I’m going to go right out and say it: The Lunar Chronicles is probably one of my favorite series of all time, even years after reading it for the first time. It’s packed with action, humor, drama, and romance, and the whole cast of characters—and it gets to be a pretty big cast, after a point—is amazing, with everyone being interesting and unique. Not a single one of them struck me as dull or boring, which isn’t all that easy to find in a series with so many characters in it.

Cinder is the first book of the four-book series—plus a novella, some short stories, some comics, and a new interactive story that came out a year or so ago. It’s basically like Cinderella meets Star Wars, and the result is even better than it sounds. 

Well, let’s get to it then.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer Overview

Cinder stars Linh Cinder, a sixteen-year-old cyborg mechanic based on Cinderella, who has spent most of her life living in the city of New Beijing with her cruel stepmother and her two stepsisters. 

With a mysterious past and a half-cybernetic body, Cinder has always been a bit of an outcast, hated by her stepmother and viewed by many as an inferior due to her being a cyborg. Despite all of this, she’s managed to build a reputation for herself as New Beijing’s finest mechanic, and her work is known throughout the city.

So well known, in fact, that it brings the charming Prince Kai, the son of New Beijing’s emperor, to her market stall one day, seeking her help in repairing a royal android. 

As Cinder’s fate intertwines with Kai’s, a deadly plague ravishes the world, and the ruthless Lunars watch on from their homeworld of Luna, their presence a constant threat to the weakening people of Earth. Queen Levana, the ruler of the Lunars, stands poised to strike, waiting only for the right opportunity.

It’s not long before Cinder finds herself wrapped up in the middle of the conflict, and learns that the fate of her world may well rest on her shoulders.

Personal Thoughts

Cinder is one of those characters that you just kind of want to keep reading about. Her past is slowly revealed throughout the story, and her sarcastic sense of humor makes for a fun read all around. 

It is worth noting though that, if you end up going on with the series, the main point of view character changes in every book. Cinder is still in it a lot, don’t get me wrong, and she’s still the hero in the end, but each book introduces and focuses primarily on a different character. (All of them young women based on other fairy tale characters—and awesome in their own right.) 

This was also one of the first YA books that I ever read, and I personally think that it’s a great book for first-time YA readers, whether you’re a teen just coming in from reading middle-grade or an adult who’s thinking of giving YA a shot. It’s not as intense as some YA books can be, making it good for younger audiences, and it features a lot of the best themes and tropes that the genre has to offer.

Okay, well, that’s about it for this month’s reading recommendation article. I hope that you’ve enjoyed it, and that you’ll come back to check out next month’s recommendation. Or, if you’ve already read Cinder, feel free to look into some of the similar books that I’ve listed below.

Until next time, happy reading!

Books Similar to Cinder

• Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
• Heartless by Marissa Meyer
• Renegades by Marissa Meyer