Novel Melodies: Cinder - Marissa Meyer

Title: Cinder
Author: Marissa Meyer
Pub Date: January 3rd, 2012
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Page Count: 387

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl.

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Title: Human
Artist: Christina Perri
Album: Insert
Release Date: Insert
Record Label: Insert
iTunes

May include spoilers, read at your own risk! (I'm really bad at going spoiler-free as much as I try.)
 

Have you see the video for Human? It's a very subtle video but with cool effects that INSTANTLY reminded me of Cinder. The robot thing does help a bit :D And also, because I've read Cinder, Scarlet and Cress, I might make little references, so sorry if it spoils!

"Human"

1ST VERSE
I can hold my breath
I can bite my tongue
I can stay awake for days
If that's what you want
Be your number one
I think that in a way, Cinder wants some love. The original Cinderella really just wanted a sense of love. But of course, being the wicked stepmother, she was going to be awful despite everything.


I can fake a smile
I can force a laugh
I can dance and play the part
If that's what you ask
Give you all I am
Even though she doesn't like her, the evil stepmother wants Cinder to do stuff for her and with the other option being worse, Cinder has to do whatever her stepmother wants.

I can do it x3

(CHORUS)

2ND VERSE
I can turn it on
Be a good machine
I can hold the weight of worlds
If that's what you need
Be your everything
This part seems a bit more directed to Kai. She doesn't really know him, but when he asks her to fix his android, I get a feeling that she wants to do it. This little lyric block applies much more as the series goes on.
Meaning 2: This is directed to Kai. Because he is emperor, he has to be somewhat like a machine, doing things he's meant to do to benefit the commonwealth, rather than himself. He has to hold the weight of worlds (whatever Levana wants) to keep the peace.

I can do it x2
I'll get through it

(CHORUS)

(BRIDGE)
I'm only human
I'm only human
Just a little human

I can take so much
'Til I've had enough
Waiting for the end of the book for this one. Kai and Cinder both have their limits tested in this book where they have major roles. And sooner or later (read the book!) one of them (or both) will make a mistake.

Cause I'm only human
And I bleed when I fall down
I'm only human
And I crash and I break down
Again, repeating what was said in the last stanza. These people are part of the whole story but they still only have so much. What I'm thinking in specific is how Kai was feeling when his father was taken by the leutemosis and how Cinder felt when Peony was taken.

Your words in my head, knives in my heart
You build me up and then I fall apart
'Cause I'm only human 
Cinder and Kai both have a person who's somewhat controlling of them. Levana continues to play a part in Kai's life, as he is royalty and Cinder's got Adri to face.

Honestly one of my fave series in a long time! Pick up this book and then go to a signing because it really is worth it :D Hope you enjoyed the pairing.

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One of my first spoken words was “story” (right along with “bath” and “cookie”), my favorite toy as an infant was a soft, squishable book, and I’ve wanted to be a writer since I first realized such a job existed.

When I was fourteen my best friend introduced me to anime and fanfiction—over the years I would complete over forty Sailor Moon fanfics under the penname Alicia Blade. Those so inclined can still find my first stories at fanfiction.net. Writing fanfic turned out to be awesome fun and brought me in contact with an amazing group of fanfiction readers and writers. As Alicia Blade, I also had a novelette, “The Phantom of Linkshire Manor,” published in the gothic romance anthology Bound in Skin (CatsCurious Press, 2007).

When I was sixteen I worked at The Old Spaghetti Factory in Tacoma, Washington, affectionately termed “The Spag.” (Random factoid: This is also the restaurant where my parents met some 25 years before.) I attended Pacific Lutheran University where I sorted mail that came to the dorm, carted tables and chairs around campus, and took writing classes, eventually earning a Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing and Children’s Literature. Knowing I wanted a career in books, I would also go on to receive a Master’s degree in Publishing from Pace University (which you can learn more about here). After graduation, I worked as an editor in Seattle for a while before becoming a freelance typesetter and proofreader.

Then, day of days, someone thought it would be a good idea to give me a book deal, so I became a full-time writer. CINDER is my first novel, though I have an adorable collection of unfinished ones lying around too.

I now live with my husband and our three cats (Calexandria Josephine, Stormus Enormous, and Blackland Rockwell III), who go in and out, in and out, about eight hundred times a day. My favorite non-bookish things include Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, re-watching episodes of Firefly, and playing all manners of dress-up.