Cinder: Short-Circuited My Brain and Feels

WARNING! THERE ARE SPOILERS IN THIS POST. PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK.

I just finished Cinder by Marissa Meyer. As you might know, I asked in a previous post which book I should read first. (Cinder was one of the options) After only one vote, my curiosity got the better of me and I started the book around 9:30 at night. It is now 1:18am and I didn't put it down for a second.

Forgive me, I'm having a lot of trouble forming coherent sentences and thoughts, I'm in book hangover mode right now. I think the end kind of short circuited my brain...

Thoughts that probably don't make sense: Oh my gosh, a cyborg Cinderella? But no godmother? Levana. Adri. Pearl. Evil. Kai...I'm so disappointed my dear...Iko-*chokes* Peony...*cries* It's Prim all over again...*cries more* End?? What?? I was not warned this is a series!!

Thoughts that might make more sense:

When it started, I was a little...confused? Taken aback? I was expecting the feel of the book to be different than it was. It actually reminded me a LOT of The Book of A Thousand Days by Shannon Hale. (Please tell me some of you have read it...)

First off, futuristic China with a cyborg main charrie? Awesome. I expected to be more weirded out by it that than I actually was.

The characters were superb. I hated the ones I was supposed to hate, I loved the ones I was supposed to love, and I felt they developed well.

I teared up twice. I actually might have cried for real when Iko was dismantled if I had let myself linger on it. It was unfair. Cinder didn't deserve it, Iko didn't. My brain was so riled up from their (Adri vs. Cinder) fight and Peony, that what happened to Iko was the last straw. Adri will never be forgiven.

When Peony died with the antidote so close, all the feelings from Mockingjay when Prim died came rushing back and I almost choked. So unfair to do that to me again. Why would that happen? Why would the author do that to me?

Now Kai. I adore him. Even after the end, I mean, what choice did he have? Cinder HAD lied to him. She was a cyborg AND a lunar. He trusted her and now he had to make all these decisions after watching her become someone he didn't know, AND she almost died?? That would be a lot for anyone. But I've heard the next book doesn't really help his case. Dangit.

His smile though...I can see it. The way it's described sounds just like one of my friends. It just makes me happy and warms my heart. And when he almost kissed her, gah! I was so happy. Course, then her brain exploded but you know.

He actually remined me a lot of the love interest from aforementioned Book of a Thousand Days and also of the Prince from River Secrets. They share a lot of similar traits and that fact I think made me like him more, even in the beginning when we didn't really know him. It took me back to some of my favorite books and helped me relate better I think. Or helped me care about him more.

Levana. Ick. I hate her with a passion. And Sybil too. Filth. That's all.

And the doctor? Totally Cinna. Mixed with...Gaius?

I thought the idea of cyborgs and androids was well done. It didn't feel quite as bizarre as I anticipated. It worked and I enjoyed it. (Did anyone else imagine her car as a VW Beatle? Or was that just me?) Iko in my mind looked just like Eva from Wall•E. Was that a me thing too?

Also, was the Princess Selene thing supposed to be a huge shocking surprise? Cause I wasn't surprised. Don't get me wrong though! I thoroughly enjoyed the suspense. KNOWING she was the princess, just aching to finally be told, it made me giddy. I love guessing things. And Marissa did it splendidly. I wasn't bored with the knowledge, I wasn't upset about knowing so soon, I was just happy. The idea of it, the way everything fit together...well okay, I wasn't expecting her to be hare-brained enough to go to the ball like that even with the news. At least get a hover thingy with your money! And she made such a ridiculous fool of herself... But before all that,  I could just taste the happiness!

But then.

My nightmare happened. I've had it happen to me so many times. How could I not have known? Expected it?

It's the first in a series! Whoopee.

Not the happy ending I had hoped at all. Prince Kai...I sympathize with your situation, I understand your choices. They make sense to me. But my goodness! You didn't even kiss her back!! Fool of a Took...

If you can tell, I get rather excited about my books. I tend to see only AMAZING in them unless they are truly horrible. (Or unless they're Mockingjay which left me battered but after a while I realized I hadn't liked it as much as I thought.) So if you think I'm totally crazy for my excitement and emotional trauma, just know, it's just me. Making an appearance in my happiest state. Book trance.

Overall, I love Cinder. And if my library doesn't have Scarlet...I might just die. For real.

P.S. It's now 2:11am. Good thing I'm homeschooled and don't have to worry about waking up early for school...I would probably die. (Yes, it did take me that long to write that post.)