The Art of Reading

Summary:

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless Lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . . Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg.

She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

My Thoughts:

The Good:
-the world-building
-Lunars!
-tracing the overlapping plot points from the original Cinderella

The Bad:
-it was just too similar to other mediocre 2010’s fantasy/dystopians like Red Queen and Legend
-i saw the plot twists coming from MILES away
-Kai, remind me who wants this guy leading their country?
-the “romance”
-i know this book was written pre-COVID, but i just have a really hard time getting invested in books featuring plagues these days

Overall, this one falls into my category of ‘popular books that disappointed me’ and I’m gutted because I wanted to love it so bad!! After hearing so many people rave about this series AND me being an avid Marissa Meyer and fairy-tale retellings fan I thought for sure I was set up for a new favorite. But, though it was enjoyable, at the end of the day I just found it to be pretty unremarkable. I haven’t decided whether or not I want to continue with this series yet. If you’ve read the rest and think it gets better from here let me know, otherwise I might call it a day. And if, like me, you aren’t a fan of popular books like Red Queen or Legend, then I would personally recommend skipping this one and checking out some of Marissa Meyer’s other works instead. Happy Reading 🙂