Book Review: The Girl in the Steel Corset (The Steampunk Chronicles #1) by Kady Cross

The Girl in the Steel Corset (The Steampunk Chronicles #1) by Kady Cross
Release Date: 17th April 2012

Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Format: Paperback 
Pages: 375
Rating: 4.0/5.0

This book was read as part of the 2013 OTS, 2013 ODY, 2013 GVR and 2013 BSR

Summary from Amazon:

"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. And Finley thinks she might finally be a part of something, finally fit in—until a criminal mastermind known as the Machinist threatens to tear the group apart…."

Review:

Overall, I thought this was a solid read, and an interesting introduction to the steampunk genre for me. This book had a bit of everything in it - romance, mystery, action and a bit of history - and it all worked really well together to form solid characters and plots. All the characters are likeable (even if they, or rather, one of them acts downright stupid at some points) and the plot, for the most part, is unpredictable. It's only downfall is how easy it is to pick out the villian - as soon as he is introduced, you know it's him.

Whilst I did enjoy this book, I didn't feel particularly involved with it as I read. I never really felt immersed in the story; I felt like an outsider just watching in. Quite possibly this is because I haven't read steampunk before, and I didn't find it a genre that was easy to take too. Maybe my next foray into the genre will be different (one can hope!)