The Girl in the Steel Corset

This book got progressively more terrible as it went on. If you've read like the first half and you're confused why people hate it... Just put it down now so you wont have to suffer like I've suffered.

I hate Sam so much. I hate everyone around him for excusing his behavior. He literally tried to kill Finley for something he was responsible for, but it's ok because he was "manipulated." And when she comes to his rescue he has the audacity to go:

"The last person he ever expected to come to his aid. Or was she there to make sure the automaton finished its task?"

AFTER HE LEARNS THAT SHE WAS COMPLETELY INNOCENT AND THAT HE'S RESPONSIBLE. Zero consequences. You don't actually have to forgive your friends if they turn out to be pure garbage show more humans. In fact, you shouldn't. You should end that friendship and never look back.

“That’s my fault,” she insisted. “If I had told you everything after the surgery, you wouldn’t have felt so betrayed. He wouldn’t have lured you in.” “It’s not your fault.” “Then it’s not yours, either.”

It's definitely your fault Sam. If you want to give a terrible character a redemption arc you have to give them some sort of redeeming qualities. Sam has none. It's not enough to keep repeating that he's someone's friend or love interest, there's literally nothing about him that's even remotely likable. He's a worse human than Umbridge, because at least we were never supposed to sympathize with her. If anyone read this book and didn't hate Sam... How? What? Are you ok?

Anyways... You also shouldn't put up with men who trap you in their house and tell you that you need saving and that he's the only one who can save you. Especially if he says shit like:

“Just relax, Finley. I’ll be done soon, and if you’re a good girl, I shall give you a biscuit.”

No. What you should do, Finley, is realize that you're perfectly fine the way you are, that you don't need fixing and that being different doesn't mean you're a monster. Why wasn't that the book, it would have been a lot more interesting than this sexist mess...

But if you must fixate on a man, Finley, pick the one who literally supports your every decision and actually listens to what you want. You know, the one who isn't a privileged, pompous asshat?

Also, there's a conversation to be had about casually inserting orientalism into a story to create ambiance. Like, I understand those were the times, but this is a steampunk novel... It doesn't have to accurately reflect the times? Especially if it doesn't intend to actually offer commentary on the effects of colonialism, but only sprinkles references to it throughout as "flavor."

While the sexism and other problematic content is "timely," this is alternative history or fantasy. If doesn't need to have those aspects. Like, make it make sense?

She's not wearing an "oriental dress," she's wearing a qipao. Why is a white, british YA heroine wearing a qipao? To highlight how she's coming to terms with her own sexuality and becoming more comfortable in her own skin? No. NO. Ew, ew, gross, gross... Like can we not? CAN WE JUST NOT WHY IS IT HAPPENING JUST NO. show less

THE FAERY’S VIEW

I LOVED The Girl in the Steel Corset---Everything about it! Kady Cross created an amazing world; Victorian London with a Steam-punky edge that was incredible in its detail I wanted to be there to experience it for myself but Ms. Cross’s vivid descriptions were the next best thing. Moving on to vivid descriptions, Ms. Cross’s character descriptions quickly had me entrenched in the story. Finley, already a favorite heroine from the novella, The Strange Case of Finley Jayne, became even more realistic to me. Her friends became my friends and in turn, her enemies became my enemies! This book is a One-Sit-Read, the highest honor that this reviewer can give.

Finley, at odds with her two selves; the bad or the other Finley show more who rejoices in vengence and violence-to those who justly deserve it, of course, that part of Finley seems to only come out when someone is being harmed, abused or threatened and the good Finley, the lady her mother brought her up to be. Finley has always known there is something different about her, she’s incredibly fast, incredibly strong and can do things that no human should be able to do. She heals incredibly fast and can take incredible injury that would kill others. Finley has no idea who her real father is and her mother won’t speak much about him and when she does, Finley senses some untruth lying just underneath her mother’s statements. Will she ever find out who her father is and if so, is he like her?

Finley’s 16 years old and has been sacked from her last two positions for defending those that couldn’t defend themselves, she gets another position in a very wealthy family’s Manse. Fearing she’s killed the rascal son who rapes the maids after punching him quite soundly in the mouth when he gets rough with her, the other Finley takes over and runs like a wild thing. It’s while she’s running blindly that she runs into the Griffin, The Duke of Greythorne, literally, while he’s riding his steam-powered velocycle. He decides to take her home to Greythorne knowing that she’s different immediately. Griffin’s learned to trust his instincts and he’s sure he’s right about this girl lying unconscious with only a cut on her cheek when she should have multiple injuries.

After the shock of waking up in the most luxurious room Finley’s ever seen and then the shock of being in the home of THE Duke of Greythorne, she meets Griffins rag-tag group of friends, all of whom are exceedingly loyal to Griff. Finley feels at once very at home but also an outsider. There’s Emily, with ropey red hair and the smartest person that Finley’s ever met-she’s extremely kind to Finley, then there is Sam, a monster of a man who is part robot who seems angry all the time, many of his barbs directed at Emily and Griff and he makes his distrust of Finley known as often as possible, Griff’s Aunt Cordelia who is his Guardian until he reaches the age of 21, though she is only 10 years or so older then he is but there is a deep affection between the two. Cordelia is a gifted mind reader which comes in handy at times, later we meet Jasper, an American six-gun shooter cowboy who can shoot like nobody’s business. Everyone she meets has something that makes them ‘unusual’. Finley fits right in and she needs to earn the trust of her new friends, friends that know about her two selves and unusual abilities yet still haven’t thrown her out. Ms. Cross did such an amazing job with her characters-they’re vivid, vulnerable and step off the page realistic.

The heart of the story is to catch the notorious Machinist, the criminal who has sent automatons to attack people. Diggers that help dig tunnels is one of the creations he adjusted and the one that almost took Sam’s life. When there is a robbery at The British Museum and it appears it was an automaton that did it, the group can only assume that the Machinist is up to no good. Some of the Queens personal items start disappearing and it’s only weeks before The Jubilee Celebration. The Queen makes a Jubilee procession through all of London during that time and Griffin and gang feel her life could be in great danger along with all those that attend. Will they have enough time to stop the Machinist and his mad plans? Is that his plan? You’ll have to read this fascinating story yourself to find out and I highly recommend you do. show less

Finley Jayne isn’t what she looks like. She doesn’t even know what she is herself, but she knows that a girl her age shouldn’t have the strength to take out a nobleman. And even if she could, she absolutely shouldn’t. In 1897 England, there are certain things ladies just don’t do. Unfortunately, when Lord Felix August-Raynes puts Finley in a compromising position, her dark side takes over, and she commits an unspeakable act. So she does what any sensible girl would do: she runs.

Of course, it would come to pass that the young duke Griffin King hits Finley on his velocycle in Hyde Park. He and his band of misfits take her in, and it’s not long before Finley finds herself a member of a team of vigilantes, harnessing both show more science and the paranormal to work against the mysterious Machinist: the man who killed Griffin’s parents and who almost killed his best friend Sam. However, Finley is deeply troubled by the two sides of herself — the good girl who wants to befriend these people and help them toward their goal, and the rage-filled monster who sneaks off in the middle of the night to consort with the handsome criminal Jack Dandey.

THE GIRL IN THE STEEL CORSET is Finley’s story of growth and redemption, but it is also the story of a group of teenagers determined to fight for justice in the name of their country and their loved ones. Sort of a steampunk X-Men, Kady Cross‘ unique world will draw readers in and the action and intrigue will keep them hooked. A great new addition to the steampunk cannon, this new series is a must-read for fans of Gail Carriger’s Alexia Tarabotti series. show less

That was fun. I like Kady Cross's imagination and she can write a swell action scene. Also, I want the outfits these characters wear. Gimme.
Her characterization was a bit clunky at times: I lost count of how many times I was told that Emily had red "ropey" hair, was "bloody brilliant", was Irish and small. The thing is, the author showed Emily's brilliance through the fact that she was the group's scientist and doctor at a very young age, in addition to being an inventor. No further explanation required.

This was sometimes the problem with the narrative too-the author showed what was happening and then felt like she needed to explain it too. Points for the showing, but I wish she'd had an editor who had reined her in better with the show more telling. It would have been a shorter and better book. Still, it was enjoyable, I liked the characters, ropey hair and all, and I will be reading the next. show less

I got an eGalley of this book through NetGalley(dot)com. I loved the cover, the premise, and the fact that it was steampunk. I was a little leery after reading some reviews on it, but I shouldn't have been. This was a fun steampunk read propelled by a sweet love story and an intriguing mystery.

Finley is working as a lady's maid when one of the young lords of the house accosts her. Finley is forced to call on her darker side to defend herself and ends up fleeing the house only to be smacked by a cycle. The young lord Griffin, who hit her, feels horrible and takes her back to his house to help her recuperate. Griffin can sense Finley is different. Finley is grateful for Griffin's help but is finding it increasingly hard to suppress her show more dark side. Then she ends up leaving at night to talk to the cities top criminal Jack Dandy...and when she gets back she can't remember what happened. Griffin has his own problems to deal with, he is trying to stop a murderer known only as the Machinist. Of course Finley gets drawn into the mystery. Will Finley be able to suppress or at least come to terms with her darker side? Will they catch the Machinist? Who will Finley choose Jack Dandy or Griffin?

This book was a lot of fun. It reads kind of like an adult romance, but with a lot of steampunk and with a PG-13 rating. The writing style just constantly made me forget I was reading a YA novel and I keep thinking it was an adult steampunk romance of sorts. Finley is a fascinating character, she very much like Jekyl and Hyde in that she has two personalities that emerge. Some people have complained of her "good" persona being too vanilla, well it is...but that is kind of the point. Her bad personality has all the fun! I thought Cross did an excellent job going back and forth between her personalities and I loved how they began to merge as the book went on.

Jack Dandy and Griffin are both swoon worthy. Yeah they are a bit stereotypical, Griffin the noble do-gooder and Dandy the dangerous rogue, but they are still absolutely lovable and I truly enjoyed reading about them. Griffin's friends Emily and Sam are just as engaging. All of the characters have neat "super powers" and histories that make them easy to engage with and interesting to read about. At the end the author says she was trying to write "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" meets "X-Men" and I would say that she definitely succeeded at that.

The plot moved along at a good clip. It got a little distracted on the way a few times, but the distractions were interesting and fun so I didn't mind too much. There is a lot of steampunk worked into the novel; neat little machines, automatons, aether, etc. that I really enjoyed. Nothing really creative and unique to the steampunk genre but it was fun to read about.

The name of the book doesn't really have much to do with the book itself. It is a catchy name and references a couple small scenes in the book; the book is more about Finley's fight to meld her two selves and about trying to catch the murdering Machinist. The book ends well but is definitely the opener to a series.

Overall I enjoyed this book. It was fun and light, a good escapist read. Yes it is not historically accurate, yes the male leads are a bit stereotypical...but the characters are lovable, the plot moves quickly, the romance is sweet, and action scenes loads of fun. I will definitely be reading more books in this series. It is a romance heavy steampunk, so if you are anti-romance you might want to check out something else. The tone of the writing is older, so it is probably most appropriate for older teens and up (although I don't remember any questionable content that would make it bad for younger teens). The characters are in their upper-teens and twenties. If you are a fan of steampunk and don't mind some romance check this out; I had a seriously good time reading this book. I am also going to check out the novella that was just released The Strange Case of Finely Jayne. show less

I really enjoyed this book! The beginning of the book got my attention right away! I have to be honest. if the beginning would not have been so riveting, I probably would not have stuck with this book. I know this sounds strange, since I just said I really liked this book. But the book was very long, nearly 500 pages, and a lot of the middle was rather slow. But by that point I was already hooked, and needed to find out the end. And the end, I feel, delivered.

The author stated in the end of the novel that she wanted to write a book that was League of Extraordinary Gentlemen meets X-Men teen. I feel that she did this, with a little Batman thrown in as well. I did expect the book to have more steampunk elements than it did; I am a huge show more steampunk fan, although I have not read too many steampunk books yet. It is something I am going to delve more into this winter. This was more like a historical romance novel with some elements of steampunk, where I thought it was going to be the other way around. The gang of good guys, the Victorian era Scooby gang, consisted of Griffin the Duke, and his friends, Finley, Emily, Sam, and Jasper, the cowboy. They all live together in Griffin's mansion, and all have special powers of some sort and flavor. Also making an appearance was Griffin's aunt, Cordelia. There is the anti-hero, Jack Dandy, to add a spicy love triangle between Finley and Griffin. She can't quite decide if she likes the good Duke or the slightly shady Jack. (If I had a choice, I would have chosen Jasper.) The bad guy is really obvious to figure out, but for me, did not detract from the story at all. The main heroine, Finley, has a dual personality, a good side and bad side that war with each other. Her father, a scientist, had the same affliction. I liked this until Cross decided that Finley's father was the inspiration for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I felt that really cheesed it up a bit, sadly. The book ends on a cliffhanger, with the gang headed off to the United States to help Jasper out of a jam. I have to admit, I am looking forward to the next book! show less

Due to copy and paste, formatting has been lost.

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 show more 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. show less