Cogling

***

3/5

Thanks to Netgalley and Curiosity Quills Press for giving me this book to review.

Cogling is fast paced and each chapter ended on a small cliff-hanger which made me want to read just a bit more. This book had action, romance and adventure but it is also predictable and need more world building. However, the tone changed about two thirds way through the book as while it is a YA book it became more adult in its violence and romance.

Edna is kind, caring and naïve but also courageous and stubborn. Ike is secretive, resourceful and charming. There are a few secondary characters like Harrison, Rachel and Hilda.

I found the ending rushed and I would recommend Cogling to fans of YA steampunk books.

The Alchemists of Loom

**

2 Stars/5

Thanks to Netgalley and Keymaster Press for giving me this book to review.

The Alchemists of Loom is a steampunk fantasy novel which had the potential to be an interesting and original story but I couldn’t get into it. The book did not explain things very well and was slow paced.

The thing I did not like most about this book is that I did not care about the characters and was not emotionally in what was happening to them. Ari is tough and unlike most main heroines she knows who she is and what she is capable of. Cvareh is mysterious, prideful and loyal. Florence is the nicest of the characters as she is smart and optimistic.

I wanted to like The Alchemists of Loom as I have heard a lot of positive things about Kova’s other series, Air Awakens. However, I could not get on with this book and DNF at 47%.

Hour of Mischief

****

4 Stars/5

Thanks to Netgalley and Curiosity Quills Press for giving this book to review.

17 year old Janet has not had a good start in life and does not believe that she owes the Clockwork Gods anything. When I heist goes wrong and her gang and her ends up in prison she makes a deal with Itazura, the God of Mischief. To get her friends out of a deadly prison she must convince the gods to warn humanity about the danger they face from the Elder Gods. It is a lot harder than Janet was expecting especially when she is sure that Itazura is keeping something important from her.

Hour of Mischief is a very good steampunk fantasy novel. It is fast paced, has action, twists, mystery and a hint of romance. While good, I did found that the solutions to the problems were a bit easy. I like the mythology in this book with the Clockwork and seasonal gods, and the world that was created.

Janet is reckless, impulsive and sarcastic, but also loyal to her friends, no nonsense and insecure about failure and her mum. However, I did feel that Janet’s name did not fit her character. Itazura is cocky, sneaky and charming but while annoying he is also witty and respects and is protective of Janet. Laelatia is a fun and caring character. I hope we get to see more of the Pendulum gang in the next book.

There are lots of unanswered questions left at the end of this book and I hope they are answered in the next book. I would recommend Hour of Mischief to fans of Raven by Pauline Creeden and Thief’s Covenant by Ari Marmell.

Curio

*

1 Star/5

Thanks to Netgalley and Zonderkidz for giving me this book to review.

Gray Haward detests the Chemists, the rulers of her small western town, but she has always taken their potion which helps people survive. When her best friend, Whit, is punished by the chemists for protecting her, Gray decides to take risks, but when the chemists find out she retreats to the safe haven of her grandfather’s shop. However, there she discovers an even greater secret, a world full of porcelain and clockwork people.

I was very confused by Curio as the world building was not very good and I had no idea what was going on, but it did seem to have an interesting story idea. Gray was rebellious against authority, and seemed a nice and helpful character but I didn’t really connect with her. I am sure that those who love steampunk novels will enjoy this book but the writing style and lack of world building put me off this book and I had to DNF Curio at 27%.

Raven

****

4 Stars/5

Thanks to Netgalley and AltWit Press for giving me this book to review.

Raven was trained by her father to be a Reaper; a bodyguard/assassin, who believe that for every life they take, they have to save another. Since her father died, she has spent years redeeming lives so that she can settle down and marry the man she loves. But when she saves Darius, the young Baron of New Hope, from drowning she is drawn into a mission she cannot refuse. She must find the Wood Witch to stop the fits Darius has or his father will kill him as he fears Darius is possessed, however they are being pursued by the determined Captain Jack and another reaper who is very deadly under the orders of Darius’s father.

Raven is a very good YA steampunk/fantasy novel which is very well written and descriptive. It was a bit slow to start but really picked up after that and has lots of action and suspense in it.

Raven is a very tough girl but also has her vulnerabilities which she worked though during the book. I really like Jack as he is loyal but also knows what is right and wrong, and I really liked that he did not try and prove he was a better fighter than Raven, which is unusual in most books. I also really liked Darius and I am glad he is not as spoiled as he could have been, however, I knew who Monroe was as soon as I met him.

Even though the ending was a bit rushed, I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to the next book about Darius. I would recommend Raven to fans of Throne of Glass and Nihal.

The Girl with the Windup Heart

****

4 Stars/5

Mila, a part-automaton is struggling to find her place in the world, especially with the criminal mastermind, Jack Dandy, not seeing her as woman, she decides to leave his house in search for independence. Meanwhile whilst stopping a killer, Griffin is taken to the Aether and is held captive by his archenemy The Machinist. Finley, along with her friends, find that the only way for them to go into the Aether to free Griffin is for Finley to temporarily die. With The Machinist determined to destroy Griffin, body and soul, Griffin must confront his greatest fears but will he survive the destructive power within him.

The Girl with the Windup Heart is the really good final book in the steampunk chronicles, which is very fast paced with non-stop action and romance. There are 2 stories going on at once in this book and while I enjoyed Jack and Mila’s it felt like it should have been in a separate book or novella, as it was distracting form the main story.

Mila is a likeable character as she is a naïve and innocent young woman who, during this story, learns about both herself and others. In this book we got to see a different side of Jack as he was caring and protective. Both Finley and Griffin are the same from the other books, as they were strong and loyal, and were willing to do anything to save each other.

I really enjoyed this series and I hope Cross writes more books like this in the future. I would recommend The Girl with the Windup Heart and the whole series to fans of YA steampunk.

Death on The Empress

***

3 Stars/5

Thanks to Stuart Harper for giving me this book to review.

In an alternative Britain, 14 year old Oliver starts a new job with his uncle on the largest airship built, The Empress. However, a curse seems to be on the ship as a passenger goes missing, a priceless jewel is stolen and a ghost has been seen on the ship, Oliver realises that not everything is as it seems. Is Oliver, along with other crew member Grace, able to figure out the mystery that is happening aboard The Empress?

Death on The Empress is a good steampunk mystery, and while I am older than the target reader, I enjoyed reading as I wanted to see what happened next. The book is a quick read and I could not guess what was going to happen next.

Oliver is an interesting character as he is an inquisitive teen who is not happy to leave a mystery unsolved, but is also friendly and gets on well with and tries to be helpful to everyone. All the other characters are unique and interesting, but some of them did feel a bit over the top.

The ending was surprising as I really did not see it coming and I am interested to see what happens next with Oliver. Both boys and girls will enjoy this book and I would recommend Death on The Empress to fans of Artemis Fowl.

The Girl with the Iron Touch

****

4 Stars/5

Thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin for giving me this book to review.

Ever since coming back from America, Griffin has been distant from the group and seems to be tormented by something to do with the Aether and this is starting to worry the group of misfits, especially Finley who is worried that he does not tell her because he does not care about her as much as she does. However, they have to put their worry aside when Emily is kidnapped by automatons and find out how to save her before she is harmed. Emily finds out that she was kidnapped to resurrect their thought dead enemy into a unique automaton who is more human than machine.

The Girl with the Iron Touch is an enjoyable third book in the steampunk chronicles and is the standard of book you have come to expect from Kady Cross, although it did seem to be missing something compared to the other books. I found the blurb a bit misleading but it has non-stop action and also a good romance plot. One thing I found annoying is that the characters do not speak like turn of the century people from London, one example is a characters refers to “p*ssed off” as meaning angry but I am fairly sure this is a resent usage of this word which comes from America.

The characters are the same people we have grown to love from the first 2 books in the series who are totally different from each other but you can relate to each of them. I did miss Griffin’s point of view in this book as I missed knowing what he was thinking, however, I did like that Jack was back in this book unlike the last.

I really liked this book and I can’t wait to see what happens next to Finley and the group of misfits. I would recommend The Girl with the Iron Touch to people who enjoyed the first 2 books in this series or YA steampunk novels.

 

Clockwork Princess

***

3 Stars/5

Tessa is engaged and should be happy but her heart is torn between Jem, the man she has promised to be with forever and his best friend Will, who Tessa is struggling to hide her feelings for. However, after an unusual demon fight, the Institute finds out that Jem has been taking more Yin Fen to hide the fact that he is more ill than they thought and they have to fight against time to find a cure for him. At the same time Mortain is getting closer to destroying the Shadowhunters and the Consul does not believe or support them. Tessa has to figure out what she is and who she should be with before Mortain uses it against her.

Clockwork Princess is the third and final novel in the Infernal Devices series which up to about 2 thirds of the book through I thought it was amazing. However, in the last third there were some thing’s that that happened put me off it, and annoyed me, however, it is still a decent book.

I liked the secondary characters in this book and how they all interacted with each other, however, it does get annoying that everyone has to be in relationships to be happy.

SPOILER

I have two reasons why I did not like this book compared to Clare’s other novels. Firstly, after only hours of thinking that Tessa Fiancé and Will best friend, Jem, had died, they sleep together, I really did not like this as it is really selfish of both of them and they obviously did not care as much about Jem as they thought or they would not do that straight after they thought he had died. Secondly the ending did not seem all that realistic as after everything that happened it felt like the easy option to make Jem a Silent Brother, Tessa marry Will and then in modern day Jem and Tessa get together.

SPOILER END

I was rather disappointed by the final of this series and I hope that City of Heavenly Fire is a better final book. I would recommend Clockwork Princess to people who like the rest of Cassandra Clare’s work, even though it is not her best.  

Clockwork Prince

*****

5 Stars/5

Tessa Gray has found a home at the Institute with the Shadowhunters but this might not last as the Clave might replace Charlotte as the head of the Institute if they cannot find the magister in a fortnight. Tessa, Will and Jem have to find out about the Magister’s past to understand what he wants and why he hates the Shadowhunters. At the same time Tessa is trying to hate Will after how he treated her on the roof but she is finding it hard to stop her feelings for him, however, at the same time she has grown really close to Jem but will she be able to choose between the two of them.

Clockwork Prince is the amazing second book in the Infernal Devices series with romance, humour action and a well written love triangle. I love the references to what is to come in the Mortal Instruments as it really connects the two series together.

The characters are the same people that we come loved from the last book but they have grown in strength and are even more complex. Thought I normally hate love triangles this book is the exception as I don’t know who I want Tessa to end up with and I don’t know how Clare will resolve it without hurting anyone.

I love this book and cannot wait to see how this series ends with Clockwork Princess. I would recommend Clockwork Prince to readers of Clockwork Angel or the Mortal Instruments series.

Clockwork Angel

*****

5 Stars/5

After the death of her aunt, Tessa Gray travels from New York to Victorian London to meet her brother Nathaniel, at the dock she is met by the Dark Sisters who said they were sent by her brother to get her. Six weeks later and Tessa is being forced to magically change by the Dark Sisters for someone called the Magister. She is rescued by some Shadowhunters, a group of people, who are half human and half angel, and there job is to protect humans from Downworlders such as vampires and warlocks. As Tessa helps the Shadowhunters uncover who the Magister is and find her brother she finds herself drawn to 2 Shadowhunter best friends Will and Jem.

Clockwork Angel is the first in a prequel series to the Mortal Instruments and I love the mixture of steampunk and paranormal elements. This book is brilliant as it has all the things I have grown to love about Clare’s work as it has action, romance and humour.

I really like Tessa as she is in a strange city, surrounded by unfamiliar people but she copes with it really well, plus she loves reading. All the other characters are really well written especially Will seems to not care about anyone but has a dark secret which makes him intriguing. However, it seems that a lot of the people in this book are similar to those in the Mortal Instruments and I hope Clare moves away from this in the Clockwork Prince.

Clockwork Prince is a brilliant novel which I would recommend to people who like Cassandra Clare’s work or who like Steampunk books.

The Girl in the Clockwork Collar

****

4 Stars/5

Finley, Griffin, Emily and Sam are travelling to New York to save Jasper, who they believe has been arrested for murder. However, Jasper is not with the Police he is being held captive by his former gang. If Jasper returns the machine he stole from the gang’s leader Dalton, then Jasper’s first love Mia will not be killed by the mysterious clockwork collar around her neck. Finley goes undercover to help save Jasper and Mia, and to find out what this machine does and stop Dalton from using it.  

The Girl in the Clockwork Collar is the second book in the steampunk chronicles and is just as good as the first as it is still action-packed and full of romance. However this book is much more predictable than the last, as I could tell what would happen next and who the good and bad guys were.

While Finley’s two sides of herself have merged into one however she is not sure which side of herself is dominate the lighter or darker, this adds a lot of depth to her character and really makes her relatable to most people. I also really like the tension between Griffin and Finley as it adds another level to their romance.

Kady Cross is really talented at writing characters as they are well written and I could identify with every single one of them. I hope in the next book we learn more about Emily’s past and we get to see more of Jack, also I would like it if Wildcat was in it again as I think she would fit in with the group.

I really can’t wait to see what happen next in the series. I would recommend The Girl in the Clockwork Collar to people who liked The Girl in the Steel Corset or readers of steampunk. 

The Girl in the Steel Corset

****

4 Stars/5

Finley Janye is not a normal 16 year old girl, when her boss’s son tries to take advantage of her; she fights him off and wins. This is because she has a darker side, which is stronger than most men and more daring than most girls in 1897 England. When fleeing the sense, she runs into Griffin King an orphan Duke who has a unique power of his own, he can control Aether. Finley joins the Dukes group of misfits including a girl with an affinity with machines, a boy who is half machine and an American cowboy who is super-fast and has a secret. They have to stop The Machinist, a man who is using robots for some sinister purpose.

The Girl in the Steel Corset is a fascinating Young Adult Steampunk with action, romance, humour and suspense. This book seemed longer than it is, but in a good way as there is a lot information and action in this average sized book.

Finley is an interesting character as you can identify and understand both sides of her, and Cross has cleverly been able to merge both sides of her together and yet see both of them in her. I also really like the rest of the group especially Griffin as he is one of the best YA love interests, however I just could not connect with Jasper but I feel we will get to know him better in the next book.

While I liked the characters, I did not like the romance as I am not a big fan of love triangles, and this book has two. I especially did not like the triangle between Emily, Sam and Jasper as it did not really feel needed. Also the copy of this book had The Strange Case of Finley Jayne in it and it felt that the events in that story did not happen to the Finley in this book.

I can’t wait to see what happens next to Finley, Griffin and the rest of the gang in the next book. I would recommend this novel to people who like The Infernal Devices series. 

Dearly Beloved

***

3 Stars/5

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for giving me this book to review.

Since “The Laz” has hit New Victoria both the living and the dead have been co-existing, however, they are not at peace with each other. Some of the living believe that the dead are abominations which should be wiped out, and a group of the dead believe they have to fight the living for their survival and rights. Caught in-between these groups are Nora Dearly a girl who is immune to “The Laz” and the dead boy she loves Bram.

While there is a lot to Dearly Beloved, I just did not find it as interesting as the first. The pace was so slow and I feel it did not have the adventure of the first book. However it was an interesting story as it looks at how both the living and the dead react to living together in the same city.

This book has six points of views and the voices all sounded similar to me. I would not know who was telling the story unless it was said at the start of the book. However, unlike the last book I felt we needed all the points of view or we would not understand the story.

Bram and Nora’s romance in this book is not as interesting as Dearly Departed as it had lost it star-crossed quality, and also it seems Habel was more interested in building the storyline for the third book.

The ending does leave you wanting to read the next book, however I do hope it is more like Dearly Departed, and this is just the slow middle book. I would recommend this to people who like Dearly Departed, or those who like Zombie books.

Dearly Departed

****

4 Stars/5

Nora Dearly is not an ordinary New Victorian young lady, she like watch the fighting between New Victoria and the Punks. However when she is kidnapped from her home she finds out that her father and the government had been keeping the secret about the existence of Zombies.

This is Lia Habel debut novel about romance, action, steampunk and zombies. I did not think I would like this book us much as I did, as I am not a big fan of zombies, however, it is a brilliant book which is action packed and romantic at the same time.

My favourite characters are Nora and Bram because they are really well developed and Nora is a character I think most people can relate to, as we all feel under pressure to act a certain way in society, and Bram is a perfect gentleman who is sweet, brave and very loyal. The romance was nicely written and progressed well over the entire novel.

This story is told from 5 points of view and would have been very confusing if it did not tell you who point of view it was at the beginning of each chapter, however I think it could have not had two of the points of view it did as I did not add much to the story.

This is a really good book which I would recommend to those who like steampunk and/or unusual but charming YA romance.