fairy skeletons.: Book Review: The Girl in the Clockwork Collar by Kady Cross

In New York City, 1897, life has never been more thrilling-or dangerous Finley Jayne and her "straynge band of mysfits" have journeyed from London to America to rescue their friend Jasper from the clutches of a devious criminal 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 follows Jasper's elusive trail. And they're about to discover how far they'll go for friendship. More than ever, Finley must 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. Now, to help those she's come to care for so deeply, Finley must infiltrate the criminal gang. Only problem is, she might like the dark side a little too much....

The sequel didn't disappoint. :) *spoilers of Steel Corset, read at your own risk*

The Girl in the Clockwork Collar provided an intriguing, steampunk-ified picture of late-1800s America. I've always perked up at any mention of Tesla, and his "inventions" also play a role. Irish gangs, handsome and dangerous criminals, MORE EPIC AETHER STUFF, the undeniable genius of the incredible Emily, betrayal, love, a lot of fighting, I mean, what else do you need from a steampunk novel?

Finley's internal conflict isn't as interesting now that her two halves are merged. Sure, there's a bit of "Will she choose the good?" "Will she choose the bad?" but we all know that she's going to come back to the good (not that we didn't in Steel Corset but not the stakes aren't as high since Finley's dark side is definitely under control) so it was meh. Darn, I wish Emily was the MC. So much. You wouldn't even believe how much I like her. She is smart and sassy and EVERYTHING. You know? She is the kind of person I would want to be friends with.

Jasper's backstory was very neat. It was very logical (and also there was the mention of Mei's past, which immediately made me think of Daughter of Fortune, which made me happy) and provided a pretty good conflict for him. I must admit that I love the name Jasper. No particular reason.

Mmm... I don't know about Griffin. For him, now EVERYTHING IS SUDDENLY ALL ABOUT FINLEY. Only he gets all CONTROLLING. I know some people think "controlling is totally hot" or whatever, like Tobias/Four from Divergent, but personally I don't like controlling guys. And now Griffin is all,  "You cannot do anything without telling me to. Because you might DIE. Okay?" He should give Finley a little independence - after all, he's fully aware that she can manage just fine. Along with Emily. EMILY CAN MANAGE AWESOMELY.

The thing that gets me about the writing style for these two books is that it's very into-the-historical-period, perhaps a little too much so. Things like tarnation, bloody hell, etc. pop up a little too much for them to be easily readable. Then it will suddenly switch to a more modern term, which was vaguely irritating.

Anyhow, I'll see how soon I can get my hands on Iron Touch and review that for everyone. BECAUSE IT'S EMILY, GUYS.

Bye now :)