The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross Review

Title: The Girl in the Steel Corset (Steampunk Chronicles #1)

Author: Kady Cross

Genre: Young Adult, Steampunk

Page Count: 336 pages/493 KB

Book Type: Kindle Galley

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

ISBN: 9780373210336

ASIN: B004XDYXAI

Picture from Amazon

From Goodreads: 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.

My Review: I adore this cover. 1) Her dress is gorgeous. 2) I love the steel corset showing. 3) I love the steampunk attributes in the background. 4) The font was an excellent choice. I just wish the blurb wasn’t there. The cover would have been perfect without it.

This is a good debut steampunk novel. I really think it would be a good introduction into the steampunk world if you are unfamiliar with it. The only other steampunk I have read was Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare and I could definitely see some similarities throughout. I wonder if that happens with all steampunk novels since they are heavily based on machinery.

Since this is a first in a series, it was a good lead in. It didn’t blow me away, but kept me interested enough to want to read the second. I’m anxious to read the prequel that I have waiting for my on my Kindle because I have a feeling it will explain a few things that I was curious about during the novel. I enjoyed the characters in this book; however, I wish we would have gotten to know them even more. I wanted more back story.

Some of my favorite parts were the explanations of the steampunk aspects of the world Kady Cross created. The organites (or “little beasties”) were fascinating. They basically regenerated cells in a body and could heal wounds at a quicker pace than normal. Very useful. The Girl in the Steel Corset wasn’t my favorite book of the year, but it has me interested enough to want to read the sequel!   

Thanks to NetGalley, Kady Cross and Harlequin Teen for this review copy!

Have you read The Girl in the Steel Corset yet? What did you think? Also, if you could leave me some more steampunk suggestions in the comments, that would be fabulous!