The Captain’s Log – the girl in the steel corset (Kady Cross)

Ahoy there me mateys!  This book is a Steampunk YA that has basically been on me ports for plunder list since it came out in 2011 because of the cover and the title.  I didn’t read it back then because I was worried that the plot would be too silly for me.  The plot is silly.  The characters are silly.  The world building is silly.  Everything about this book is a bit ridiculous and yet after it was over, I still want to read the next one in the series.

Finley Jayne is the main character.  She is sixteen and has a literal Jekyll and Hyde personality where the two parts of herself don’t play nice with each other.  It’s 1897 and Finley is working for a noble family when she is attacked by the rich spoiled son.  Hyde takes over and Finley escapes but her life is in shambles.  She ends up in the company of Griffin King and his friend group who all have powers and fight secret battles for the Queen.

Of course there is a horrible love triangle.  All the characters are stereotypes.  Griffin King is the dashing noble with morals who is fighting his lust towards Finley.  Jack Dandy (ugh these names!) is the criminal underlord who loves Finley’s dangerous side but might have a soft heart under his rakish exterior.  Love triangle was expected.  There is Emily the scientific genius girl fighting to do science in a man’s’ world.  There is love triangle two with Jasper Renn, the American cowboy, and Samuel Morgan, the big dumb brute, who cannot admit his feelings for Emily.  So much angst.

The science of automatons and “powers” of the group are so laughable that it should just be called magic.  The romance elements take over any actual good worldbuilding or plot.  The Machinist aka Bad Guy is as flat as a pancake.  Samuel is a moron.  Seriously this book has problems.  But I rather liked Finley despite it all, loved Emily, and enjoyed Jasper.  The reason I want to read the next book is because it deals with Jasper’s horrible past.  The book was so bad it was good?  I don’t know if I can recommend it but I do love the covers and am interested in what comes next when the group goes to NYC.  Arrrr!

Side note: The copy I read included the short story “The Strange Case of Finley Jayne.”  It was also silly and contradicted the points of the novel.  Apparently this series has three more books and two novellas.  I read all the synopsizes to see how silly they are and have no interest in more than the next book.

Goodreads had this to say about the novel:

In 1897 England, sixteen-year-old Finley Jayne has no one… except the “thing” inside her.

When a young lord tries to take advantage of Finley, she fights back. And wins. But no normal Victorian girl has a darker side that makes her capable of knocking out a full-grown man with one punch…

Only Griffin King sees the magical darkness inside her that says she’s special, says she’s one of them. The orphaned duke takes her in from the gaslit streets against the wishes of his band of misfits: Emily, who has her own special abilities and an unrequited love for Sam, who is part robot; and Jasper, an American cowboy with a shadowy secret.

Griffin’s investigating a criminal called The Machinist, the mastermind behind several recent crimes by automatons. Finley thinks she can help and finally be a part of something, finally fit in.

But The Machinist wants to tear Griff’s little company of strays apart, and it isn’t long before trust is tested on all sides. At least Finley knows whose side she’s on even if it seems no one believes her.

To visit the author’s Goodreads page go to:
Kady Cross – Author

To buy the novel please visit:
the girl in the steel corset – Book

To add to Goodreads go to:
Yer Ports for Plunder List

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