The premise and outline for the story was fascinating, I always wanted to know what happened next which is sadly the only reason I manged to finish this book. Unfortunately for me the characters felt flat, especially the main character. A big problem for me was that I was repeatedly told how incredibly intelligent she was (especially for a female -_-) and yet based on everything I read in this book I have zero proof that she is anything above dumb, which is truly sad. I don't mind dumb characters except when I'm constantly told that they're not (Drives me bonkers!) and in circumstances like these (where men look down on women as the weaker sex) I would much prefer the character to be more than just a special snow flake.

2.5 stars. I won't be reading any more of this series.

Goodness BLs is taking FOREVER to bloody load. Giving my the ultimate grumps. Anyways onto more important things.... book status update:

Page 34

There is something strange going on with some of the writing in this book. It almost seems as though it was translated, but not super well. Who ever edited this book should have tried again before allowing it to be printed....
:/ 

There was also a big WTF moment around page 20, where the MC & her mentor/father-figure/boss are rolling around on the floor laughing hysterically and crying all because the MC pulled a funny face while playing their version of paper-scissors-rock! seriously?
I'm 25, same age as what-ever-her-name-is & I wouldn't find that to be overly amusing. I thought to myself 'hey maybe it's just her time period?' then thought about it again and Nope, It's definitely something someone under 10 would find hilarious (possibly younger) and not a grown ass adult no matter when the story is set.

A steampunk/gaslight fantasy of manners. The setting is a country called Tamarania, where the population is dark-skinned, and its war-torn neighbor Caskentia. It’s too bad that the author chose to populate this potentially original setting with characters bearing English surnames like “Stout” and “Cody” and strictly following English Victorian social rituals down to details like tea. There seems to be no reason for it except that, well, that’s steampunk, right? (Ignoring various authors’ recent attempts to broaden the social world of steampunk.) The most interesting part of the setting is the intersection between tech and magic; there are healers called “medicians” who draw on the aid of a goddess, and they can integrate mechanism and flesh. The main conflict of the story concerns the magi-mechanical creation of intelligent beings called gremlins. A teenage would-be mechanist named Rivka, who is uneasy in Tamaranian social circles because of her harelip and her unrefined upbringing, befriends a much more privileged (and self-centered) girl named Tatiana, and together they go on a crusade to end the mistreatment of gremlins, with the help of Broderick, an apprentice medician who is mistreated by his master. It would hardly be a spoiler to reveal that triumphs are scored, growing up and gaining confidence happens, and everyone except the bad guys gets what they want. One unexpected and welcome deviation from the standard course of such stories is that

Rating: middling.

Better than average for this sort of thing, and massive points for not whitewashing the cover. The heroine is unusual for steampunk, in that she's not some worthless upperclass twit -- mad scientist father optional, but likely -- but a trained magic worker in the healing arts. The world is mixed steampunk and gaslamp fantasy, and even though it's on Steampunk Planet and not a true alt history, I got the impression of a sort of alt Crimean War thing going on. The war is has murky beginnings and no clear "good guys", and Octavia could read as a Florence Nightingale type. (Although, honestly, I think I'm reading the antagonist nation -- the Wasters -- as having more of a claim than is intended, which puts me in an odd position as a reader. Octavia seems to think they have no claim to independence, while I think they obviously do, especially given how shitty the government of her country is.) The middle goes a little slack, and Octavia frets and moons more than I'd prefer, but all in all an enjoyable read.