BOOK REVIEW: The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross

I admit I initially wanted to read this book because of the cover, I mean, look at it! It’s absolutely stunning. And then I started reading… And I was pleasantly surprised. This was my first Steampunk novel and I was immediately swept away. 

Cross’ world is littered with metal contraptions and interesting characters. The main character is captivating, daring, naïve, and strong all wrapped into this little package. In other words, I LOVED this book. I don’t want to give away the entire premise because then I’d be giving away some spoilers but I’ll just let you read the synopsis 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.

I was utterly surprised by this book, although I loved the cover, I didn’t expect to love the story as much as I did. And now I’m in love with this Victorian world filled with metal machines and robots. It’s definitely different from the books that I normally read but it kept my attention and was captivating and intriguing. 

I loved Finley because of how much she progressed as a character throughout the story. She wasn’t a one note character, she grew and changed and became stronger and I felt like I was with her during that entire journey. And although there was chemistry between Finley and Griffin, it didn’t overwhelm the story. I was more interested in the mystery that was taking place and the tension was an added bonus!

I kind of felt a bit disconnected from the rest of the characters but I think that’s because the perspectives changed so much. And although I loved the character of Jack, Finley’s attraction to him seemed a bit random. The ending definitely made me feel like I was watching “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” So you can probably count on this being book one in a series.  I would definitely check out THE GIRL IN THE STEEL CORSET if you haven’t already. It’s such a great intro into Steampunk if you haven’t read any before!