Review ~ The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross

The Girl in the Steel Corset (Steampunk Chronicles #1)
by Kady Cross
YA Steampunk Romance
Published: May 24th 2011
Goodreads Link

Blurb:

In 1897 England, sixteen-year-old Finley Jayne has no one... except the "thing" inside her. When a young lord tries to take advantage of Finely, she fights back. And wins. But no "normal" Victorian girl has a darker side that makes her capable of knocking out a full-grown man with one punch....

Only Griffin King sees the magical darkness inside her that says she's special, says she's one of "them." The orphaned duke takes her in from the gaslit streets against the wishes of his band of misfits: Emily, who has her own special abilities and an unrequited love for Sam, who is part robot; and Jasper, and American cowboy with a shadowy secret.

Griffin's investigating a criminal called The Machinist, the mastermind behind several recent crimes by automatons. Finley thinks she can help-and finally be a part of something, finally fit in.

But The Machinist wants to tear Griff's little company of strays apart, and it isn't long before trust is tested on all sides. At least Finley knows whose side she's on-even if it seems no one believes her.

My Review:

**3.5 Stars**

MY OVERVIEW: I was originally going to give this book a 4 star review, then upon consideration decided to go with a 3.5. I picked up this book hoping for a lot of steampunk, and instead got a lot of awkward romance.

PROS: I really enjoyed the steampunk aspects of the book, as well as the mystery. In my opinion Emily is the stronges and most developed character. She seemed to have some depth that the other characters lacked. Except for maybe Sam. His character was pretty complex.

CONS: It was hard to get a good understanding of who Finley was. Because of her personality separation, you never really get a good grasp on her. She was also getting annoying with her "I like Griffin. No, I like Jack Dandy. I can't be with Griffin. I shouldn't be with Jack." Arg. Love triangle.

MY FINAL THOUGHTS: Will I read the next one? Probably, but it is somewhat low on my priority list. I will most likely pick it up when I feel like reading a steampunk-lite book.