The Girl in the Steel Corset

Title: The Girl in the Steel Corset (Stempunk Chronicles #1)
Author: Kady Cross
Release Date: May 24, 2011
Pages: 480
Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Another book off my dusty shelf, I have to thank personal vacation time for this one!

Everyone always tells you not to judge a book by its cover, but to some avid readers, that's the first selling point.

Such was true when I picked 'The Girl in the Steel Corset' up off the shelf a few months back and decided to add it to my 'to read' mountain.

The dark background contrast  by the rich red of the dress drew my eye almost imediately, the inside flap only succeeded in pulling me in farther.

I will admit to being a little wary about this particular book - I'm a love of fantasy, Steampunk has never really appealed to me. I'll balme that for letting this absolute gem gather dust for a good 8 months.

Corset starts off with a hook - Finley, our main character, has a slight... altercation with her employer, allowing her darker side to emerge and leaving him close to death.

Then, she promptly runs away.

Sure, the book took a few pages to get into, but it was absolutely breath taking when you really got into it. The characters are well written, although Kady could do more to draw connections between her main five and her audience, but they are captivating none the less.

The plot... well,  there may have been a few little wrinkles that allowed for (and now I draw on all those English classes i took) Dramatic Irony. If you have half a brain in your head, you can figure out what's going on and who's involved how well before any of the plot is revealed.  

Now, I know what your saying:

"But Si, this review paints Corset in such a lack-luster manner..."

For that, I appologize.

I really did enjoy Corset. I though it was very well written, with entertaining characters and a unique, imaginative plot. I though the setting was accurate, and that Kady did a wonderful job researching her fashion and history (Or did a wonderful job of pretending she did.)

Kady Cross creates a capitavting world and gives her characters some real depth, something I have often found lacks in historical novels, as authors spend as much time trying to be right and descriptive as they do sussing out the characters.

Corset took a new approach to harlequin romance, and opened the worlds eyes  little wider to the late 19th century, and for that, I am glad. 

I believe Kady could have made the book a little less prediactble, but with her not being a suspense or mystery novelist, I'll let her pass on this one.

Overall, I'd score Corset at a 4/5, and admit to be eagerly awaiting the second installment, The Girl in the Clockwork Collar due out this May!!

Bloodlines

For my first review, I wanted to post something I'd drafted a while ago, even if it's not totally relevant to today and everything that has just hit shelves.
I`d love to hear your thoughts and comments on my review style! I`m a little new at this, and want to make my reviews as engaging, informative and accessable as possible :)

I devoured 'Bloodlines' the second I got my hands on it, way back at the beginning of September, but it's already a favourite re-read.

On a quirky trivia note, Bloodlines is actually one of the LAST books I read in hard format, as it was just before my move when I converted to a Kobo to make my book collection a little lighter ;)

Septerber, 2012:

Title: Bloodlines (Bloodlines #1)
Author: Richelle Mead
Release Date: August 23, 2011
Pages: 421
Publisher: Penguin Young Reader Group

Well, I’ve waited six long months for this book and am glad to say it did not disappoint!

Richelle does a spectacular job of drawing her readers into the universe, but makes the book diverse enough that even if you haven’t read her (spectacular) Vampire Academy series, you’ll be able to jump right on in!

In Bloodlines, Richelle lets Sydney, one of the mysterious Alchamists, take the reader to sunny Palm Springs, CA – not your typical Vamp Hangout, which makes it perfect for Dragomir Princess Jill – aka Jailbait – who is forced into hiding after an attempt on her life. Everything starts out as well as can be expected – sure Sydney could do without the annoying Keith, but her job is more important than her annoying co-workers, so she sticks it out, doing everything she can to make sure Jill is comfortable and safe, while clearing her own name, slandered in VA’s sixth book, Last Sacrifice.

Do you HAVE to have read the VA series to read Bloodlines? No, but it does help answer a few questions, and gives detail to subjects that Sydney (our narrator) just glosses. Plus, it introduces five of the main or main-ish characters fully.

What could Richelle have done better? Give the characters a little more history. Sure, 90% of her readers are sticking around from VA, but for the 10% who aren’t, they’re going to be wondering why Eddie is so special, and who Adrian is. Plus, they’re gonna be very WTF – why is this Rose chick popping up so much? She’s not even in the book!

On that note however, I found there were a few `gimmie` points if you`re already familiar with the VA series and Richelle`s Moiri world – a couple of questions that a familiar reader could answer early in and conclusions they could draw ahead of time. However, this didn`t slow the pace or make the book any less interesting!!

Congrats Richelle on another addictive book! I can`t wait to sink my teeth into The Golden Lily aka, Bloodlines #2, due out May 2012.