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Penelope lives in a time where marionettes have advanced to the point of robots. She makes a deal with a scientist in order to get out of her orphanage. The deal entails that she gets a life with the scientist and his son (Jed and James) in exchange for her involvement in an experiment. She must become a living marionette.
The story immediately caught my eye as it is a retelling of the story Pinocchio. They were similar in regard to marionettes, the impossibility of getting away with a lie, and individuals who wanted to use the main character for their own gain. The characters had many intriguing qualities. Penelope was a fun character to read about and learn how she went from a thief who only looked out for herself to someone who tried to protect those she cared about. By far, I think the most interesting character is Jed who is the mad scientist that only seems to care about his experiments. The story itself was completely different from Pinocchio and had an entertaining plot that was a quick read. It had a plot twist that I did not see coming, not even a hint of an indication. It was at this point that all of the questions and doubts that I had were answered.
This does not mean that I did not have any problems with this story. The romance depicted in the story was just a bit too quick in development (which was a bit off putting). I wish that the author would have tried to explain the science involved in the story and the experiments described. Instead, the science was stated as being too advanced for people to understand and that most believe it to be magic. It kind of felt as if it was in a time period where everything that was scientific or different was called the devil's work or evil. How was Penelope able to so easily crush and bend items? How was she able to move at a greater speed?
3.5/5 Stars
I received this for review from Net Galley. This book was a nice change of pace from what I have recently been reading. I thought it was a great premise and a very creative story.
