A Curse So Dark and Lonely
Brigid Kemmerer
Like Cinder's Cinderella update, this Beauty and the Beast retelling drops a modern girl into a cursed kingdom, mixing romance, royal duty and a threatening enchantress.
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★★★★★4.5 (8)
A cyborg Cinderella in a plague-stricken future Beijing, Cinder turns a familiar fairy tale into brisk, inventive science fiction with political intrigue and real stakes.
What It's About
Cinder is the first book in Marissa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles, a young adult series that reimagines classic fairy tales as science fiction. Its heroine is a teenage mechanic in New Beijing, a sprawling city of the future. She is a cyborg, part machine, which makes her a second-class citizen in the eyes of the law and of the stepmother who controls her life. When Prince Kai brings her a broken android to repair, she is pulled into a crisis much bigger than herself. A deadly plague is spreading, and the Lunars, moon-dwelling people ruled by the manipulative Queen Levana, are pressing Earth toward war.
Meyer keeps the bones of Cinderella recognizable: the cruel stepfamily, the royal ball, a famous lost shoe. She fills them with androids, medical experiments, diplomacy, and a mystery about Cinder's own past. The fun lies partly in spotting how each familiar element has been transformed, and partly in watching a capable, sarcastic heroine fix things rather than wait to be rescued.
The prose is clean and fast, with short chapters and frequent cliffhangers that make it an easy book to race through. Romance is present but gentle, and the tone balances humor with genuine grief and danger. It reads as the opening act of a larger story. Some threads are left open on purpose, so expect to want the sequels.
Read this if you…
- love fairy-tale retellings with a fresh, inventive twist
- want a fast, bingeable start to a complete young adult series
- enjoy science fiction that mixes romance, politics, and mystery
Skip it if you…
- want hard science fiction with rigorous worldbuilding
- dislike books that end on open threads and need sequels to resolve
Key Ideas
- 1
A fairy tale rebuilt as science fiction
Meyer keeps Cinderella's emotional core of an overlooked girl, a cruel household, and a prince, but swaps magic for technology and politics. Her missing foot is a cyborg part, and her fairy godmother role is filled by unexpected allies. The pleasure comes from recognizing the old story while being surprised by how it plays out in a futuristic setting.
- 2
Prejudice against those seen as less human
Cyborgs in New Beijing are treated as property or experiments rather than full people, and Cinder carries constant shame about her body. The book uses this to explore discrimination, bodily autonomy, and self-worth in a way that younger readers can grasp without it feeling like a lecture, and it gives Cinder's ordinary choices real weight.
- 3
Power, propaganda, and manipulation
Queen Levana and her people can manipulate how others perceive them, which makes her a threat that cannot be fought with strength alone. Prince Kai must handle diplomacy, public opinion, and a plague while barely an adult. The political plot adds stakes beyond romance and sets up a much larger conflict for the rest of the series.
- 4
A heroine defined by competence
Cinder is a mechanic who solves problems with her hands and her wits. She is wry, guarded, and often wrong about what she wants, but she acts rather than waits. That practical, slightly prickly personality is a big part of why the book stands out from more passive takes on the Cinderella figure.
Limitations
The biggest reveal is easy for experienced readers to guess well before Cinder does, which can make the final act feel slow to arrive. The futuristic Asian setting is lightly sketched, and some readers find it more backdrop than lived-in culture. The science is loose, and the romance follows familiar young adult patterns. Because this is book one, much of the plot is setup. The story clearly continues in Scarlet, Cress, and Winter, so readers wanting a standalone may feel shortchanged.
Questions Readers Ask
- What age group is Cinder for?
- It is shelved as young adult and generally suits readers around 12 and up. Violence and illness are present but not graphic, and the romance is limited to kisses and longing. Plenty of adults enjoy it too, especially fans of retellings, since the writing is accessible and the plot moves quickly.
- Is Queen Levana's backstory told in Cinder?
- No. In Cinder, Levana is a looming villain seen mostly from the outside. Her origin story is told in Fairest, a separate prequel novella about her early life. Most readers recommend finishing at least the first three main books before reading Fairest, since it works best once you know who she becomes.
- Do I need to read the whole Lunar Chronicles?
- Cinder resolves its immediate plot but leaves the central conflict open, so most readers continue. The series is complete, with Scarlet, Cress, and Winter each adding a new retold heroine while following Cinder's larger story. If you like the first book, the sequels are generally considered as good or better.
What Creators Say About Cinder
Reviews from readers on YouTube. Their opinions are their own.
- Published
- 2013
- ISBN
- 9781250007209
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Category
- Children's Books
Book details and cover from Google Books.
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