Review: Seemed like a different book from what was advertised in the blurb
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 22, 2014
For starters there was no mention in the blurb that that world was made up completely of talking animals.  Second, I was expecting steampunk.  And it wasn't.  There was no technology, no odd-fangled contraptions in a victorian setting, and definitely no airships. Third, the pirate adventure that was promised, didn't come in until the last 20-10 percent of the book. It did have a fascinating world of how the characters evolved and existed in society, and the different conformities/stereotypes of each animal type. I did try to give it my attention, but it lacked any sympathetic starring character.  The book focused on the villain the majority of the time and the atrocities that she committed. And by the end of it, I was wondering just who the intended audience was supposed to be.  Most adults won't spend their time reading about talking animals (unless it's supposed to be some sort of a satire, which I was half wondering if it was, but I couldn't for the life of me tell you what the story would have been alluding to), and the young audience which the animals would be attracted by would be bored with all the financial and political scheming. Though the pirate part of the book did have a lot of action, quite a bit of it felt like retreading pirates of the Caribbean (the dead crew of Davy Jones, the mysterious ship like the legendary Black Pearl, the Bretheren court even).