in which I get very mad at pieces of dead tree

I've been putting off talking about Marissa Meyer's Cinder for a while because it makes me unreasonably angry. The bare-bones plot points are great -- Cyborg Asian Cinderella! partially inspired by Sailor Moon! What's not to like?

( When it comes to the execution? ...everything, it turns out. )

I feel like Cinder, as a book, is a mish-mash of tropes that could theoretically have been done well, written by someone who has only a shallow understanding of the things she's trying to draw on.

I'm being unfair to this book. You know what? I don't care.

Bottom line: It was way, WAY less awesome than ANYTHING with the premise 'cyborg Cinderella' should be.