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― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby"
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
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.
I absolutely loved this book, the story was very enjoyable. If I didn't have other responsibilities, I would of read this book in one-sitting. It is a bit predictable, but it didn't stop me from rating it 5 stars on Goodreads or from enjoying the book. Cinder is based off of Cinderella, set in the future. Cinder is a Cyborg who was "adopted" into a family when she was eleven years old. There is an e-book novella that gives a bit of a background story that I read before reading Cinder, and I highly recommend reading that first. She has no memory of her life or what happened to her before then. Her stepfather died relatively close (from Letumosis, a very deadly disease) to after she came to live with his family, and her stepmother, Adri, doesn't want her there. Cinder has two step-sisters, one not so nice, while the other, Peony, is Cinder's only human friend. She is also friends with the household android, Iko, that has developed somewhat of a human personality.
I disliked Adri and the "evil" stepsister Pearl, a lot, and hated the Lunar Queen even more. Cinder and Prince Kai are very likable characters, along with Peony, and the funny household android Iko with the human-like personality.
I highly recommend reading this book. I'm mad that I didn't read this sooner! Now, I'm on to reading the next book, Scarlet.
Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. They follow legends and local lore, destroy the murderous dead, and keep pesky things like the future and friends at bay.
Searching for a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas expects the usual: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dripping with blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.
Yet she spares Cas's life.
