I got an eGalley of this book through NetGalley(dot)com. I loved the cover, the premise, and the fact that it was steampunk. I was a little leery after reading some reviews on it, but I shouldn't have been. This was a fun steampunk read propelled by a sweet love story and an intriguing mystery.

Finley is working as a lady's maid when one of the young lords of the house accosts her. Finley is forced to call on her darker side to defend herself and ends up fleeing the house only to be smacked by a cycle. The young lord Griffin, who hit her, feels horrible and takes her back to his house to help her recuperate. Griffin can sense Finley is different. Finley is grateful for Griffin's help but is finding it increasingly hard to suppress her dark side. Then she ends up leaving at night to talk to the cities top criminal Jack Dandy...and when she gets back she can't remember what happened. Griffin has his own problems to deal with, he is trying to stop a murderer known only as the Machinist. Of course Finley gets drawn into the mystery. Will Finley be able to suppress or at least come to terms with her darker side? Will they catch the Machinist? Who will Finley choose Jack Dandy or Griffin?

This book was a lot of fun. It reads kind of like an adult romance, but with a lot of steampunk and with a PG-13 rating. The writing style just constantly made me forget I was reading a YA novel and I keep thinking it was an adult steampunk romance of sorts. Finley is a fascinating character, she very much like Jekyl and Hyde in that she has two personalities that emerge. Some people have complained of her "good" persona being too vanilla, well it is...but that is kind of the point. Her bad personality has all the fun! I thought Cross did an excellent job going back and forth between her personalities and I loved how they began to merge as the book went on.

Jack Dandy and Griffin are both swoon worthy. Yeah they are a bit stereotypical, Griffin the noble do-gooder and Dandy the dangerous rogue, but they are still absolutely lovable and I truly enjoyed reading about them. Griffin's friends Emily and Sam are just as engaging. All of the characters have neat "super powers" and histories that make them easy to engage with and interesting to read about. At the end the author says she was trying to write "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" meets "X-Men" and I would say that she definitely succeeded at that.

The plot moved along at a good clip. It got a little distracted on the way a few times, but the distractions were interesting and fun so I didn't mind too much. There is a lot of steampunk worked into the novel; neat little machines, automatons, aether, etc. that I really enjoyed. Nothing really creative and unique to the steampunk genre but it was fun to read about.

The name of the book doesn't really have much to do with the book itself. It is a catchy name and references a couple small scenes in the book; the book is more about Finley's fight to meld her two selves and about trying to catch the murdering Machinist. The book ends well but is definitely the opener to a series.

Overall I enjoyed this book. It was fun and light, a good escapist read. Yes it is not historically accurate, yes the male leads are a bit stereotypical...but the characters are lovable, the plot moves quickly, the romance is sweet, and action scenes loads of fun. I will definitely be reading more books in this series. It is a romance heavy steampunk, so if you are anti-romance you might want to check out something else. The tone of the writing is older, so it is probably most appropriate for older teens and up (although I don't remember any questionable content that would make it bad for younger teens). The characters are in their upper-teens and twenties. If you are a fan of steampunk and don't mind some romance check this out; I had a seriously good time reading this book. I am also going to check out the novella that was just released The Strange Case of Finely Jayne.

Share/Like this Review?

Absolutely, the best YA Steampunk Ive read to date. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Set in the late 1890s it contained everything I love about that London era, throw in the steampunk gadgets and it is a solid winner. It has super power action figures (well kinda of), a bit of romance, mystery, drama, and a cast of characters that were all wonderful in their own right. Finley Jayne (dont you just love that name) has a bit of a Jekyll/Hyde type of personality and when her rich employers son tries to push himself on her, that personality takes over. While escaping from him she is injured in a velocycle accident and Griffs menagerie of strays takes her in. She quickly discovers that this group of people have many other powers and secrets.

Griffs group is working with the Queen of England to flush out the Machinist, an individual they suspect of turning the machines/androids against the humans. Though the book was told from several POVs, I was never lost and this book moved at a very fast pace. At nearly 500 pages, it ended way to quickly for me. Im glad that this is to be a series as I cant wait to see where their adventures and hopefully romance take them next. Though a young adult book, I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it to readers of Cassandra Clares books. It was simply awesome! As I read it as an e-book, I didnt get to drool over the cover too much (it is gorgeous), but Ive got a copy on order as I know this is one Ill want to reread and share with others.

Share/Like this Review?

I really wanted to like this book, but overall I wasn't thrilled with it.

It started out really well. The author sucked me right into the story, I liked the main character, and the opening scenes were great. After about 4-5 chapters, the story started to get "bogged down" with too many details. It got a bit strange in the middle, and it began to feel like a cross between a comic book and a bad Disney movie.

Unfortunately, towards the end, the bad Disney movie took over almost completely. The ending was nothing more than a very thinly covered ad to "buy the next book!" as the characters discuss buying tickets for their "next adventure."

I read this book right after reading "The Greyfriar", so maybe that's why this one seemed so fluffy and silly to me. I had hoped it would be much better. It wasn't terrible, but I doubt I'll read book 2.

Share/Like this Review?

The Girl in the Steel Corset was my first foray into the world of steampunk. I havent the slightest idea if its a good representation of the genre or not, so bear that in mind.

I enjoyed Ms. Crosss world. Ive been anxious to explore steampunk because the idea of a world in which the industrial revolution was fueled by steam, rather than coal fascinates me. I love the clothes, the culture, the technologydid I mention the clothes?

I very much enjoyed Finley. Coming on the heels of the last book I read where I really couldnt tolerate the heroine by the end, I especially enjoyed Finley. Ms. Cross struck a perfect balance between Finley's fascination and fear of her darker self without going overboard in either direction.

All of Ms. Crosss characters were enjoyable, although I never warmed to Cordelia. I know Griffin was able to appreciate the fact that his aunt only had his best interests at heart, but Ive never warmed to the idea that acting out of concern for others gives one license to be horrible without recompense.

Speaking of Griffin, he ended up being a very capable, natural leader and romantic interest for Finley. While I enjoyed Jack and Finley's potential more than Griffin and Finley, I was equally interested in both matches.

The Girl In The Steel Corset seemed to take a lot of cues from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen in that theres an element of the fantastic in both the characters abilities as well as the technology. Finley was a well-balanced version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, capable of amazing strength and fighting ability, Emily was able to talk to machines, Sam was inordinately strong and half automaton, Jasper had superspeed and Griffin was able to contact and bend the Aether to his whim. Cordelia was also a particularly skilled telepath - a talent that she used rather brazenly considering her class.

As far as technology was concerned, I found myself thinking oh, thats convenient more than I would have liked. Personal telegraph devices, basically cellphones tiny ear pieces that amplify sound, and hand torches run by power cells made things just a little bit too easy for my taste. I would have either liked to learn more about how those things worked many with the help of the amazing Organites that enhanced the characters special talents or preferred the author to cut down on the number of ways she modernized the world.

Although, I had no problem with the velocycles. Must be my love of all things fast.

Getting used to the etiquette of Victorian England was a challenge at times because I wanted the characters to be a little harder, a little dirtier and a little more realistic. The good guys are so good, so noble and I prefer my characters to operate in the grey.

I supposed thats why I enjoyed Jack Dandy so much.

I would have also liked the stakes to be a bit higher. I finished the book thinking that it read a bit young, although that might be the point. I dont know what reading level it is.

All in all, The Girl in the Steel Corset passes my most important test in that I enjoyed it and am intrigued enough to read another of Ms. Crosss novels especially if she returns to these characters and this world.

Share/Like this Review?