Review: The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross

The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross

Summary: In 1897 England, sixteen-year-old Finley Jayne has no one except the "thing" inside her. 

When a young lord tries to take advantage of Finley, she fights back. And wins. But no normal Victorian girl has a darker side that makes her capable of knocking out a full-grown man with one punch... 

Only Griffin King sees the magical darkness inside her that says she's special, says she's one of them. The orphaned duke takes her in from the gaslit streets against the wishes of his band of misfits. Emily, who has her own special abilities and an unrequited love for Sam, who is part robot; and Jasper, an American cowboy with a shadowy secret. 

Griffin's investigating a criminal called The Machinist, the mastermind behind several recent crimes by automatons. Finley thinks she can help-and finally be a part of something, finally fit in. 

But The Machinist wants to tear Griff's little company of strays apart, and it isn't long before trust is tested on all sides. At least Finley knows whose side she's on, even if it seems no one believes her.

Review: A decent steampunk adventure with evil robots and a just a smidge of romance.

I liked the idea of the Jekyll/Hyde aspect of the main character. It was a bit jarring at first the difference between the two sides of Finley's character even though I knew what was wrong with her. I honestly didn't feel much for her character or the rest of the characters. I saw them as a group of oh so special teenagers who trying to fight the bad guy and save the day. There wasn't much depth to the characters. My favorite character was Jack Dandy and I wish he had been in the book more. I will admit that I found the romance between Sam and Emily sweet.

Ok, I do not need to know what everyone is wearing every time they show up wearing a new outfit. It's unnecessary. And how many special gadgets/abilities do these oh so special teenagers have or will have in the future? Why did it take so long for Griffin to finally help Finley when it could have done it much sooner? And I saw the plot twist coming from many miles away. The story was certainly action packed, but the action can't do much to help it. I had been hoping for a more interesting resolution to why machines have started to attack people and who the Machinist actually was. The book wraps up the story, but does end on a cliffhanger. I'll give the second book a shot.

Rating:

Recommendation: I would recommend this book to fans of young adult steampunk and possibly steampunk in general if you are a huge fan.