The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross

The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross
Series: Steampunk Chronicles, #1
Source: Bought
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication Date: May 24, 2011

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 think that my feelings for The Girl in the Steel Corset could pretty accurately be described as STEAMPUNK=AWESOME. I'm a huge fan of steampunk, but it's just one of those genres that never quite made onto the YA group for whatever reason.

But there should be more, because they've found a fan in me. I liked Kady's rich descriptions of society, and the steampowered carriages, as well as the automatons and the lovely steampunk garb.

I liked that when the points of view switched; I was never confused. Each of the characters has their own unique personality. You'd think that there would be confusion, but no, I always knew exactly who was speaking, and I loved that.

I also loved the Jekyll and Hyde element, as well as the mystery of the machinist and the various other things that were going on.

Finley was my favourite character, but I also really liked Emily, Sam, Jasper, and Griffin. I love that none of the characters personalities were skimped on in favor of action. There was plenty of that too, but all of the characters were very fleshed out in spite of that.

Now, because I have to, I'll say something about the quasi-love triangle. I like both sides, but Griffin totally comes out on top for me. He's so much sweeter, and I like the way that he thinks about Finley. They're both swoony, though, so there is that.

All in all, my only problem with The Girl in the Steel Corset was that it was a tad predictable. Everything else about it was amazing.