Julia Christianson

This week’s Friday Media Review is about Cinder, a young adult novel by Marissa Meyer that was published in 2012.

From one’s very first view of the cover, the fairy tale that this story is supposed to parallel becomes obvious – that is, if you couldn’t guess from the name “Cinder.” Indeed, this book is clearly a retelling of the Cinderella story – but don’t expect it to be your average bedtime story couched in different words. From the first few paragraphs you can feel the gritty texture of this new world:

“The screw through Cinder’s ankle had rusted, the engraved cross marks worn to a mangled circle. Her knuckles ached from forcing the screwdriver into the joint as she struggled to loosen the screw one gritting twist after another. By the time it was extracted far enough for her to wrench free with her prosthetic steel hand, the hairline threads had been stripped clean.
“Tossing the screwdriver onto the table, Cinder gripped her heel and yanked the foot from its socket. A spark singed her fingertips and she jerked away, leaving the foot to dangle from a tangle of red and yellow wires.”

This iteration of Cinderella is no delicate blossom. Instead, she is a mechanic living in the bustle and crush of futuristic New Beijing. Cyborgs such as Linh Cinder are considered little more than property, unable to travel or live on their own. Her stepsisters and antagonistic stepmother depend on her work to provide income on which all of them must live. There are various parallels with the Cinderella story: the handsome prince, the ball to which everyone is invited, Cinder’s hidden identity, and the lost “shoe” – in Cinder’s case, lost prosthetic foot. However, the parallels are almost eclipsed by the greater strokes of the story, and often serve only as checkpoints for the plot – guaranteed tidbits that work into the greater whole.

In Cinder’s world, a plague is spreading that kills all whom it infects. Cyborgs can be “volunteered” by their families to be infected with the plague and used to test for a cure – with the family receiving appropriate compensation for their loss, of course. When Peony, one of Cinder’s stepsisters, is infected, Cinder’s stepmother does just that – only to discover that Cinder has a mysterious immunity to the plague. However, as the doctor rushes to find a way to share her immunity with the ailing sovereign, everything rests on the young Prince Kai – who may have to make an allegiance with the hated Lunars to obtain a cure for his people.

Cinder’s journey takes her to the scene of the ball and to a confrontation with the Lunar Queen. The book ends on a distinct cliffhanger, entirely intentionally – there are three more books advertised for the series, with the next one projected for release in 2013. It will be intriguing to see where the author goes with this series, since in the first book she covered all of the parallels to the story of Cinderella. From here on out her work will be entirely original – and, having set the stage in a gripping and dangerous world, there’s no guarantee of what will happen in the end.

Marissa Meyer’s work reminds me of Shannon Hale’s Books of Bayern. Shannon Hale started with a spin on The Goose Girl, a fairy tale. Over the course of four books she created an immersive and exciting world that broke new ground and was filled with interesting places populated by interesting people. I feel that this series has the potential to do the same – to develop outside the box of what Cinderella teaches us and to bring out new views on life and how the world is and could be.

There were a few things I really liked about Cinder. First of all, Cinder’s character is appealing and relatable. Her life is far from perfect, and she struggles with fear, problems and insecurities, but she does the best she can with what she has, and is providing for her family to boot. I also liked Cinder’s relationship with Peony, her stepsister. While most of the stories that parallel Cinderella make the stepsisters out to be evil or repugnant, Peony is sweet and supportive of Cinder. The warmth of that relationship does much to inspire and guide Cinder through the story.

Another thing I liked (which is somewhat unusual for me) is that there are consequences and really terrible things in Cinder’s world, up to and including death. The portrayal of these things is intense without being disgusting, and makes you realize that this is no creampuff story – there’s meat here, and blood, oil, and tears. Yet these challenges provide a chance for Cinder to show her depth and growth, and succeed – or fail – in realistic situations. For all her toughness, Cinder is still a teenage girl, and that makes her all the more relatable.

There were a few things that I didn’t like about the story. (This section has SPOILERS, so skip this paragraph if you want to read the book!) One thing that bugged me was that Cinder is –  unbeknownst to herself – a princess. This irritates me. The appeal of the Cinderella story is that the main character is not a princess; she is merely a truly wonderful girl who of her own merit wins the prince’s heart. If Cinder is a princess, that undercuts her relatability and makes her unlike, rather than like, her readers. Also, I feel that the “princess” card has been played far too often in literature, and unless there’s a very good reason in the story for the girl to be a princess, I wonder if the author is just writing Mary-Sue-like wish fulfillment into the story. It could be that Marissa Meyer will surprise me later on with the appropriateness of the title – but we’ll see. A second thing that bothered me about the story was that Cinder has no other strong female characters on whom she can depend. All the other strong female characters are hostile towards her; and the women around her who support her are all weak, transient, or both. This does not bode well for her future, nor for her readers – it’s not the best lesson to teach girls that you have to do everything yourself, and that other women will compete with you just because you’re a woman. It will be interesting to see where this series goes in the upcoming books.

In summary, Cinder is an unusual take on an old story, and is a tantalizing first book in an intriguing new series. It is worth a look for anyone who likes young adult and fantasy fiction, and promises good installments to come.