Review: The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross

Title: The Girl in the Steel Corset
Author: Kady Cross
Series: The Steampunk Chronicles
Book #: 1
Pages: 473
Reading Level: YA
Book Rating: .5
Published: May 24th 2011
by Harlequin Teen

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 Finley, 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, an 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.

Taschima's POV:

 I've seen both good and bad reviews about this novel, but what can I say about one of the books with the prettiest covers around? Well, I can say that it was pretty fun, had some interesting characters, and the steampunk element was well employed. It also had some annoying characters, the main plot was so so, and the pace was like a roller coaster ride; going up and down and all around (the beginning of the novel captures your attention right away though!).

Finley is two people inhabiting one body. Fighting for control, her darker self is the daredevil bad girl who is not afraid to risk her life or teach gentleman some manners, while the good girl is the total opposite, but not as lame as she could otherwise be. They are two halfs of one hole. We are introduced to Finley in the beginning when she runs away from where she is currently working and gets hit by a motorcycle. Who is riding this said motorcycle? Why none other than the handsome DUKE Griffin King. He takes her under his wing because he feels responsible and then comes to realize what a special girl Finley is when she starts throwing the servants around like they weight no more than a pack of pencils. Griffin, with the help of his loyal friends Emily and Sam is trying to catch one of the baddest guys around town, a man called The Machinist, and he might just need Finley to get the job done.

Hmm this novel was interesting (which is the word I usually employ when something is good and picks your interest, but not as magnificent). It took me a long time to finish it up, but that was my own fault (real life got momentarily in the way). As I said before it has some interesting characters. I liked Finley's two personas, but I have to say that my favorite is Emily, she is just such a smart wonderful girl! I didn't fall in love with any of the male characters (Beware there is not only one but TWO love triangles in this book, DUM DUM DUM!).

I thought the guys were pretty standard, they didn't rock my boat, though occasionally each of them (except Sam) managed to shake me up a bit (specially a cowboy type fellow who shows up once in a while).

Now... for the annoying characters. You are going to find them here. I got mostly annoyed at Sam, he is just such a *&^%head. I cannot stomach him, and I don't know how anyone in their right mind could either. I guess he has redeeming qualities, like being occasionally witty, but not enough for me.

As for the plot it was so so. The big bad guy wasn't as big and bad as it first seemed, he went down pretty easily. Finley's "problem" also seems to resolve itself pretty easily (I was expecting things to get way worse before they ever got better). One of the things I most liked about the novel was the element of Steampunk in the Victorian age. It was a nice background, though most of the time it felt like it was so freaking advanced... Like they used 21st century things and made it pass as steampunk. Maybe the objects just weren't described as fully has they could have been described and so my mind just thought of the equivalent in the 21st century.

Also what is it with Steampunk in the Victorian era? It just works!

The possibilities for the second novel are endless! I expect to be picking up that novel whenever it hits bookstores near me (hopefully there will be bookstores still around by then). Then again, don't expect me to be tripping over myself to get it.
 

T's Reading Trajectory:

 

Steady process if there ever was one >.<