Title: The Inventor's Secret
Author: Andrea Cremer
Series: The Inventor's Secret #1
Publisher: Speak; Reprint Edition
Publication Date: July 14, 20151
Source: Purchased
I love steampunk! But it has been so long since I last read a steampunk novel that I forgot how much I enjoy them. Thanks to The Inventor's Secret by Andrea Cremer I was reminded of my love for the genre, and I will be trying my hardest not to let myself forget it again.
The Inventor's Secret is not only steampunk, it is an alternate history as well. In the world that our characters live in Britain won the Revolutionary War and America lost. Britain has thus made those who fought against them be little more than slaves. They have to work hard for little to no money, live in squalor, and hope to survive to the next day.
Of course, there are those that still stand against the British Empire and hope to take back America and win their independence. While the adults are off fighting, they have their children hidden away in a series of caves, known as the Catacombs. There the children scavenge for the things they need and try to stay out of sight.
Charlotte is our 16 year old heroine. She is one of the handful of children that live in the catacombs. Her brother, Ash, is the leader. Once he is 18 he is to leave the Catacombs and go fight alongside the rest of the adults. A few other characters of note are: Jack - the boy who loves to torment Charlotte, Birch - the inventor of the group, Pip - the happy go lucky one, Meg - the oldest female of the group and the one that takes care of all of the rest, and Scoff - the pilot and amateur alchemist.
The story starts out with a bang. Charlotte is out in the wilderness and comes across a lost boy running for his life. She assists him and brings him back to the catacombs. Unfortunately, this boy cannot remember anything at all. Not who he is, where he came from, or anything about anything at all.
With needing to find out more about this strange boy Charlotte sets off on an adventure with Ash, Jack, and Meg to the Floating City (New York). Jack and Ash have their own thing to do in regards to the war, and Meg and Charlotte are to work on figuring out the mystery behind the boy. They meet a few other interesting characters along the way, and many secrets are told.
The Inventor's Secret was an absolutely fantastic read! I loved the world and the creativeness around it. Especially in regards to the Catacombs and to the Floating City. It is just so wonderful to try to picture a city up in the air with multiple levels. And the ships that take them there! My imagination was going into overload and I loved it!
I also really enjoyed the characters. Charlotte is pretty headstrong and stubborn. I enjoyed that a lot about her. I do wish she could be sure about somethings (boys) as she is about other things (fighting). I haven't quite decided how I feel about a few of the other characters. I guess time will tell as more things about them are found out.
The one thing I could really do without though is the hint of a love triangle. I am not too big of a fan of them in the first place. I have only come across one or two that I have actually really enjoyed reading through. The one that seems to be trying to take place in this one is not one of those. At points it almost feels forced into the story. I also have no idea who I am going to root for.
All in all, I really enjoyed this book and the world that it contained.
My Rating
4 stars
How in the world have I never seen the new cover for this? It's so PRETTY. I really like steampunk and books set in an alternate history. They're fascinating to read!
ReplyDeleteYou may want to stay tuned. Next week on Tuesday my review for the 2nd book goes live...and there may or not be a giveaway for both of these books with it...
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