Girl in the Steel Corset (Steampunk Chronicles #1)
by Kady Cross
★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆
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The Girl in the Iron Corset (Steampunk Chronicles #1) by Kady Cross[/caption]Have you ever had that friend? I’m sure we all do. You know, that friend, the one who’s nice, entertaining and fun to be around... in small doses. But if you were kidnapped and handcuffed together, you’d rather gnaw off your own hand than spend another minute in their presence.
I was so excited to start The Girl in the Steel Corset. Maybe my expectations were too high, but I enjoyed The Strange Case of Finley Jane and thought a full novel to explore and develop Finley’s character would totally rock. But it didn’t take long before Finley became that friend. In fact, most of the characters got on my nerves.
The book begins when Finley runs into (quite literally) Griffin King, Lord of Greythorn and his friend, Sam, while trying to escape her attacker (who she left unconscious). Her “evil Finley” side has taken over and, when she wakes up at Griffin’s house, she continues to thrash like a caged feral child. Sam would rather toss her crazy ass out, but Griffin knows there’s something special about Finley.
After he calms Finley down with some mind trickery, she meets the gang: Griffin, a powerful Lord and mindfreak that uses the aether to do whatever he does with his mind; Emily, the genius scientist and engineer; and Sam, the gigantic brute who’s part metal after an injury nearly killed him.
Kind of like a Victorian-era X-Men.
Finley discovers her mother and biological father, who died when she was a baby, had been friends with Griffin’s parents, who died more recently in a carriage accident. The parents had been part of a group that journeyed to the center of the earth (or something) and discovered these organisms (which Emily calls “beasties”) that have incredible healing powers.
Apparently Griffin holds a monopoly on the beasties and their healing powers since Queen Victoria ordered the discovery to be kept a secret – they were too dangerous to let the public get their hands on. And she probably had a good point since the villain known as “The Machinist” seems to want to get his hands on them for God only knows what.
Well, maybe God and any reader with third-grade problem solving skills. It truly amazed me that how many times the solutions were handed to the characters – spelled out for them – and, despite having a genius in their bunch, they never got it.
It was like a chef watching someone get out lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, croutons, ranch dressing, put it in a bowl, get out a fork and then thinking, “Hmm. I wonder what they are making.”
Dur.
And this whole load about aether and beasties. Honestly, I started tuning out all the explanations and just went with the whole suspension of disbelief program. I’m pretty sure if I thought too hard about it I’d find flaws and just get irritated. So, the beasties and aether might as well being a rock-rap group for all I cared. They served their purpose.
Now, back to the characters being unlikable because that ruined the book for me more than anything. I’d say it took my rating down at least two stars.
Finley: Oh, Finley. She’s discovered the identity of her biological father, learned why she has unusual abilities and is in the middle of an investigation to find The Machinist – yet all she seems to do is pine over Griffin and go on tangents why, because he’s a duke and she’s but a poor girl of no status, they can never be! And then she runs off to Jack Dandy, a gang leader that she’s become infatuated with. Could the allegory for Finley’s good and bad sides be any more obvious? If I were Jack Dandy, I would’ve told her to get lost.
After receiving a surprise from The Machinist’s break in at the wax museum, Griffin and Sam head to the museum to see if there are any other clues while Emily runs some tests on the evidence they already have. Finley asks what she’s supposed to do and Griffin tells her that she should stay to assist Emily since The Machinist seemed to be targeting Finley. It would be safer. Finley woefully determines from that little exchange that she’ll never be “one of them.” How is she being excluded, exactly?
Oh, and then there’s the time she runs away after having a physical fight with Sam. Sam attacked her and she only did what she had to do to save her life, which just happened to result in nearly killing him. No one blamed her. Yet, as they worked on him, she resigned herself to the fact that they’d always pick him over her and she should just leave. She wasn’t badly hurt. Sam was near death. Did she want them to stop their effort to save his life and throw her a goddamned party? Grow the fuck up.
Sam:
Every page with Sam was like I had just stepped onto a stage during a melodrama. He incessantly whined about he could never forgive Emily for saving his life – putting those mechanical parts in him and making him a monster. And the audacity she had thinking she did a good thing. Hmph.
When he wasn’t whining about Emily, he was complaining about Finley. He didn’t trust her from day one (even though she never gave him a reason not to) and how dare Griffin not see it! No one believed him and so *cue dramatic voice* he must stop her! Was I supposed to feel sorry for him? He was a useless crapbag.
As for the others, Griffin seemed alright. He was a little egotistical and seemed to just assume everyone should follow his orders, though. Jack Dandy was intriguing. I never quite knew what he was up to and his seedy personality was actually kind of charming. I liked Emily –totally smart and lovable, but she didn’t get much play. Jasper was there. I didn’t feel either way about the American cowboy.
The end wasn’t terrible. There could have been a little bit more closure on The Machinist plot, but whatever. The final pages alluding to the next book in the series were a little blah. It didn’t sound like a set up for a thrilling story, but then I never found Jasper all that interesting.
Maybe I’m stubborn or maybe I just really want to like this series, so I’m making a go at Girl in the Clockwork Collar. Maybe the characters will mature – after all, Steel Corset was really the first book. I feel like I should give them a second chance.
Check it out if you... like robots and have nothing better to read.
Skip it if you... say no to the drama.
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