First Review

Cinder, by Marissa Meyer is an enjoyable debut. A dystopian take on a classic fairy tale (actually, a few fairy tales find their way into this novel), it has well developed characters and an entertaining plot.

There are a few plot elements that are perhaps not worked out as well as they could be (if the queen holds the power that she does, why doesn't she just take over?) but they will surely be worked out over the course of the 4 part series. The reader knows who Cinder is almost from the beginning, but that doesn't spoil the novel at all. In fact it made me anxious, wondering when she would find out and how the author would develop that element.

Too many YA novels are turned into series, when one novel would have sufficed. Cinder is fortunately an exception. The pacing was well done, with nothing dragging merely to create a series.

I wanted to read the book quickly, yet at the same time I didn't want to finish knowing the second book isn't sitting on my nightstand.

I highly recommend Cinder.