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

Rated 4 stars.

What I enjoyed:
- I really enjoyed the action in this book
- The fact they finally seem to of stopped the ridiculously multiple love-triangles-squares? that was just getting on my nerves!!
- The character's (for the most part, they were occasionally annoying)
- The villain and creepy robots.
- The ghosts
- The switch in POVs - especially Em.
- The scientific crazy-ness


What I disliked:
- The swooning.
- The Brooding.
- the ridiculous make out scene's 

- the humor still wasn't as good as it was in the first book.
- the author has a habit of repeating certain words and sentences. (I will be happy never to hear people from the 1800's from england say darnation and tarnation ever again in my life.)
- we didnt get to find out anything more about wildcat.
- all the crying, why were they so emotional? over the slightest things!

so yea while there were some big downsides for me, in the end i decided this book was worth 4 stars just for the fact i enjoyed the crazy science side of things and watching every body kick butt with their made gadgets and superb powers.

When my wife's friend recommended this series to us, I didn't even notice it was published by Harlequin Teen until I was well into the first (and best) of the series.  By contrast, I don't think there was a page in this one that didn't scream Harlequin, Teen, or both.  Still, I'd enjoyed this X-Men in Steampunk Victorian England series up til now, so I persevered.  But I'd read about half of the novel before I really "got into" the story.

There were basically two storylines in this novel -- the B story (oddly, the one the book is titled for) is all about the highly advanced automaton that Jack discovered in the previous novel becoming a "real life girl" -- just like her favorite, Pinocchio.  There were some interesting moments in this story -- and if it had been given more time to breathe -- maybe taking place over a few weeks, rather than a couple of days -- I'd have bought it and been invested in it.

The A story was even more rushed.  Further proof that you can't keep a bad man down, The Machinist is back -- again.  This time, a full-fledged resident of the Aether, he kidnaps Griffin and begins to exact his revenge.  Finley goes off to rescue him -- with a little technical support from her friends.  This is one of the bigger problems with this installment -- the series is strongest when it's dealing with all the interpersonal relationships -- not just the romantic ties -- seeing the characters interact with each other.  There was so little of that this time, it felt like a different series.  Sam didn't get to be too Sam-ish.  Both he and Emily mostly worked behind the scenes -- ditto for Jasper and Wildcat (when they weren't off helping Jack in the B story). Emily and Finley got 1 or 2 good scenes together, but that's about it. 

Anyway, Finley goes off to save Griffin and runs into a couple of blasts from the past.  One of which was simply an unnecessary plot complication -- and was dispatched as such.  The other was probably the best part of this book. Probably its saving grace.

Initially, I was disappointed to read that this was the conclusion to the Steampunk Chronicles.  But by the end, I think it's time -- and clearly Cross did, too.  There's no getting around the idea that she was wrapping things up (and rushed a few things to get to that point).  Still, readers that have been with Griffin's little crew up to this point will appreciate seeing how things end.  The book may have been not terribly impressive, but the series as a whole was still a fun Steampunk-ish tale.  Because of the aforementioned saving grace and the series as a whole, I'll give this 3-stars.  It should probably get 2 - 2.5.