If I could give stars for imagination, Marissa Meyer would get a five from me! This was such a new, crazy idea, and I wasn't prepared for how inventive she got with the same ole Cinderella story line.Cinder is a cyborg, a mechanic, and of course, a grunt, living in some future "New Beijing." This story takes place after World War IV, and society has had a rough time but still managed to flourish. The moon now has beings...human like beings called Lunars, and they have a pretty negative connotation. There is a horrible, deadly disease that is ravaging the world, and no one knows a cure or what to do. So we all know what happens in Cinderella...Cinder is living a life of slavery and drudgery in her own home.Her evil stepmother and stepsisters are simply horrible.Cinder inadvertently meets the prince.The prince falls in love.Cinder wants to go to the ball.Evil stepmother ruins her chances and dashes her hopes.Cinder manages to thwart said evil stepmother and attends the ball anyhow.But this story has a woman trying to steal the prince from Cinder, a kind old doctor who is more than he seems, and unexpected death and torment that I really didn't see coming. I still got a tad bored with the details, and the end basically answers very few questions and leaves it wide open for the next book. Basically, this book has NO ENDING, which is a pet peeve of mine. The end actually creates more questions than the entire story answers. But for entertainments value, and if you don't mind an open ended story, this is worth the time.
 - )
