Review: The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross

 

The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Genres: Steampunk, Historical

Release Date: May 24, 2012

Source: Library

 

 

 

 

 

Synopsis:

She thought there was something wrong with her. She was right.
Finley Jayne has known for quite some time that she isn’t ‘normal,’ but when she beats up the son of her employer and is forced to flee, she stumbles into a world where there are bigger freaks than her. They take her in, treat her like family and demand her trust. How can Finley trust them when she can’t trust herself? And why is she drawn to the powerful Griffin as well as the dangerous Jack? She has to get herself under control before she gets into trouble she can’t get out of.

Griffin King is one of the most powerful men in Britain but he couldn’t save his best friend from almost dying. He is determined to save Finley and help her become the person he knows she can be, but there’s evil afoot in London. Machines have attacked humans under the orders of a nefarious criminal called The Machinist. He has sworn to protect his country against such a threat, but he’s never faced any foe like this. However, when he discovers The Machinist’s connection to his past, Griffin vows to end the villain once and for all — but he’ll need the help of all his friends, including the beautiful Finley Jayne – the girl in the steel corset.

My Review:

This book was a fun and interesting read. Sure, it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. It was considerably lighter than what I thought it would be, but that made the book enjoyable for me. Sometimes you just have to have those lighter reads!

I really liked Finley, our main character. I loved the fact that even though she had so much power and wit, she was still a flawed character. She was constantly trying to balance the two sides of herself. Her flaws [or her lack of being perfect, to put it another way] made her seem so much more relatable and likable. Overall, I really grew to like Finley.

The concept of this book was so unique, and I liked it. Think X-Men meets steampunk. Cool, isn’t it? I loved all the powers that the characters had as well. It was so interesting to read and learn about all their powers, and how they worked. For some reason, super powers always fascinate me. I also liked the setting of the story. I honestly haven’t read many steampunk novels [I know, I know!]. But after reading this book, though, I’ll definitely be picking steampunk books up more often though. It’s a wonderful genre!

However, there were a few things about the book that I didn’t like. The mystery, for one, was easily guessed by me. I love a good mystery book, and this book had some really interesting mystery in it. Unfortunately, I guessed two of the major twists way before all the characters did. I like it when I can’t guess a mystery until the very end, or even better, when I guess the mystery incorrectly. I’m not saying that I like to be wrong [because, seriously, who does?], but that if I have to keep guessing, then I’ll be so much more into the story, trying to figure it out. That didn’t really happen for me, since I figured the mystery out early on in the book.

Another thing that I didn’t like was the jumping around with the POVs. This begins to happen more towards the end, and kind of became frustrating. This is a total opinion of mine, but I would loved to have had Finley’s POV more in the end, and less of Sam’s. I totally understand why the author was switching POVs, but I just wanted more Finley! Of course, this is a total preference thing, but I thought that I’d mention it.

Overall, this was a really great read! I loved the main character, and the concept was totally unique. Even though I easily guessed the mystery and didn’t like the POV jumping around, I would recommend this book to steampunk fans, or anyone looking for a fun fantasy read.