Review: An unsual mixture of styles
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 7, 2011
It's a 3.5 for me, but rounding upQuick read, this YA novella is a prequel to the Steampunk Chronicles and can be read as a stand-alone book, being a story in itself. I read these ahead of my young daughter, gives me an excuse to read some YA!Set in Victorian London, this has a unusual blend of historical and futuristic elements that correspond with the dual personality of the heroine, Finley Jayne.The author does a decent job of writing in a British style of language and behaviour, and I nearly thought that perhaps she was English herself. But two mistakes jumped me and I realized, nope she must be American.[If anyone cares, one was a scene involving bacon (no Brit would eat bacon with their hands unless it's between two pieces of bread and butter, because for one thing, it's just not done, until recent years we even eat pizza and burgers with a knife and fork; and 2, bacon in Britain is nothing like bacon in USA, it's almost a different food and actually has meat on it). And then eggplant.... eggplant is a North American word, in Britain it's called aubergine.]So other than being picky about cultural editing because it jarred me from the story into wondering about the writer's nationality, the blend of styles was interesting, just shy of being too much - it worked pretty well. Great heroine, strong, trying to balance her 2 sides. Probably something a lot of teens can relate to. :)