The Girl in the Steel Corset

The Girl in the Steel Corset
Kady Cross
477 pages
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Source: NetGalley.com
★★★★★

You can read the Goodreads summary here.

I'd never read a steampunk novel before this one and I didn't know if I would like it.  When I was planning my wedding I came across brides who were planning steampunk weddings and I thought that was the strangest thing ever.  Luckily for me, steampunk novels turned out to be a good thing.

Because of the experiments her father conducted while he was still alive, Finley was born with something extra - a darker side that she has a hard time controlling, turning her into a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde character.  When she runs away from her former employer, she finds herself living with a ragtag group of friends who are determined to stop the plot of The Machinist to remove the current Queen Victoria from power and replace her with something more sinister.

I loved this book!  The plot was exciting and unique and the characters were very distinct as well.  I couldn't help but love each of them in their own way.  I thoroughly enjoyed the mixture of Victorian era dress and mannerisms mixed with futuristic inventions and science.  Despite the fact that this was the first book in a series, it didn't end in a huge cliffhanger, which you know I prefer.  There was definitely a bit of an open end for the next novel, but it didn't feel like the story stopped midway.  I will definitely be picking up the second book in this series when it comes out, presumably next year sometime.

Why is it that Harlequin romances are so mediocre, but their Harlequin Teen line is so awesome?  This book got five stars from me and, even though I haven't read it yet, I've heard really good things about The Goddess Test.  Harlequin needs to do for its romances what its done for its YA line.