Not what I was expecting.

The two books I’m reviewing this week are a bit of a mixed bag and definitely not what I was expecting. Each book had good promise but only one really delivered. The Glass Spare by Lauren DeStefano and Cinder by Marissa Meyer are two books  that are different in their stories yet at the same time are similar in some ways. Each had a good premise, story idea and world. But what set these apart are the characters and the way the story progresses in each book. And with that it is on to the reviews starting with The Glass Spare.

 

 

I’ll start off by saying that this book was a disappointment for me. The premise of this book sounded really interesting and at first it seemed like it would deliver. Unfortunately, three-quarters of this book is nothing but a dull story with none of the good things that this book initially seemed to offer. Combine that with a very forced romance and fairly dull secondary characters and you get a book that while good on the surface, doesn’t cut it once you actually start to get to the heart of the book.

The main characters are a mixed bag and none are particularly noteworthy. Our main character Wil starts out as an interesting character. Used as a spy by her father the king, she longs to see what the rest of her world offers. She’s a pretty headstrong character who also has a good relationship with two of her three brothers. However, in the second half of the book, she turns into a bit of a whiny character. While she maintains her headstrong nature, she seems to complain about everything which really rubbed me the wrong way. And while she is forced to abandon her family, she makes no effort to send her brother Gerdie or even her mother a letter explaining what happened. Yes she still thinks about her family but it’s almost as if she just decides to forget them at the same time. The main male character, Loom, is also a mixed bag. It never seems like he can make his mind up on how he feels for Wil and Zay. He goes back and forth between the two so much that it’s maddening. And while he is on a defined mission, he is more concerned about explaining what he has to do instead of acting on it. And that for me is how so many of these characters are. They constantly talk about what they have to do instead of actually attempting to do anything. And that leads me into the story. The second half of this book is dull and uninteresting, save for the fight at the castle towards the end of the book. Other than that nothing much happens besides a lot of talking about each characters mission. On top of that, the “will they, won’t they” love story with Loom and Wil felt incredibly forced and didn’t seem to fit into the story or into the characters themselves.

The setting is not a bad one but it’s not a spectacular setting either. It seems to have an identity crisis as it can’t seem to decide if it’s more magic based or wants to introduce guns and other weapons into the story. While it is defined that the kingdoms hate each other, it really isn’t explained why. On top of that, there isn’t much lore to add substance to the world so the setting and world feel a bit empty.

Overall this book is a massive disappointment. The characters aren’t anything extraordinary, the story is dull and the world feels empty. And while this is the first in the series, I highly doubt I’ll read the rest of the series.

Verdict- 3 stars, not one I’ll probably read again.

 

We move on from a massive disappointment to a book that was a pleasant surprise for me. Cinder is the first in the Lunar Chronicles and while I had heard good things about the series, the book was not what I had anticipated. In a good way, the book surprised me with how much I enjoyed it. The world was solid, the characters were good and while I guessed the big plot twist correctly, the story was a good overall.

 

The main character, Cinder, is a solid main character. As a cyborg, she is looked down upon in society especially by her stepmother. But through all the hardship she suffers in this book, she almost achieves her goal only for forces beyond her control to conspire against her. She is driven, headstrong and an emotional character. Her relationships with the characters around her really drive the story forward. Her relationships especially with Prince Kai and head doctor are two very interesting story lines. And speaking of Prince Kai, he is a good solid secondary lead. Faced with governing his kingdom during multiple crisis’, he always tries to do what is best for his people and for the benefit of himself. And while he seems to really care for Cinder, it isn’t entirely possible that he loves her which I really like. The story didn’t need and explicitly stated romance so a little ambiguity between Cinder and Kai is a good story line. The side characters are also good as well and I can’t wait to see more of Queen Levana as a character. You can tell she has an evil side but yet she is cunning politician and I can’t wait to see how her character develops.

 

As for the story itself, it is a pretty solid story. With New Beijing battling an incurable plague, the story throws the Levana side story as well as several other side points that really keep you on your toes when it comes to the plot. The only downside to the story is that the big plot twist was a little easy to guess. I figured it out pretty quickly which took a lot of the suspense out of the end for me. But that aside, each side plot is good one. Trying to fight the disease ravaging New Beijing, dealing with Queen Levana, the upcoming ball and secrets that each character holds are all well written and are given enough to develop as a plot. Add to that a little bit of a Cinderella aspect to the story and you have yourselves a halfway decent story line.

The world that Meyer has created is a good one as well. Set in the future with Androids, Cyborgs mixing in with humans, it is quite the interesting dynamic. You add into that the Lunar people, who I think may just be the most interesting of all the world inhabitants and you get a dynamic and complex world with shifting attitudes and very interesting character dynamics. I can not wait to see more of Luna itself. While only hinted at in this book, it was enough to get me excited about the Lunar people.

Overall, this book is a really solid read. The book itself was not what I had expected when I started reading. The story, characters and world were all pleasant surprises and there was very little I didn’t like about the book. I really look forward to reading the rest of the series and seeing if these good things continues.

Verdict- 4 stars. A really solid first book in the series. Definitely has my attention for the rest of the series.