Cinder

By Marissa Meyer
Genre: Science fiction
Rating: 4 1/4 stars

This is a retelling of Cinderella and how many of THOSE have there been?  Well, I can't recall the last one that took place in the future and our heroine was a cyborg, so there's that. Cinder has no memory from before she was 11 years old and in some kind of accident which resulted in the surgery that added many cyborg parts and lost Cinder her parents.  She was adopted, but the man who brought her back to New Beijing died shortly afterwards, leaving Cinder with her bitter stepmother and two stepsisters.  Cinder happens to be a crack mechanic, bringing in all the family money, and meets handsome Prince Kai when he brings her his favorite robot to repair. That doesn't stop her dream of escaping, maybe with her favorite stepsister, Peony. But when Peony comes down with the dreaded plague, her stepmother sells Cinder for research, which is when Cinder discovers the astonishing news that she is immune to the plague...and there's a reason.  You may think you know Cinderella, but there's some twists to this tale you may not be expecting.  And for better or worse, this story leaves you on a cliffhanger for there is going to be a sequel. If you like fairy tale retellings, scifi and a bit of romance, this is a story you'll eat up.