My Rating: 3.5 hearts
Thoughts on the Novel: Steaming by Vanessa Barger is a fast-paced and entertaining story revolving around nineteen-year-old Cornelius Latimer, an inventor who was always more interested in fooling around with machines than girls. That is, until his eye is caught by the beautiful Temperance at a ball. But, there is more to Temperance than meets the eye and her secret will strain Cornelius’ friendship with his best friend, make him to come face-to-face with the Time Keeper and get him charged with treason. Will Cornelius be able to clear his name and get credit for the airship he invented?
Steaming was fun to read, and though I knew that it was a steampunk novel, I wasn’t expecting there to be elements of mythology. It was a nice surprise to have the Norse gods Odin and Tyr and the Greek goddess Athena as characters, especially since they were incorporated into the story fairly well.
Barger’s characters were also well-written. Cornelius was easy to relate to and I liked Bea, who later becomes his romantic interest. After fancying himself in love, Cornelius learns from his mistake and his relationship with Bea begins as friends. In addition, despite the story not featuring her much, I found Isadora intriguing and would love to know more about her relationship with her father and Bea as well as what she has been up to after helping Cornelius escape from the Time Keeper. The ending of Steaming suggests that there will be a sequel so I’m looking forward to having some of those questions answered while tagging along with Cornelius on his next adventure.
Steaming was released by Decadent Publishing in March 2011.
Comments About the Cover: It’s easy to tell right away that Steaming falls within the steampunk genre because of the huge gear behind the title and the picture of London in the background. The use of brown and orange as colours also give the cover an olden day feel. What I don’t like is the huge face of the guy I presume is Cornelius since he doesn’t look very Victorian-like to me, and his face distracts the eye from the rest of the cover.
Steaming was fun to read, and though I knew that it was a steampunk novel, I wasn’t expecting there to be elements of mythology. It was a nice surprise to have the Norse gods Odin and Tyr and the Greek goddess Athena as characters, especially since they were incorporated into the story fairly well.
Barger’s characters were also well-written. Cornelius was easy to relate to and I liked Bea, who later becomes his romantic interest. After fancying himself in love, Cornelius learns from his mistake and his relationship with Bea begins as friends. In addition, despite the story not featuring her much, I found Isadora intriguing and would love to know more about her relationship with her father and Bea as well as what she has been up to after helping Cornelius escape from the Time Keeper. The ending of Steaming suggests that there will be a sequel so I’m looking forward to having some of those questions answered while tagging along with Cornelius on his next adventure.
Steaming was released by Decadent Publishing in March 2011.
Comments About the Cover: It’s easy to tell right away that Steaming falls within the steampunk genre because of the huge gear behind the title and the picture of London in the background. The use of brown and orange as colours also give the cover an olden day feel. What I don’t like is the huge face of the guy I presume is Cornelius since he doesn’t look very Victorian-like to me, and his face distracts the eye from the rest of the cover.
In exchange for an honest review, this ebook was received from Decadent Publishing as part of their YA Blog Stomp event.
Sounds good since I'm a steampunk fan. From the summary I thought for sure that Cornelius falls in love with a automaton.
ReplyDeleteLove the addition of the gods and mythology!
ReplyDeleteSounds like he fell in love with an automaton.^^
ReplyDeleteLove that description. Sounds really good! I'd love to read this if this is in his POV.
Sometimes when a story mixes to many elements, I feel too overwhelmed to really pay attention to what is actually going on, but it seems like the mix Barger used with Steampunk and mythology was done well.
ReplyDeleteI'm still trying to get used to the genre, and it seems like this book offers a comfortable, nicely paced story.