Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Review: The Girl with the Windup Heart

Title: The Steampunk Chronicles #4: The Girl with the Windup Heart

Author: Kady Cross

Date of Publication: May 27, 2014

Formats Available: Hardcover, E-book

Buy This Book: Amazon

SynopsisIn 1897 London, a final showdown is about to begin.

London's underworld is no place for a young woman, even one who is strong, smart and part-automaton like Mila. But when master criminal Jack Dandy inadvertently breaks her heart, she takes off, determined to find an independent life, one entirely her own. Her search takes her to the spangled shadows of the West End's most dazzling circus.

Meanwhile, taken captive in the Aether, Griffin King is trapped in an inescapable prison, and at the mercy of his archenemy, The Machinist. If he breaks under the hellish torment, The Machinist will claim his powers and control of the Aether itself, and no one in either world will be safe-especially not Finley Jayne and her misfit band of friends.

Finley plunges headlong into the Aether the only way she knows how, by temporarily dying. But she cannot parry The Machinist's maneuvers for long. To defeat him for good, Griffin will have to confront his greatest fear and finally come face-to-face with the destructive power he wields.

My Review:

From the very beginning I knew this was going to be an amazing novel, I just didn't know how amazing until I was up at 2 am reading because I absolutely had to finish it.  Cross has an amazing talent for steampunk and each novel only gets better and better. With amazing characters and a fascinating London setting there's nothing not to love about this wonderful addition to the Steampunk Chronicles series!

The first thing I have to say about this book is: JACK AND MILA. Oh my god, I cannot even put into words how much I absolutely loved every portion of this novel about the two of them. Mila is absolutely adorable and her devotion to Jack made my heart melt. Jack has always been played off as the "bad boy" character but watching him take care of Mila brought out a whole new side of him that I absolutely love. Jack is so protective of Mila, and obviously loves her so much, that I can't help but love him more with every page. Their story made my heart flutter and I had to force myself not to flip through the book and read all of their sections before I got there!

I also enjoyed the story about Finley and Griffin but, even though their story was more exciting, they didn't have the character interactions that made Jack and Mila's story shine. It was interesting to finally learn more about the Aether and Griffin's powers, as well as be reunited with some long dead characters. Finley and Griffin have always had an adorable story, I just wish they could have spent more time together so we could watch their relationship develop. It seems that something is always interrupting them and though the moments they have together are cute, they just aren't enough!

Emily and Sam, as well as Jasper and Wildcat, also make an appearance in this novel, though not as big of one as I would have liked. There was a lot of bouncing around between the two story lines in this one, so it only makes sense that these characters would all play more background roles, but after the last book about Emily and Sam I was hoping to see a little bit more of their relationship develop. However, every sentence about Mila completely made up for it, from the beginning I knew I would love her and there were moments when her character had me laughing out loud, I honestly don't think I've ever laughed that hard from a book before!

The Girl with the Windup Heat is hands down the best book in the Steampunk Chronicles yet and I honestly cannot recommend this series enough to fans of romance and steampunk. With an original premise, lovable characters, and plenty of romance old and new fans alike will be enchanted by the world Cross has created.

5/5

2 comments:

  1. This sounds awesome! Def. going to add it to my TBR pile! Great review.

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  2. I hope you love it as much as I did! :)

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