Review: The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross

The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross
Published: May 24th, 2011
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Pages: 473
Challenge: 100+ Reading Challenge, Debut Author Challenge 2011, 350 Page Books Challenge
Other: First book in the Steampunk Chronicles. The second book, The Girl in the Clockwork Collar, will come out in 2012.
Buy the book: Bookdepository



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 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.

My favorite Steampunk! This book has by far the most references to clockwork and the like from the Steampunk books I've read so far.

Finley is a kick-ass herione. She's not going to stand there while she's being assaulted by a young lord. No! Instead, she kicks his butt and on her flight out of the mansion, she stumbles into Griffin, who takes her in and tells her she's one of 'them'. She was easy to follow around and I liked that she wasn't a damsel in distress.

She proves to be a loyal character as well when she decides to go after Sam, even though the two of them are not exactly friends. The relationships in the book are building (yay!) and forming as time goes by. Someone I've particularly grown fond of, is Griffin. He may be a Duke, but he's down to earth, loyal, friendly, smart and always has a plan for whatever is coming up. I have to add that I think he was a really good looking Duke, at that.

Cross' writing style was nice and I finished this book in no time. I've heard some people saying that they had some difficulty with the amount of 'robot-stuff' in the book, but I didn't. I loved every single part of it! And the tension... Ooooh the tension!

My overall rating:


Five fully automated stars for The Girl in the Steel Corset!