Book Review: The Girl in the Steel Corset

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.

**ARC Courtesy of NetGalley

Goodreads: 3/5 stars

Finley Jayne knows she has a violent side, but she has no idea why. After her lord attempts to force himself on her, she fights him, wins, and flees the scene. When Griffin King accidentally hits her with his car, he takes her under his care. Through Finley’s recovery, she realizes that, under Griffin’s roof, she’s actually normal.

Griffin and his posse are searching for a man called The Machinist, who is determined to destroy most of England with his automatons. Finley wants in on the action, but The Machinist is setting up Griffin and his band of misfits. Now they look to Finley, since she’s the outsider, believing she might be working alongside The Machinist. She must convince her only so-called friends that she’s not the one behind the attacks, and that they have to work together to think like The Machinist. But that’s easier said than done when everyone mistrusts you.

This was my first steampunk novel (I know—I’m late to the party) and it wasn’t as grand as I had hoped. The premise is great, the underlying sexual tension between the couples is great, but I felt like The Machinist took a backseat to whether or not Finley and Griffin would be together. And I’ll be the first to admit I pushed for those two! However, while there was a lot of action with Finley and the powers her fellow housemates held, there just wasn’t a lot going on with the antagonist, in my opinion. I’m anxious to see what happens in book two, and look forward to reading it.