Gracie Swanson

SPOILERS AHEAD I thought this book was well-written, and I loved the arcs of Bronwyn, Cooper, Addy, and Nate’s characters. However, I went through the whole thing expecting a major plot twist at the end, but when we found out it was actually Simon, Lanae, and Jake, I felt like that was a predicable solution. If one of the main 4 had been behind the murder, it would have added so much more depth to the story, and it would also be who you would least expect, since all four of them say they aren’t the killer. The whole book I was convinced Addy, Cooper, Bronwyn, and Maeve had plotted the murder, planning the detention to frame Nate, Maeve writing all the articles that the killer supposedly wrote. After suspecting that, the fact that it was suicide was a letdown.

When I first saw a book about a cyborg Cinderella and people on the moon, I thought it looked really stupid. But, I gave it a try, and I’m so glad I did! I have read the series three times, and every time I read this book I only love it more and more. The characters are unique, the story is original, the world building is spot-one, and the writing is beautiful. The first time I read Cinder, I stayed up all night, forcing myself not to look ahead to see what was going to happen next. If you haven’t read this masterpiece yet, go read it right now!

I would first like to say that this series had promising potential. Girl with powers finds out she’s from another world? Sign me up. And the first book wasn’t half bad: it felt well thought-out and organized, at least. But there are a few big issues I had with the series that I’m just going to list, because why not? 1. Sophie Foster. Isn’t that a reason enough? She’s “the chosen one” of the elf world, racking up the special abilities whenever it’s convenient to the story. All the boys have a crush on her, everyone tells her she’s perfect and beautiful, and she doesn’t seem to do a single thing except eat, shower, sleep, worry, and cry. All that aside, what bothered me the most was her inability to grow as a character. Every time she broke the law, she weaseled her way out of punishment, and never suffered the consequences for her mostly dumb decisions. She was a horrible friend to Dex, Marella, and Jensi, and she didn’t seem to have a personality at all. 2. The writing. (and plot?) Each book felt progressively more and more like a long-winded soap opera with no idea where it was going, and the plot seems to be nothing more than long conversations about feelings and crushes and parent problems and being special. They’re trying to defeat the Neverseen, but no one seems to learn from their mistakes. You would think it would be pretty easy for a secret organization to destroy another secret organization if a bunch of tweens were able to get inside their hideouts, alarmingly easily, on several occasions. 3. None of the characters seem to have any depth or growth, and only seem to be stereotypes- the pretty girl, the golden boy, the prankster, the emo prankster- you get my point. All of them seem a little too perfect to be relatable, and when they do get deep and emotional, it honestly feels kind of pathetic and wimpy. I also feel like I have to mention all the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings parallels. (we’ve got the Weasleys prancing around as Diznees now?) And why are the elves keeping gnomes as slaves? I know the elves said the gnomes are okay with it, but even if that’s true, why wasn’t Sophie more initially alarmed by it? (Fitz’s explanation to Sophie of what magic is also gets an honorable mention.) If you like this series, thats great! For me, however, it just didn’t live up to the hype. If you read this entire thing, congrats, because I realize it ended up being kind if long. . .