YA Book Pick: CINDER by Marissa Meyer

Once a month, we choose an outstanding YA book to review. We want to spotlight books of interest to aspiring writers, as well as highlight some of our favorite books and authors!

This month's Book Pick is CINDER by Marissa Meyer.

Synopsis (from Goodreads): 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.

First Line: "The screw through Cinder's ankle had rusted, the engraved cross marks worn to a mangled circle."

This first line gives you an immediate impression of the main character. She obviously has something physically different about her, or she wouldn't have a screw through her ankle. The author also plants the idea that Cinder is poor by mentioning that the screw is rusted. It makes me want to read on and find out why!

Highlights: Although "cyborg Cinderella" is a good enough hook for just about anyone, this book is also a good example of the dystopian genre. It's set in the future, after a world war has devastated much of the world and completely changed political boundaries. The author did a good job of avoiding the dreaded infodump, instead doling out bits of information throughout the book that kept me hooked and interested.

The main character is mechanically inclined and very competent, which I liked a lot. No damsel in distress here. The romantic plotline is also well-crafted. The protagonists' attraction to each other is believable, and so are the reasons they are kept apart.

The book ends on a dramatic cliffhanger, which made me want to pick up the next book immediately. From the synopses, it looks like the other books in Meyer's series each follow different fairy-tale characters who end up interacting with Cinder and each other. This seems like an intriguing way to do a series that might be more interesting than just following the same character throughout multiple novels.

A Good Read For: Writers of fairy-tale retellings, this would be a great read for you. The author loosely follows the Cinderella story, but she adds so much of her own spin that I honestly forgot about it after a while. She did an excellent job of blending just enough of the familiar with interesting new concepts to keep the reader hooked.

YA Book Pick: ENTWINED

Once a month, we choose an outstanding YA book to review. We want to spotlight books of interest to aspiring writers, as well as highlight some of our favorite books and authors!

This month's Book Pick is ENTWINED by Heather Dixon. (She gets bonus points for the most adorable website EVER.)

Synopsis (from Goodreads): Azalea is trapped. Just when she should feel that everything is before her . . . beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing . . . it's taken away. All of it.

The Keeper understands. He's trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. And so he extends an invitation.

Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest.

But there is a cost.

The Keeper likes to keep things.

Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late.

First Line: "An hour before Azalea's first ball began, she paced the bedroom floor, tracing her toes in a waltz."

This is a great first line. In very few words, it introduces us to the main character, gives us an idea of her age ("her first ball" would seem to indicate she's on the verge of womanhood), and lets us know that dancing is going to be important in the book.

Highlights: ENTWINED is an imaginative retelling of the Grimm fairy tale "The Twelve Dancing Princesses." I must confess to never being a particular fan of the original story, but this book had me hooked from the very beginning. Heather Dixon's writing is fluid and easy to read.

The villain is wonderfully creepy. Azalea's initial infatuation with him makes sense--but the reader is right there with her as she starts to realize everything is not as it seems, and by the end of the book, we're just as freaked out by him as she is.

And isn't the cover gorgeous? I know we're not supposed to judge... but I have to admit, I saw this book in a bookstore and had to have it, before I'd so much as opened it.

Notes for Writers: I was especially impressed by how the author handled the romance in this book. The romantic subplots for the older girls are done exactly right--I really believed in each, and they felt organic and real.

Dixon also uses a clever method to help keep the girls straight: each of the twelve is named after a flower, and they are in alphabetical order from oldest to youngest. This ensures the reader isn't overwhelmed by the sheer number of main characters.

A Good Read For: Fans of fairy-tale retellings, and writers who want to see romance and villainy done extremely well.