Cinder
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, but mostly a forbidden love, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world's future.
Where Cinder keeps showing up
Two of our editors' lists feature this novel.
Books in conversation with Cinder
A few of the closest reads from our full list.
What you might want to know about Cinder
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Cyborg mechanic Cinder is the best in plague-ridden New Beijing, owned by her stepmother and despised by all but one stepsister. When Prince Kai brings her a broken android, the empire's politics walk in with him.
Marissa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles has four main books, Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter, plus a prequel novel Fairest, a story collection Stars Above, and a graphic novel sequel Wires and Nerve.
Yes. Cinder reimagines Cinderella as a cyborg mechanic in a future Beijing. Each subsequent book in The Lunar Chronicles retells a different fairy tale: Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Snow White.
Cinder was written by Marissa Meyer, published in 2012 by כנרת.
Cinder is 416 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Cinder takes most readers 6 to 9 hours to finish.
Cinder is a standalone novel by Marissa Meyer, not part of a series.
Cinder is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
