Steampunk Strikes Again!

This lovely darling popped up in my accepted galley list on NetGalley and smiled at me. I read The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross as soon as I could because I have very grabby hands. It's quite unbecoming of me when I think of it in the long run, but the reward of reading awesome books just outweighs it. So as soon as I could, I downloaded the galley and delved deep into Cross' alternate Victorian world. I'll give you a little rundown of what steampunk means to me because anywhere you go, you can guarantee there will be a different interpretation of it out there. To me, steampunk is an alternate world that brings you back in time. It doesn't need to absolutely need to be in England, but it's an imagined Victorian era. To make it that imagined Victorian era, there must be some modern-ish technology thrown in there. There doesn't have to be computers in there, but the technology has to be advanced for the time period, but not far-fetched. In Kady Cross' steampunk world, it does take place in London, England. Girls wear trousers and have dread locks. How awesome! Plus, they're not as ladylike as would be expected of during the Victorian age. There are a bunch of gadgets and gizmos plus plenty of action. Automatons roam around the world, serving humans with their needs, but they have learned that they have a dark side.

Sixteen-year-old Finley Jayne and her "strange band of misfits" have journeyed from London to America to rescue their friend Jasper, hauled off by bounty hunters. But Jasper is in the clutches of a devious former friend 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 with supernatural abilities is on Jasper's elusive trail. And they're about to discover how far they'll go for friendship. More than ever, Finley Jayne will 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. Sam, more machine than man, finds his moody heart tested by Irish lass Emily—whose own special abilities are no match for the darkness she discovers on the streets. Now, to help those she's come to care for so deeply, Finley Jayne must infiltrate a criminal gang. Only problem is, she might like the dark side a little too much…

I had no doubt in my mind that I would absolutely love this book. As mentioned before somewhere on this blog, The Girl in the Steel Corset holds a small part of my heart. The world imagined is just amazing and I was left to the brink of insanity as I waited for The Girl in the Clockwork Collar to come out. What happened to Jasper? Please, please, please make Griffin and Finley kiss! Sam and Emily? How cute! What is Jasper up to? What did he do? Did he really kill somebody? WHY?!?! I must know know! The Girl in the Clockwork Collar starts off with Finley, Griffin and the traveling on a dirigible on their way to New York to hopefully help their friend. They arrive there in New York with intentions of finding Jasper at the local jail and somehow come up with a way to get him out. But things aren't what they seem and it creates problems for all of them. Jasper will have to face his past while Griffin battles with himself to control the Aether. Emily does her best as Finley's sidekick while Finley does her best to discover who she truly is now with both her evil and innocent sides fused together. It's all a fuddled mess that Cross' audience was left with and it continues until the end of The Girl in the Clockwork Collar. We meet our new and completely evil super villain, Dalton. He's the big, bad guy who's got the hugest grudge on Jasper. With great and talented writing, we never do figure out why Jasper was the problem. Was Jasper even the problem, I would ask myself? Dalton truly was an evil gang leader. He wasn't afraid to kill people in cold blood and went after what he wanted, not caring of the consequences and not getting his hands dirty. He was nowhere near as dangerous as Jack Dandy was. Not at all . . . Not only was the main issue of the book having to find Jasper, but it was also how they would get out of New York. It kept me at the edge of my seat and I practically had to pry my eyes off the screen to get on my life. It was hard. There were moments where I felt as if I was going through book detox. Too long away from The Girl in the Clockwork Collar and I got twitchy. It was not a good time away. I give this awesome book 5 stars, because it deserved it in its' own right. I still feel as if the first book was better, but that could just be me favoring one plot over the other. The pacing was great and so was the imagery. I loved the tender and heated moments between Finley and Griffin and the intense fighting scenes. In all, it was just the best and a highly recommended book from me. It comes out in June, so watch out, people! And please, don't mess with Finley. She doesn't want to have to hurt you. ;)