Kady Cross

Being thrown unceremoniously out of a house closely followed by your carpetbag is no way to be fired. Although when you hit a governess so hard she's sent flying across the room without half of her teeth, well one can hardly blame others for thinking her the spawn of Satan and dismissing her without a reference. And so left on the streets with nowhere else to go Finley returns home to her mothers.

Finley is hardly home a day when a job opportunity lands in her lap. However why Lady Morton, a show more friend of her former employer, is happy to take her on knowing the circumstances of her termination is beyond her. But despite her reservations and the mystery surrounding her new employment, Finley is happy working for Lady Morton. That is until she discovers the sinister reasons behind a Lord Vincent's actions.

The Strange Case Of Finley Jayne is a compact yet feisty story of a girl who is unlike other girls. Finley is intelligent, bold and strong. Incredibly strong. She also has an other self that takes her over in times of stress and anger. As an introduction to the world of automatons, high society and mad scientist, this is the perfect prequel to the Girl in Steel Corset and if it's any indication of things to come, the Steampunk Chronicles should every bit as dark and exciting as this. show less

4.5/5
Very unusual. I can tell you that straight away.


Most steampunk novels operate in fictional Victorian era. Kate Locke completely turned this notion on its head and instead gave us present steampunk society where Queen Victoria never died and instead became the undead and rules for all eternity.


After the Plague during Victoria's reign the virus slowly turned the aristocrats into vampires and some of them (especially the Scottish variety) into werewolves.


In the present time, London show more operates as usual, only the aristocrats and the Queen are still ruling. The vampires have some sort of celebrity status, while normal people live no different apart from donating a pint of their blood occasionally and keeping a record of their DNA with state's hospitals so they can be monitored for the virus development.


Of course there is unrest and attempts of revolution which will give people more rights and diminish the rule of aristocracy. There is also a strange destructive drug that allows people to borrow the supernatural strength of those affected by The Plague, but the downside of it, - you burn out pretty quickly. Women wear corsets, phones and computers are adjusted to steampunk aesthetics, etc.


Xandra Vardan is a halvie, who works as a part of Royal Guard protecting the Queen and nobility during official events and ceremonies. She is quite content with her life, until her younger sister goes missing, and a body burned beyond recognition is supposed to be buried in her place.


Xandra investigation uncovers the darkest secrets and makes her question everything she believes in about the order of things and her own origins.


This book is dark and quite brutal. The Pace is breathtaking. Some bits of it reminded me of Meredith Gentry and Toby Day's series by Seanan McGuire. I loved Kate Locke's non nonsense style, and I'll definitely be reading more. It's very visual, bright and pure urban fantasy wrapped in attractive steampunk packaging.


Very much recommended. show less

Finley Jayne is back and better than ever. This time around, she finds herself matching wits with Jasper's former friend, someone who makes Jack Dandy look downright angelic. The Girl in the Clockwork Collar thrusts Finley into the shady underworld of New York City as they attempt to rescue Jasper and Mei from Dalton's nefarious plotting. While touching on Griffin's and Finley's burgeoning relationship, The Girl in the Clockwork Collar is really Jasper's story, rounding out a reader's show more knowledge of this "band of mysfits".

Just as in the first novel in the series, Finley remains an admirable heroine. She kicks some serious booty while managing to learn from her mistakes. In fact, readers will rejoice at the maturing that Finley shows from The Girl in the Steel Corset to The Girl in the Clockwork Collar. Finley relies less on her fists and more on her brain. Better yet, she avoids more of the awkward non-dialogue with Griffin that can become so tedious in young adult novels. It is a step in the right direction towards something more adult and definitely sets the stage for romantic sparks in future novels.

There is something to be said about a series where the women are just as strong, if not just stronger, than the men. Finley, Emily, and even Mei prove more than capable of holding their own among Griffin, Jasper, and Sam. It is as refreshing as it is fun and sets a different tone from some of the other popular young adult series out there.

Unfortunately, what is an attempt to be mysterious and crafty ends up being entirely too predictable. Everything from Mei's relationship to Jasper to the mysterious evil force at work in the Aether is easily discernible to a careful reader. There is always some element of predictability among novels of this genre, but in this instance it was particularly bothersome as there was no element of the story that one could not hazard an accurate guess. Still, to be fair, most readers are not selecting The Girl in the Clockwork Collar for its surprises.

Another curious aspect of The Girl in the Clockwork Collar is the fact that there was decidedly less steampunk this time. This was very much a character-driven plot without the ingenuity of the steam-run machines that makes this genre so fun. Between the predictability and the missing steampunk elements, the entire story suffered from the standard "middle novel in a series" issues.

In spite of its more negative aspects, The Girl in the Clockwork Collar remains an easy-to-read, enjoyable story. Finley is one heroine that remains a joy to observe as her powers progress. The story is exactly what fans of the series have come to expect, with enough unresolved mysterious events to create anticipation for future stories. It will be especially interesting to see what the next girl is wearing!

Acknowledgments: Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Teen for my e-galley! show less

I read The Girl in the Steel Corset months ago. In fact, I read it as soon as it came out. That cover mesmerized me. I loved that metal glove on Finley's hand. I want one. I want that dress and a steel corset! And I really want a Griffin King after me! Or just subtly pursuing me. And I promise not to be as ignorant as she is of his interests. But that Finley Jane, she is so uniquely her own self, she defies category, definition even. I loved her character. Tough as nails when she felt her show more self preservation kick in, but ladylike when the case called for it. But what I loved most about Finley Jane and her personality was that she had this inner dialogue going on that never stopped, but was right on when it came to assessing a situation, a person, or a need. The only thing she never guessed right was everyone's regard for her and that was because she felt so beneath all of them and so bad about herself, she could never see what others truly felt about her. Except for the criminal element, Jack Dandy for whom she has an unnatural attraction. But then she thinks, she's common so why not? But Griff has other plans for her.

Sam was a character I never got around to liking. I know he'd had a hard time previous to the novel and he was part machine, part of what had almost killed him and he hated that. He hated Emily and Griff for saving him that way and he hated Finley. But Finley's only crime was that she was new to the group. He just needed a scapegoat. I really hated Sam throughout the book and that was hard, because Emily liked him and somewhere in all the hatred and anger, he liked Emily.

Emily was a sweetheart. I pictured her as a Pippi Longstocking kind of looking girl because she was always described with ropey braids. And she didn't seem to have time for fashion as she was always working on something in her laboratory. I liked her because she was the first to make Finley feel welcome at the house. She healed her wounds and Finley thought of her as her first real friend.

And then there was Griffin. Griffin the richest man in England. Richer than the Queen. An orphan at a young age, able to tap into the Aether, the spirit world, whenever he wanted or needed to see disturbances and try to track down the Machinist, the thing that had tried to kill Sam, had killed others and he suspected had something to do with the deaths of his parents. And he's met his match with Finley. She thinks her station so beneath him, that they are actually able to be friends. And his pursuit of her is taken very lightly by her. Because a man of his wealth and breeding could never be with a girl like her.

Oh these characters are so richly woven into the story with some additional side characters and the plot, to find the Machinist, is driven with the force of two very powerful beings, Sam with his anger and hatred and Finley with her strength and love to protect her new friends. The two clash on the battlefield and then find themselves up against a truly unbeatable force.

There is a cliffhanger ending on two counts and I cannot wait to read the next installment of the Steampunk Chronicles. Kady Cross weaves several different story lines together intricately never quite losing the thread of one for another so that they are all there being woven together loosely, but present. Her characters are full and colorful and some of my favorites in YA. Read it if you haven't! Even if you think you don't like Steampunk, there is no way you can't love this one!

Highly recommended! show less