The Girl in the Steel Corset

I read The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross a while ago, so my memory on it isn't quite as keen. But some things will still stand out. I picked it up while wandering through the young adult section of the library. It was one of the books featured and had a pretty cover of a girl in a red dress, although I could not see her face because of the placement of the library sticker. Figures. Anyway, I'm thinking, corset, sounds like the steampunk era. Then at the bottom it read, "Steampunk Chronicles." Oh. I almost put it back because it said Harlequin Teen on the back and I don't want to read Harlequin romances, but it seemed interesting and not-totally-sexy, so I borrowed it. I think I finished it the same day.

Overall, I actually enjoyed it. I believe Cross said she wanted something that combined teen X-Men with the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and it does seem to be that. Griffin King, aka "the good guy," is in possession of a living substance called organites, obtained by his parents when they made the trip to the center of the Earth. These are the things life formed from, Darwin, and all that. The organites can be used to heal injuries and prolonged uses helped develop sort of super powers among Griffin's young friends whom he is gathering around him in his rich mansion with plans to save England from rogue automatons.

The story was somewhat predictable, but interesting as they seek to find a mysterious figure known as the Machinist, capable of causing automatons to go against programming and attack people.

Good guy Griffin is the one with all the money and leadership skills and self-sacrificing ideals. He can enter and manipulate the aether, meaning he can talk to ghosts, see auras, other things like that. I'd probably like him better if he weren't so token good guy. Like, think of your standard good guy and what he might do. That's what Griffin would do.

Along the way, Sam, who's power is super strength, is raging because he was victim in one of the attacks and got put back together by Emily and organites, leaving him un-scarred but with several pieces of his body replaced. So he is suffering angst from the "it's not actually my arm" and "I didn't get the choice to die instead of live as a monster" angst. I was hoping that he'd lighten up by the time he actually encounters death and decides he actually wants to live and we'd see his true personality... which turns out to be overly serious and somewhat distrustful.

Emily is a perky Irish girl, skinny, with "ropey hair." I'm not sure what that means, but that very description was used probably five times, so I'm guessing... dreadlocks? She is the brainchild who created all their fancy technology that gives them the edge above normal people and hopefully the Machinist. She's there to be sweet and helpful and attempt to knock sense into Sam. She's also the most fragile as she has no physical enhancement super power. She is, however, able to communicate with machines such as automatons.

Jasper is a cowboy. With very little back story, other than that he "wasn't always a good person." He's sweet on Emily and overall good humored. His power is super speed.

Finley Jayne is main love interest and co-star. The book narrates from her perspective or Griffin's. Finley was descended from a member of Griffin's parents expedition to the center of the world who experimented with organites and became the inspiration behind the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde story (according to the book.) So Finley inherits polar personalities that switch. On one side she is a frightened somewhat sweet girl, although I'm not sure that personality was extreme enough. On the other side, she is sassy, violent, and sexy. She also has super strength and senses.

So I enjoyed the different characters and the story, although it read very very token young adult. There was the self-doubt, the finding your identity for Finley. It also had the token Finley gets two love interests, one Griffin who is a noble and above her and one Jack Dandy, who is dangerous, a criminal, but in the way that Captain Barbossa is, "And ye not lay a hand on those under the protection of parley." Dandy likes Finley's bad side, and Dandy, while being a criminal, is somewhat honorable. Finley told Dandy that one of his gang members had tried to take advantage of her and Dandy got all dangerous, seeing consequences to that man's actions. Actually, I found Dandy to be the most interesting character in there and was hoping Finley would go with him.

But yes, there is the love triangle. Or triangles. Emily loves Sam who is acting very unlovable and both loves and hates Emily because he's being angsty. Jasper cares for Emily as well, but I'm afraid he's never going to get a chance.

And then, the main love triangle. Seriously, I sometimes wonder if young adult romance writers just fantasize about having guys fighting over them and so they write that into all the plots (I'm thinking Twilight). How often does that happen in real life? So, Good Guy Griffin likes Finley and Finley likes him. But Finley also likes Bad Boy Dandy. Who also likes Finley. There is some jealous and Finley's "Oh no, how can I choose?" and all the standard stuff. But I figure Griffin is going to win because he's the good guy and one of the main characters.

I was actually rooting for Dandy, because, like I said, he was one of the most fascinating characters in the book. He calls Finley "treasure" and sends her a fabulous gown to take her out to a dance of sorts and I was just afraid he'd discover the Finley he was dancing with was the sweet one, not the sassy one who visited him. But the book, I felt, declawed him. At one point, Finley hurt Sam after Sam tried to get in a fight with her and she ran to Dandy with the normal "I don't belong here." Dandy takes her in. Soon afterward, Griffin comes to convince her to come back. She turns to Dandy and he is there, holding her bags for her. He "wasn't giving her a choice." And that killed Dandy for me. One, it says that regardless of feelings, he's going to do the token "right" thing. And two, it says that the book isn't going to remain true to character. The Dandy I met in the beginning would have been like, "She came to me for a reason. She was running from you. Prove to me that she should go back with you."

Makes me sad.

Aside from my issues with some of the character treatment and all, it was fun! I like young adult fiction because it is usually optimistic and active. I really like characters with different traits and powers, the type you'd want to read bios on. I was a big fan of X-Men and I enjoyed the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (movie... library doesn't have the comic). It seemed a good YA interpretation of a combination between the two. Entertaining.