Review: The Girl with the Iron Touch - Kady Cross

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 tormented by the Aether, 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 feelings for him . . . and for Griffin.

Meanwhile, Sam is searching everywhere for Emily. 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 she doesn't know she has . . .

The Steampunk Chronicles:
The Strange Case of Finely Jayne (Novella)
The Girl in the Steel Corset
The Girl in the Clockwork Collar
The Dark Discovery of Jack Dandy (Novella)
The Girl with the Iron Touch
The Wild Adventure of Jasper Renn (Novella)
The Girl with the Windup Heart

Visit Kady Cross' website for more information

Review:
I really enjoy this series so it was great to pick up The Girl with the Iron Touch and catch up with Finley, Griff, Emily, Sam, Jasper and Jack. I love the way Kady Cross manages to give all the characters a chance to shine. This story gives both Emily and Sam a much larger role but we still get to see how the others are doing. Griff is struggling to cope after the events in the previous book, he has pulled back into himself and is keeping secrets from the others which is worrying everyone and upsetting Finley in particular. Finley is desperate to find out what is happening with him and she's scared that she's losing him. Jasper is also struggling after everything he went through, he isn't his usual fun loving self and we see a lot less of him in this story but I'm hoping he'll have a bigger role to play in future novels. Jack is also a little on the scarce side in this story, we see more of him than Jasper but I'm such a huge Jack fan that I wanted more.

Emily has always loved Sam but she worried he would never forgive her for making him part machine to save his life. Sam has resented what he is ever since the first book but we finally saw him start to accept himself in the previous book and I was pleased to see that change continue here. Sam loves Emily too but because he couldn't accept himself he was never able to begin a relationship with her. It was so lovely to finally see them start to get closer again, unfortunately they don't get much time to decide what is happening between them before Emily is kidnapped. Sam is desperate to find her and will risk everything if it means getting her back with them but Emily is facing a dangerous enemy, one who could kill everyone she knows if she isn't smart enough to outwit him. I don't want to say too much about what actually happens with Emily but I loved seeing her use her brain to get out of the situation, she has some fun abilities that really come into play in this book and it made for a lot of edge of your seat reading.

The Girl with the Iron Touch is an action packed instalment to the series and I enjoyed every minute of it. It introduces us to a particularly interesting new character who I think will be the star of the next book and I'm definitely eager to dive back into this world again to see how things play out.

Source: Received from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

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Review: The Girl in the Clockwork Collar - Kady Cross

In New York City, 1897, life has never been more thrilling—or dangerous

Finley Jayne and her "straynge band of mysfits" have journeyed from London to America to rescue their friend Jasper from the clutches of a devious criminal demanding a trade—the dangerous device Jasper stole from him…for the life of the girl Jasper loves. One false move from Jasper, and the strange clockwork collar around Mei's neck tightens and tightens.

From the rough streets of lower Manhattan to elegant Fifth Avenue, the motley crew of teens follows Jasper's elusive trail. And they're about to discover how far they'll go for friendship.

More than ever, Finley must rely on powerful English duke Griffin King to balance her dark magic with her good side. Yet Griffin is at war with himself over his secret attraction to Finley…and will risk his life and reputation to save her. Now, to help those she's come to care for so deeply, Finley must infiltrate the criminal gang. Only problem is, she might like the dark side a little too much . . .

The Steampunk Chronicles:
The Strange Case of Finely Jayne (Novella)
The Girl in the Steel Corset
The Girl in the Clockwork Collar
The Dark Discovery of Jack Dandy (Novella)
The Girl with the Iron Touch
The Wild Adventure of Jasper Renn (Novella)
The Girl with the Windup Heart

Visit Kady Cross' website for more information

Review:
I really enjoyed The Girl in the Steel Corset so I'm not sure why it took me quite so long to get around to reading The Girl in the Clockwork Collar. The good thing about waiting is that all three books in the trilogy are now available so I'm going to be able to read the final instalment fairly quickly! I'd actually forgotten how much I liked Finley and the crazy group of misfits that she has become friends with and it was great to get back into the world that Kady Cross has created.

Finley is still struggling to bring both sides of her personality together but she has come a long way from who she was in the first book thanks to Griff and the others. She is still incredibly independent, intelligent and more than capable of looking out for herself which is something that has to be admired but she does have a tendency to act without thinking through the full consequences which often gets her in trouble. Griff struggles with the fact that Finley is often more capable of protecting herself than he is of looking after her but as much as that grates on him he puts that to one side once he has time to think about things. I have to say that Griff has grown on me since the first book but I did miss Finley's other potential love interest Jack in this instalment. It's not often I'm interested in love triangles but with the two distinct sides to Finley's personality it's not surprising that she is attracted to both of these very different men. I always tend to have a thing for the bad guy so it wasn't much of a surprise to me that I previously found Jack the more appealing of the two but after reading this book I'm now split down the middle and I'm almost tempted to switch to team Griff.

It was great to catch up with Emily and discover her latest impressive inventions, she is the smartest one of the group by far and she always has a few tricks up her sleeve. Sam has had quite a change of attitude which he desperately needed and he and Finley have almost reached a point where they could consider each other friends rather than enemies. This story takes us away from London and across the pond to New York and Jasper's old hunting grounds. Jasper is in a mess, his old gang have caught up with him and they are using blackmail to get their hands on a weapon he stole and hid from them before he fled to London. Finley, Griff and the others can't leave their friend to deal with the mess on his own and they have followed him to America to assist in any way they can. I always loved Jasper so it was great to spend more time with him and to get to know more about his past. I have to admit I wasn't a huge fan of his ex-girlfriend Mei but I absolutely loved his old friend Wildcat and really hope we get to see more of her in the future.

The story was well paced, had a nice amount of action and had a couple of great twists. I'll admit that I had suspected one of them well before the big reveal but I'm pretty sure that was intentional and it didn't spoil my enjoyment. I really like this steampunk world full of automatons, organites and airships and am looking forward to reading The Girl with the Iron Touch in the not too distant future.

Source: Received from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

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Review: The Girl in the Steel Corset - Kady Cross

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 gas lit 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.

The Steampunk Chronicles:
The Strange Case of Finely Jayne (Novella)
The Girl in the Steel Corset
The Girl in the Clockwork Collar
The Dark Discovery of Jack Dandy (Novella)
The Girl with the Iron Touch
The Wild Adventure of Jasper Renn (Novella)
The Girl with the Windup Heart

Visit Kady Cross' website for more information

Review:
I've become a big fan of steampunk stories over the last few months so as soon as I heard about The Girl in the Steel Corset I knew I wanted to read it. Seeing the cover only confirmed it - you have to admit that is one beautiful cover! While I did have a few issues with this one it is still a promising debut and I'm looking forward to continuing the series.

To start with the positives I absolutely loved Finley, she is strong and independent and takes an active role in protecting both herself and others. I really liked the Jekyll and Hyde aspect of her personality and the way she gradually starts to bring the two sides of herself together as the story progresses. The world Kady Cross has created is interesting and has been described wonderfully, I was transported to Victorian England while reading but a very different one to what you'll read about in the history books. It's a world full of automatons, organites and other fun technology that I'm looking forward to exploring more. Griff was a likeable character but I found him a little too perfect and was frustrated that the romance didn't seem to go anywhere, I do have hopes for future books though. I actually liked Jack much better (but I do have a tendency to go for the bad boys!), I loved his accent and you could hear his cockney drawl as you were reading. I'm hoping we'll see a lot more of him and find out more about his past in the next instalment.

There are also some interesting side characters I want to see more of. Emily was a particular favourite and it was nice to see an intelligent woman who was able to out think most of the male characters. My slight niggle with her was that I kept hearing her voice with a Scottish accent when we had been told she was Irish and it irritated me that even though she was only 16 she called the boys "lad" all the time, I felt that was something that would have been said by a much older character not by someone her age but that's probably just me. I found myself getting completely irritated by Sam but he does redeem himself somewhat towards the ends so I have hopes for him in the future. I also really liked Jasper the American cowboy and was excited to find out that the next book is set in the US and will tell us more about his past.

The plot was interesting but a little slow to get started and I did feel that the author gave too many hints about the mystery meaning I had worked out all of the twists long before the characters did. Considering how smart Emily was she should really have put things together much faster than she did! Although the twists were clever the fact that I'd seen them coming so far in advance meant I was hoping that I was going to be wrong in my guesses but unfortunately that wasn't the case.

Although the book isn't perfect it is still a welcome addition to the steampunk genre and I'll definitely be picking up the next instalment as soon as it is available. I think this series will just get stronger with each new instalment.

Source: Received from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

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Quick Review: The Strange Case of Finley Jayne - Kady Cross

Finley Jayne knows she's not 'normal'. Normal girls don't lose time, or have something inside them that makes them capable of remarkably violent things. Her behaviour has already cost her one job, so when she's offered the lofty position of companion to Phoebe, a debutante recently engaged to Lord Vincent, she accepts, despite having no experience. Lord Vincent is a man of science with his automatons and inventions, but Finley is suspicious of his motives where Phoebe is concerned. She will do anything to protect her new friend, but what she discovers is even more monstrous than anything she could have imagined…

An ebook exclusive prequel to The Steampunk Chronicles.

The Steampunk Chronicles:
The Strange Case of Finely Jayne (Novella)
The Girl in the Steel Corset
The Girl in the Clockwork Collar
The Dark Discovery of Jack Dandy (Novella)
The Girl with the Iron Touch
The Wild Adventure of Jasper Renn (Novella)
The Girl with the Windup Heart

Visit Kady Cross' website for more information

Review:
The Strange Case of Finley Jayne is a prequel novella for the Steampunk Chronicles series by Kady Cross. I actually picked up this story after I'd read the first book (The Girl in the Steel Corset) but I think it makes a great introduction to the series and I would definitely recommend giving it a try.

Finley Jayne is a great main character, she knows that there is something different about her but she uses her strength to protect others. In fact we are introduced to her as she is fired from her job for protecting a small boy. She is offered a new job as a companion to a young lady called Phoebe but her suspicions are raised because the job seems too good to be true. Phoebe has recently become engaged but Finley is suspicious of the motives of her much older fiance so she takes it upon herself to investigate. What she uncovers is worse than she could ever have suspected.

I really enjoyed The Girl in the Steel Corset and I think I liked The Strange Case of Finley Jayne even more. If you haven't already started this series then it's one I would definitely recommend checking out.  I love the steampunk world that the author has created (although you don't find out as much about that in this novella as you do in the first book). I'm impressed with how much Kady Cross manages to pack into this story and am really looking forward to reading the next book (The Girl in the Clockwork Collar) when it is released next year.

Source: This ebook was sent to me by the author

Other Reviews:
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