Mommy, am I cult?

I picked up this book because I was in a literary drought and needed an easy read to get me back on track. (I'm 12 books behind my schedule this year, tsk, tsk.)

As a retelling of Cinderella as a cyborg in a futuristic society, there were two elements that made Cinder interesting.

1. The World
The place is a conglomerate of Asian countries, and being the new center of the world, it is New Beijing that attracts all the immigrants. You see characters from all over the world, from various ethnicities. I myself thought that Cinder was Asian until I heard she came from Europe.

Cinder, the hero
Cinder is a strong character. As a cyborg, she is seen as a propriety, as a subhuman. She is explored by her stepmother and humiliated by one of her sisters, but she never, never becomes whiny.

The book ends in a cliffhanger, and I decided to keep reading the series. Cinder alone is enough to keep me going, not to mention her friendship with the adorable android Iko and whatever the future holds for the prince Kai.