This cover might look slightly more summery than the others, but the story sounds very wintery indeed. Set in the Russian wilderness, where winter lasts for most of the year and snow drifts are taller than houses, Vasilisa loves to sit round the fire with her siblings and listen to her nurse telling them fairy tales. When her mother dies and her new step-mother forbids them from performing the rituals that protect the household from the bad luck and misfortune threatened by their stories, Vasilisa must expose her long hidden ability to protect her loved ones.

These are all books I’m yet to read, but I can’t wait to get to them all, I’m sure I won’t manage by the time Spring rolls around, but a few wouldn’t be too much of a stretch. Would it? We’ll see!

Which books are you looking forward to reading this A/W? Pop your TTT links in the comments so I can check out your lists!

Lyndsey

Review: Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

It’s been a couple of months since I read Nevernight now, but I just downloaded the audiobook of Godsgrave and I’m so excited to dive back into this world!

I’d never read any of Jay Kristoff’s books before Nevernight, but I’ve heard good things about the Illuminae series, and Nevernight sounded right up my street. Luckily, it absolutely was! I haven’t read a new fantasy series this good in ages.

TL;DR At just eight years old, Mia Corvere watched her father die. Since then she has trained with her mentor in preparation for applying to enter the Red Church, a group of skilled assassins who live under a mountain. Her long term plan is revenge against the men who killed her dad. Her short term plan is surviving her training.

I’m not sure what I expected from this book, but it definitely wasn’t what I got. The Red Church is basically Hogwarts for teen murderers, and I am here for it. Mia is a wonderfully conflicted mini murderess, whose pet is an undead sort of shadow cat called Mister Kindly. He’s a sarcastic bundle of not-fur. Have you run out to buy this book yet? Just go, you won’t regret it.

“’Never Flinch.’ A cold whisper in her ear. ‘Never fear. And never, ever forget.'”

The classes Mia takes sound utterly fascinating and also deadly, subjects like poisons, weapons training and the art of seduction (because every professional killer needs a few good chat up lines and a come-hither smile). The teachers are mysterious and ruthless, it’s a wonder any of the kids survive their first semester, let alone graduate to become fully-fledged assassins.

“You’ll be a rumor. A whisper. The thought that wakes the bastards of this world sweating in the nevernight. The last thing you will ever be, girl, is someone’s hero.”

Unfortunately, only two of the class can become Blades (super lethal assassin types) after graduation, the rest must stay under the mountain and basically become their servants. Is it any wonder someone is killing off Mia’s class mates one by one? But is it just a ploy to win one of the two coveted Blade positions, or is something bigger going on in the Red Church?

Kristoff’s world-building is crazy amazing in this series, which just adds to the other-worldliness and mystery of the plot and characters. Three suns rise and set over Godsgrave, the city built amongst the bones of a long-dead god, meaning it’s almost never night (hence the title). One of those suns is red, casting a bloody glow over everything every now and then. Kristoff actually got an astrophysicist friend to design a trinary solar system for him, so the whole concept is very accurate and well imagined. A day is called a turn, because the planet still turns even if the sun doesn’t set (I imagine it’s supposed to be at least somewhat similar to Earth, so a day is roughly 24 hours). I just loved the little details the author included, they really make the story feel fully formed.

“The brighter the light, the deeper the shadow.”

There’s a lot of Italian influence in the novel, which you might have guessed from Mia’s name. I wonder whether the strong themes of religion inspired the choice? Either way, it helps to anchor the stranger elements of the world and story in something/somewhere we can all imagine, even if you haven’t visited Italy or the Vatican.

You might have guessed by now, but this is a very graphic series, both violently and sexually. The characters are around sixteen, but this is definitely not YA. In the world of the story, children don’t seem to get much of a childhood, and they are much older and wiser than their years as a result of the environment they’re raised in, so 16 is more like 18, or even older, in the novel.

“The books we love, they love us back. And just as we mark our places in the pages, those pages leave their marks on us.”

I can’t think of a single thing I didn’t like about Nevernight, it was gripping and twisty and stabby and I loved every minute of it. The ending was a surprise, and I’m desperate to get stuck into Godsgrave to see if everything we’re told at the end of book one is true, fingers crossed some of it was just a ruse (no spoilers!).

I’m giving Nevernight five stars because it’s probably my favourite book I’ve read so far this year, I honestly couldn’t get enough of it and must have listened to it every chance I got. I was devastated when it finished and I had to wait three months for the sequel to come out! Definitely read this if you like super dark fantasy with rich world building and plenty of stabbing and sexy times. If you’re not so cool with the graphic elements or swearing, maybe steer clear. But you’ll be missing out 😉

Lyndsey

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