Read: August 27- September1, 2012
read in 6 days
pages: 476
Book Blurb:
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 and says she's special, says she's one of them . The orphaned duke takes her in from the gaslit streets, against the wises of his band of misfits. And Finley thinks she might finally be a part of something, finally fit in-until a criminal mastermind known as Machinist threatens to tear the group apart...
After Finley finds herself in Griffin's home, and his finding out just how she came to be on the run, Griffin decides he just may be able to help Finley get her two personalities under control. For some time Finley has been noticing these shifts in her personality that seems to be a bit of Jekyll and Hyde is sparked by her anger or fear giving her an inhuman strength that luckily saves her life. This strength is what allowed her to overcome Lord Felix and is what causes her to be unsure of her actions on the nights the darker personality takes control of her body. While Finley is intrigued by the two parts of herself she would like to be in control of the two parts, and Griffin promises to help her do just that. The only issue I take with this premise is it seems a bit unbelievable that after only one session with Griffin Finley finds she has better control while she had zero prior to the session. It seems that a few sessions would have been a bit more believable. But I kind of let that go and didn't let that bother me much.
There is an arcing story line and an actual mystery they are working to solve. I admit I figured out the connection prior to the characters discovery which was fine, but I would have liked a little more of a twist and mystery to the plot. There are the four young adults, Griffin, Sam, Emily and Finley, and are later joined by Griffin's pal Jasper, that make up this motley group of people with these unique powers that can not be exposed to the outside world. There is a man working to expose the truth and the group works to stop him. In doing so another tie is found to the man that makes Griffin especially interested in making sure the man's plans do not come to fruition. A few action scenes are nice in the novel and build up some needed tension for the story.
Overall this novel isn't bad. It is billed as a steampunk novel, and I agree there are elements of that to be seen. Set in London in 1897 and plenty of steam power being used and a little play in the Aether. Another staple is the presence of automatons and random little gadgets which is pretty cool. I enjoyed the little descriptions of the style of dress of both the women and the men. I liked the characters enough to consider reading further in the series and hope to see a little more of the character Jack Dandy. I found him interesting and would like to see a little more about him. I was a little disgruntled to find that I have to get the next book if I want to see just where one story line is going. I hate a tease like that in a series especially when it is something that has been toyed with for 400+ pages and even somewhat mentioned at the end only to be left hanging with a hint that something may happen in the next novel. Just give me a little closure or some idea that things are going where I want them to. Luckily the next book is already published so I'm not going to have to wait any longer than the length of time it takes the library to get the book to me. Otherwise I'd be at the mercy of the publishing world to get my answer. Hopefully I get a satisfactory answer with the next book.
I would recommend the story if you are looking for a little romance and a little bit of steampunk. I think the Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Angel and Clockwork Prince, are better in these areas, but while I'm waiting for the Clockwork Princess to be published Kady Cross' books will suffice.
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 and says she's special, says she's one of them . The orphaned duke takes her in from the gaslit streets, against the wises of his band of misfits. And Finley thinks she might finally be a part of something, finally fit in-until a criminal mastermind known as Machinist threatens to tear the group apart...
I was really looking forward to reading this novel and was glad to have found it at the library when I went looking to pick it up. So I found this copy that has the The Strange Case of Finley Jayne included and picked it up. I thought about re-reading the 78 page prequel, but since I read it back in November I didn't think I would need to. Turns out I did not. I do remember enjoying the prequel though and thinking this series couldn't be to be too bad because I thought the Finley character was a pretty tough chick. I found this novel proved she wasn't super soft but she did have a soft side so it was a nice compliment. As it turns out there is a reason she is balanced but at the same time unable to completely control this darker side of her personality.
So this novel finds Finley Jayne at least initially on the run from her former employer due to an altercation with Lord Felix, the son of her boss. This was no problem as she makes short order of teaching the young man a nice lesson on how you SHOULD NOT treat a lady no matter her station in life. While on the run, she is plowed down by the handsome Griffin King who fears he is the cause of her injuries. He decides to have his buddy take her back to his home and have her looked over by their friend Emily who so happens to be a handy live in doctor of sorts.
So this novel finds Finley Jayne at least initially on the run from her former employer due to an altercation with Lord Felix, the son of her boss. This was no problem as she makes short order of teaching the young man a nice lesson on how you SHOULD NOT treat a lady no matter her station in life. While on the run, she is plowed down by the handsome Griffin King who fears he is the cause of her injuries. He decides to have his buddy take her back to his home and have her looked over by their friend Emily who so happens to be a handy live in doctor of sorts.
After Finley finds herself in Griffin's home, and his finding out just how she came to be on the run, Griffin decides he just may be able to help Finley get her two personalities under control. For some time Finley has been noticing these shifts in her personality that seems to be a bit of Jekyll and Hyde is sparked by her anger or fear giving her an inhuman strength that luckily saves her life. This strength is what allowed her to overcome Lord Felix and is what causes her to be unsure of her actions on the nights the darker personality takes control of her body. While Finley is intrigued by the two parts of herself she would like to be in control of the two parts, and Griffin promises to help her do just that. The only issue I take with this premise is it seems a bit unbelievable that after only one session with Griffin Finley finds she has better control while she had zero prior to the session. It seems that a few sessions would have been a bit more believable. But I kind of let that go and didn't let that bother me much.
There is an arcing story line and an actual mystery they are working to solve. I admit I figured out the connection prior to the characters discovery which was fine, but I would have liked a little more of a twist and mystery to the plot. There are the four young adults, Griffin, Sam, Emily and Finley, and are later joined by Griffin's pal Jasper, that make up this motley group of people with these unique powers that can not be exposed to the outside world. There is a man working to expose the truth and the group works to stop him. In doing so another tie is found to the man that makes Griffin especially interested in making sure the man's plans do not come to fruition. A few action scenes are nice in the novel and build up some needed tension for the story.
Overall this novel isn't bad. It is billed as a steampunk novel, and I agree there are elements of that to be seen. Set in London in 1897 and plenty of steam power being used and a little play in the Aether. Another staple is the presence of automatons and random little gadgets which is pretty cool. I enjoyed the little descriptions of the style of dress of both the women and the men. I liked the characters enough to consider reading further in the series and hope to see a little more of the character Jack Dandy. I found him interesting and would like to see a little more about him. I was a little disgruntled to find that I have to get the next book if I want to see just where one story line is going. I hate a tease like that in a series especially when it is something that has been toyed with for 400+ pages and even somewhat mentioned at the end only to be left hanging with a hint that something may happen in the next novel. Just give me a little closure or some idea that things are going where I want them to. Luckily the next book is already published so I'm not going to have to wait any longer than the length of time it takes the library to get the book to me. Otherwise I'd be at the mercy of the publishing world to get my answer. Hopefully I get a satisfactory answer with the next book.
I would recommend the story if you are looking for a little romance and a little bit of steampunk. I think the Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Angel and Clockwork Prince, are better in these areas, but while I'm waiting for the Clockwork Princess to be published Kady Cross' books will suffice.
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