Not a lot to say besides I really liked this book. I thought it mixed together the elements of steampunk and the Victorian Age very well. I loved the characters, and I loved how Cross added in Gothic elements as well by using inspiration from some stories we all know and love (Frankenstein--well I hated that; Jekyll and Hyde--ditto) and threw some twists in.

"The Girl in the Steel Corset" included a nice little backstory to the character of Finley Jayne. From there it goes into the longer story that has Finley meeting other characters I assume we are to follow for the rest of this series. 

Finley's backstory gave us enough of a glimpse to know there is something about her. You don't know what. But at times she feels like she is two people trapped in one body. The short story that began before it included the longer story was so good. I loved it and wish we had followed up with characters introduced in that. When we catch up with Finley again, she ends up fighting off a young lord of the manor who thinks he can take her and do what he wills. When she flees after injuring him, she runs into Griffin King and his friends who are doing what they can to defend the country (England) against outside enemies.

Besides Finley and Griffin, we also have Emily, Sam, Jasper, and a young man called Jack Dandy. We quickly find out that Griffin and his friends (Emily, Sam, and Jasper) are out to capture a man/woman called The Machinist who is behind several crimes that took place involving automatons. However, suspicions turns towards Finley for maybe being involved with the Machinist when things start happening that shows that the criminal is out to get them. 

Even though this is a Young Adult book (and yeah I had no idea when I borrowed it from the library) this book reads much older. I didn't even realize the characters are teenagers until I saw someone's age mentioned. That's not a knock against Cross either, it was delightful to read young adults who actually for the most part had sense and thank goodness two love triangles reared their heads, but one was absolutely resolved and I think the other one is too for what it's worth. 

The only complaint I will say that I really did have is that this book was a bit too long. I know that Cross had to set up the other characters and do world building though so it's to be expected in the first book in a series. I just honestly didn't need the story to be swinging back to much to Sam. He got tiresome after a while. I do wish we had spent more time with Griffin's aunt on her adventures though.

The setting of a Victorian age with steampunk (think automatons walking around, things people cannot see that are little machines that can repair, people having eyes replaced, etc.) really hit the sweet spot for me.

The ending leaves things in the air for some people. I am definitely going to continue this series to see where it goes. 

Kindle edition: 473 pages

$10.00

Total: $ Balance: $189

When I get a chance I'll try to go back to this series. I really enjoyed the steampunk elements and loved it being set in the Victorian age in England. My main criticism is that it was a little overly long. 

Kindle edition: 473 pages

$10.00

Total: $ Balance: $189

This book read like a tv show.

To be honest, a huge part of The Girl in the Steel Corset reminded me a lot of tv shows like Vampire Diaries and Pretty Little Liars—you know, teenagers running the whole show and doing ten thousand things without any adults and saving the day? Yeah.

The book starts out fast, so make sure you guys read carefully and pay attention to some detail if you don’t want to be confused. It’s what worked for me.

The characters honestly felt pretty developed to me. But they were completely unexplained in some parts and I hope the next couple of books in the Steampunk Chronicles answers them. Like, Emily has the skills of engineering, technology, science, and medicine? Where the heck did this girl even learn all of this from? The only explanation or job description I could possibly give her is that she’s a physician-scientist, and to be that you need to be certified dually in a PhD and MD (okay, that’s in today’s time, but you get what I’m saying?). So…?

Also, I hated Sam. Like, really, really hated him. Always complaining and whining. Finley Jayne chooses to save Sam instead of catching a criminal? Oh no, how could she be so irresponsible?! Finley Jayne chooses to catch a criminal instead of saving Sam? Of course she would! She would never save Sam! She’s evil and ungrateful and anything Finley doestotally gives Sam the right to be an abusive prick and beat her up for no good reason. (Used a random example, by the way)

Also, umm… what’s with the multiple love triangles happening in here? *tries to check if Jack Dandy is a real person* (Team Dandy!)

A lot of the things that were probably meant to be suspenseful were things that I guessed was going to happen, but from how I felt, this book is just a quick read. :D I’m guessing every book is a new adventure.

A pretty fast-paced plot, teenage-lead story, and a huge cast of characters and situations, try out reading The Girl in the Steel Corset if you’re willing to read something quick and light with a lot of tv entertainment :D

November was a surprisingly good month for me (reading wise) I think i read more books in November than i had in any month this year, and possibly last! On top of that nearly all the books i read this month i adored!!

I suppose thats one of the side benefits of quitting your job.

My Favorite read was Vision in Silver which i rated 5 stars.

The Coolest book was definitely The Girl King which is based on a real character from history. I highly recommend checking her out, she's pretty amazing.
(I love this page personally but you can also check out this one, which while has good information, people would probably take this person more seriously if they didn't swear so much and stuck to actual quotes, and there's always Wiki, though i usually don't rely on wiki cause of previous fabrications problems. and you can also do your own research. either way she's awesome and you should check her out)
The book i Disliked the most has to be The Life of a Teenage Body-Snatcher and i still managed to rate the book 3 stars, so all in all a great month.

Here's hoping December will be just as good!
I already have a series (Cassie Palmer) buddy read lined up, and I'm hoping to finish some other library books in the time period as well. Happy Days.

At A Glance

Genre: Young Adult; Science Fiction
Love Triangle/Insta Love?: nope.
Cliff Hanger: idk.
Rating: 2.5 Stars

Score Sheet
All out of ten

Cover: 8
Plot: 6
Characters: 7
World Building: 6
Flow: 3
Series Congruity: n/a
Writing: 6
Ending: 7

Total: 6

In Dept

Best Part: Super powers!
Worst Part: I'm so lost on what went down!
Thoughts Had: Oh she's strong; Sam reminds me of The Thing; Yay action!

Conclusion

Continuing the Series: maybe
Recommending: meh.

Short Review: Maybe i'm just setting the bar too high, but i'm getting so bored of most of the books i've been reading. I need less talking, and more action! I have no clue as to what was going on for the last 25% of the book, it was all over the place, too many kinda the same name characters messing me up. I knew there was a bad girl and he was causing trouble. They might have killed him. Something about machines thinking for themselves. I have no clue. I might read the next book, but only because of a series challenge next month.

Review in GIF Form: