Cinder by Marissa Meyer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Honestly, it wasn't that bad a novel, but I do take a few exceptions.

First of all, it seriously didn't need to be a full series. No added wars or plagues or hidden superpowers beyond what my favorite fairy cyberneticist could have offered me. (Although, being the MC AND the fairy cyberneticist is a cool twist.)

I would have been perfectly on-board with less twisty and stronger direct re-telling of the Cinderella classic done heavy SF. Hell, the story could have been showcased and glorified with a wonderful climax in the way that only losing and regaining your artificial limb could be when Prince Charming (Kai) comes running to your rescue.

I love wish-fulfillment stories. I don't care if it's a change-in-circumstance story or a change-in-self story, I'm a sucker for this stuff.

But. This novel was just too jumbled with all the common-ass tropes of YA lit, almost a bucket-list of plot-points designed to bloat a clear and gorgeous little tale-turned-SF into a multi-volume cash-cow. What could have been a clear and beautiful novella or short novel was thus turned into an interplanetary war.

Aren't we tired of flimsy plots of interplanetary war, yet? No, I guess that's really popular with the young crowd these days, as long as we've got cyborgs and plagues, right? I guess I'm just sorry that this couldn't have been a more grown-up treatment, because I liked quite a bit about it.

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