#16: Marissa Meyer, Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1)

[kareila]

I had read this book once before many years ago, but wanted to return to it now that the series was complete. For those who don't know, it's a sci-fi reimagining of the Cinderella story. Cinder is a mechanic who is treated with contempt by her stepmother because she is a cyborg, not seen as fully human. She lives in the city of New Beijing in the Commonwealth of China, one of eight surviving Earth nations following World War IV. There are two main threats to the welfare of the citizenry: a plague with no antidote, and a power-mad extraterrestrial queen who is prepared to declare war on Earth if the Commonwealth's crown prince does not agree to marry her. Of course Cinder and the prince meet and fall in love, but the rest of the story is refreshingly unpredictable.