Steampunk Thursday: The Girl in the Steel Corset / Prudence

This edition: BONUS BOOK INCLUDED, The Strange Case of Finley Jayne 

The Strange Case of Finley Jayne -98 pages

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 and says she's special, says she's one of them . The orphaned duke takes her in from the gaslit streets, against the wises of his band of misfits. And Finley thinks she might finally be a part of something, finally fit in-until a criminal mastermind known as Machinist threatens to tear the group apart... 

My thoughts:

This one included the prequel novella The Strange Case of Finley Jayne -98 pages. I liked that one, it gave me a better look at Finley, and it stood well on its own. I actually liked it more than the actual book.

On the strengths and weaknesses of the actual book, I would say that read the prequel. Without I doubt I would have liked Finley like I did. And I do hate that. This novella could have been in the actual book, do not make us read it later or before. I hate that. Cos if you do not know about it you miss out. Not cool.

Finley is a strange girl, we find out why later on. She meets a strange bunch of youngsters and befriends them. They are hunting for someone, she does not join in. She is just around.

And then boom! Love triangle. WHy oh why! The first guy is such a boring loser. The other guy, oh whatever, yes he is a bad boy but he has so much character, while the first has no personality.

But love triangle aside, it was a good book. I did like the novella the most, so that was a shame. I would read more if the library had them, but to buy...one word, love triangle. Recommend...sure, why not. But be warned, love triangle! Really, why did there have to be a love triangle!? I liked it so much until then. I still recommend it to YA steampunk lovers though.

Cover

Nice

Paperback, 476 pages
Published April 17th 2012 by Harlequin Teen
Steampunk Chronicles #1
Steampunk romance YA
Library

When Prudence Alessandra Maccon Akeldama (Rue to her friends) is given an unexpected dirigible, she does what any sensible female would under similar circumstances - names it the Spotted Crumpet and floats to India in pursuit of the perfect cup of tea.

But India has more than just tea on offer. Rue stumbles upon a plot involving local dissidents, a kidnapped brigadier's wife, and some awfully familiar Scottish werewolves. Faced with a dire crisis and an embarrassing lack of bloomers, what else is a young lady of good breeding to do but turn metanatural and find out everyone's secrets, even thousand-year-old fuzzy ones? 

My thoughts:

I was thinking of giving this one an ok rating, but, did I think it as ok? Did I like a single thing about it?

Not really.

Every single character was an idiot. So freaking annoying. I would not want to be friends with any of them. I would not even want to be in the room with any of them. I did meet 3 previous characters, but even they had changed.

The book tried WAY too hard. WAAAAAAY! No, that is not funny. No, that is not cute. That is pushing it beyond. It was trying. It was exhausting to read.

There was no plot. Suddenly there was one. And I was all, this makes no sense. I do not like this. I would have DNFed if I had not loved Soulless, but even that series turned sour at the end. 

I do not recommend reading this series.

Cover

The only good thing about the book

Paperback, 343 pages
Published March 19th 2015 by Orbit
The Custard Protocol #1
Steampunk
Own