Cursies and Conspiracies
Written by Ashley Kelmore, Posted in Reviews
Three Stars
I’m currently in the middle of reading Book 4 of A Song of Ice and Fire, but once again I made the mistake of trying to read it right after finishing the previous book. It just doesn’t work – I need a break. So I asked my friend Jen, who is an author (and the maker of these amazing literature-themed perfumes) and an overall fun woman, for some recommendations. She suggested these YA novels by Gail Carriger.
I’ve heard of but never read any steampunk, but it’s possible that I’m going to become a big fan, assuming this book is a good representation of it. Set in a floating finishing / spy school, this book follows Sophronia as she tries to figure out what’s going on at the school, which is run by an oblivious head mistress and has both a vampire and a werewolf on staff. Is this what steampunk usually is? Because AWESOME.
The book is YA and a pretty quick read; 300 pages took me about two days to get through. At times I was a little taken out of the story because the names of the technology are absurd, and some of the character names sound a bit like ones I would have come up with when I was writing short stories in elementary school. But beyond that, I think the characters are interesting and the setting is pretty cool. The writing is fine, although the plot took a while to develop and then suddenly was done. However, the book is the first in a series, so I think a lot of it was about developing the characters and the background of the school to set the tone for the next book. Which I will be reading, possibly starting tonight.
[Note: This review was written before I started the ‘second’ book and realized that I’d read them out of order. Um, whoops.]
