The Girl with the Iron Touch by Kady Cross

The Girl with the Iron Touch by Kady Cross
Series: Steampunk Chronicles, #3
Source: Harlequin Teen Panel
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication Date: May 28, 2013

In 1897 London, something not quite human is about to awaken
When mechanical genius Emily is kidnapped by rogue automatons, Finley Jayne and her fellow misfits fear the worst. What's left of their archenemy, The Machinist, hungers to be resurrected, and Emily must transplant his consciousness into one of his automatons—or forfeit her friends' lives.
With Griffin being mysteriously tormented by the Aether, the young duke's sanity is close to the breaking point. Seeking help, Finley turns to Jack Dandy, but trusting the master criminal is as dangerous as controlling her dark side. When Jack kisses her, Finley must finally confront her true feelings for him...and for Griffin.
Meanwhile, Sam is searching everywhere for Emily, from Whitechapel's desolate alleyways to Mayfair's elegant mansions. He would walk into hell for her, but the choice she must make will test them more than they could imagine.
To save those she cares about, Emily must confront The Machinist's ultimate creation—an automaton more human than machine. And if she's to have any chance at triumphing, she must summon a strength even she doesn't know she has...

The Girl with the Iron Touch is a bit of a hard one for me to review. As you know, I've been absolutely loving the rest of the series. But try as I might, this one didn't really live up to it's predecessors. It seemed a bit rushed, to tell you the truth.

It started out interesting-- but a tad bit confusing for my liking. We're thrown right into the story, which normally I love, but I had no clue what was going on! It seems that several months have lapsed in between books-- sigh.

 I did, however, enjoy this installment of The Steampunk Chronicles, even though it left a bit to be desired.
Emily got so much more time and development in this one! Before, she was just a sweet, smart girl. But now we find out that she has some skeletons in her closet, some of which don't even get revealed to us! I'd like to know more about her! I liked being inside her head for once, and getting to see what she thought.

I had hoped that this would be the book where Finley and Griffin would finally figure it out, and while to some degree it was, I still feel like their relationship could be more developed. It didn't seem like anything had happened in the time that we missed, but then it seems like things start happening altogether too fast, which kind of messed with my mind.

You know what else messed with my mind? The plot. It was all over the place, but I mean that in a good way. It wasn't as predictable as the last two books, but I found that there were more loose ends. It irked me. I feel like they weren't all tied up, and that we have too much of an open-ending. I like them all wrapped up pretty, if I may say so.

All in all, The Girl with the Iron Touch was a good continuation to this series, but I feel like maybe this isn't the last book?