The Girl in the Clockwork Collar

The Girl in the Clockwork Collar
by Kady Cross
Steampunk Chronicles, book two

In New York City, 1897, life has never been more thrilling-or dangerous Finley Jayne and her "straynge band of mysfits" have journeyed from London to America to rescue their friend Jasper from the clutches of a devious criminal demanding a trade-the dangerous device Jasper stole from him... for the life of the girl Jasper loves. 

One false move from Jasper, and the strange clockwork collar around Mei's neck tightens and tightens. From the rough streets of lower Manhattan to elegant Fifth Avenue, the motley crew of teens follows Jasper's elusive trail. And they're about to discover how far they'll go for friendship. 

More than ever, Finley must rely on powerful English duke Griffin King to balance her dark magic with her good side. Yet Griffin is at war with himself over his secret attraction to Finley... and will risk his life and reputation to save her. 

Now, to help those she's come to care for so deeply, Finley must infiltrate the criminal gang. Only problem is, she might like the dark side a little too much... (Description from Goodreads.com)

God, I need to catch up with this series! There's four books now and I'm JUST reading book two *facepalm*.  Not only do I love Kady Cross' (also known as Kate Locke, whose books I DEVOUR) writing, but these are such fun steampunk adventures.  

I really enjoyed not only getting to follow some more of Finlay's adventures, but also getting to learn more about some of the secondary characters, especially Jasper.  Learning more about his origins added a whole new layer to the series and I'd love to see even more of that in the other books...we'll have to see when I catch up! LOL.  There were new nuances to the romantic relationships in this follow-up, as well, which left me grinning and slightly swoony at times.  I can't wait to see Finlay and Griffin finally figure their relationship out!! 

I liked the jump over to America in this one.  I thought it let things sort of start fresh for a few people.  The addition of some key New York inhabitants had me grinning, and I longed to be there at that time (in this steampunk world, of course! I want to ride a dirrigible!!). A great read that has me scrambling to find time to read the next one... 

Full Disclosure: Borrowed from My Library 

Monday's Movie and TV Talk! (6)

 

Welcome to Monday's Movie and TV Talk! I don't know if I'll do this every Monday, or just sporadically on Mondays, but I LOVE TV and movies, so I figured why not add some of that to the blog for fun?? It'll be especially awesome when I can tie things into the YA book world...

Okay, so I don't know where you all live...but I'm in Connecticut and this past weekend we were hit with a super-fun blizzard. It also happened that my brother-in-law was here from Arizona, so on a weekend when I could have been snuggled up and reading, instead I spent a TON of time cooking, cleaning, entertaining, and yup...shoveling. 

 

Anyway, you'd think I might have watched some TV or movies in there, but not really... I did see the newest Ice Age movie finally, but today, I'm actually going to talk about the two movies I watched the week before because I think they go together really well for a post. 

 

So, first, I watched PITCH PERFECT, which I LOVED!!

 

First off, as a Gleek, I had to love that this movie covered the same sort-of random bursting into song moments that Glee does.  This was the slightly raunchier (at times) college version, which I loved, as well.  Even with the naughty bits, this movie still had not only great girl-power type friendships, but also a sweet romance. *sigh*

 

I ended up watching this movie twice before bringing it back to the library, which is something I almost never do...and a great indicator that I eventually need to own this one. :)

 

Then, I watched the newest dance movie in the Step Up series, STEP UP REVOLUTION.

Man, do these movies make me want to take dance classes!  This one was set in Miami, which I desperately want to visit, and actually featured a pretty cool (though mostly unrealistic) plotline.  Boy heads up flash mob dance group...meets hot dancer girl...discovers her father is head of the hotel chain that wants to destroy his neighborhood...they band together to set up "protest" dance mobs to get hotel plan nixed.  As I said, not really realistic, but super fun to watch and root for!!

 

I loved the flash mob aspect of this movie and thought they got to exhibit a lot of really cool types of dances based on the locations where they appeared.  I liked the sense of neighborhood loyalty and being true to yourself that were big themes in this movie. 

 

I also LOVED that this DVD version let you just watch the dance sequences again in the special features, too!!

 

All in all, it was a musical, upbeat sort of week.  The kind that leaves me smiling and dancing my way through doing the dishes or folding laundry...

 

Any thoughts on either movie?

Gold Star Review: Etiquette and Espionage

Etiquette and Espionage

by Gail Carriger

Finishing School, book one

 

Publication date: February 5, 2013

 

It's one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It's quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to Finishing School.

Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is a great trial to her poor mother. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper manners--and the family can only hope that company never sees her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. So she enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.

But Sophronia soon realizes the school is not quite what her mother might have hoped. At Mademoiselle Geraldine's, young ladies learn to finish...everything. Certainly, they learn the fine arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but the also learn to deal out death, diversion, and espionage--in the politest possible ways, of course. Sophronia and her friends are in for a rousing first year's education. (description from Amazon.com)  

 

Gail Carriger is awesome. I love her blend of steampunk and the paranormal. When I found out she was coming out with a YA series, I just about blew a gasket!! Then I started to worry a little...what if it just wasn't the same as her adult Parasol Protectorate series?

 

I should have known better than to worry!! I LOVED this first book.  In fact, here's my tweeted reaction from about halfway in:  

Reading @gailcarriger's ESPIONAGE AND ETIQUETTE and am properly enchanted. Cannot put it down!! #curtseyscrumpetsandconcealedweapons
 

The blend of proper behavior, the distinct ignoring of said proper behavior (LOL), adventure, friendships, and "mechanimals" was brilliant. There are airships, balls, poison classes, "sooties," werewolves, and of course, Bumbersnoot. Who is Bumbersnoot? Why he's the most fashionable little mechanical dachsund ever! He eats coal, produces ash, and can conceal a prototype for the proper Lady spy.

The tie-ins to Carriger's adult series had me giggling throughout.  Hints dropped here, there, and everywhere. :)  I don't want to give anything away, but if you've read her other series, you will find at least one or two familiar faces...

With wonderful witty word choices and frankly fashionable fetes, Etiquette and Espionage is a bang-up start to a new series that leaves me shouting, "HUZZAH!" I cannot wait to return to Finishing School!

 

A gold star book, indeed. And, just to whet the appetite, check out this awesome trailer that was created for the book! LOVE.

 

 

Full disclosure: ARC received for review from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Mini Reviews: The Graphic Novel edition (2)

Smile
by Reina Telgemeier

Raina just wants to be a normal sixth grader. But one night after Girl Scouts she trips and falls, severely injuring her two front teeth. What follows is a long and frustrating journey with on-again, off-again braces, surgery, embarrassing headgear, and even a retainer with fake teeth attached. And on top of all that, there's still more to deal with: a major earthquake, boy confusion, and friends who turn out to be not so friendly. (description from Amazon.com)

I actually really liked this graphic novel. It was interesting because not only was it a good story with a character that was very relatable, but it turns out it's a memoir! The events really happened to the author.  Cool.

Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty

by G. Neri

illus. by Randy Duburke

Eleven-year old Roger is trying to make sense of his classmate Robert "Yummy" Sandifer's death, but first he has to make sense of Yummy's life. Yummy could be as tough as a pit bull sometimes. Other times he was as sweet as the sugary treats he loved to eat. Was Yummy some sort of monster, or just another kid? As Roger searches for the truth, he finds more and more questions. How did Yummy end up in so much trouble? Did he really kill someone? And why do all the answers seem to lead back to a gang-the same gang to which Roger's older brother belongs? Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty is a compelling graphic dramatization based on events that occurred in Chicago in 1994. This gritty exploration of youth gang life will force readers to question their own understandings of good and bad, right and wrong. (description from Amazon.com) 

I didn't really enjoy this graphic novel all that much.  I think it's an important topic, and one that many children/teens in urban areas will relate to, but I just didn't connect to it all that much.  I didn't really like the illustration style and found Yummy to be a character I couldn't really muster all that sympathy for...

The Murder of Bindy MacKenzie

The Murder of Bindy MacKenzie
by Jaclyn Moriarty
Companion book to The Year of Secret Assignments

Bindy Mackenzie is the smartest girl at Ashbury High. She memorizes class outlines to help her teachers. She records transcripts of everything said around her. She offers helpful critiques for her fellow students. And she wears crazy nail polish to show she's a free spirit.

But then Bindy's life begins to fall apart. She can't stop feeling sleepy and she fails an exam for the first time ever. And--worst of all--she just doesn't care. What could be the cause of all these strange events? Is it conspiracy? Is it madness? Is it . . . murder?

Lots of people hate Bindy Mackenzie--but who would actually want to kill her? The answer is in Bindy's transcripts. The detectives are her fellow students. But Bindy has made every one of them into an enemy . . . and time is running out. (description from Amazon.com)

As with The Year of Secret Assignments Moriarty's companion book is made up of letters...or in this case, memos. Here there are also emails, philosophical musings, and Bindy's favorite pastime...transcripts. I love getting to learn a story through people's written interactions. I think it's really interesting and fascinating in the modern world with so many possible forms of written interaction.

In fact, when I "read" this book, it was actually as an audio book and this is one case where I really feel that you get more out of reading the text. There were parts where the narrator had to emphasize words in strange ways in order to let the listener know that something was different in the written form, but she could not explain it. It definitely felt in spots like you were missing a whole layer to the story. I actually ended up picking up the book afterwards to flip through and visually explore the text.

Anyway, the story ended up being fascinating. After I got past my slight confusion at the beginning of the text and after I got past Bindy's slightly overbearing personality, I got totally sucked into the plot. As more and more was revealed about Bindy's life, her relationship with fellow students, her secrets, I became enthralled. From the outside, I was as put off as her fellow classmates, but once I'd gotten her back story, once she'd opened up, I actually empathized a lot with Bindy. I remember quite a few times that my reactions to classmates and groups were just the same as hers. I hope I wasn't quite as superior sounding!

With the way that Bindy appears to be slowly losing her mind - a stress induced condition - it was really, really intriguing to consider the possibility that Bindy might actually be in danger. That someone wants to kill her. I loved how it all wound together in the end. The way that her classmates and family end up helping Bindy was really satisfying, too. Very well done.

Full disclosure: Audio book received to review for SLJ

The Dark Deeps

The Dark Deeps
by Arthur Slade
The Hunchback Assignments, book two

A fantastic Steampunk adventure in the deeps

Transforming his appearance and stealing secret documents from the French is all in a day’s work for fourteen-year-old Modo, a British secret agent. But his latest mission—to uncover the underwater mystery of something called the Ictíneo—seems impossible. There are rumors of a sea monster and a fish as big as a ship. French spies are after it, and Mr. Socrates, Modo’s master, wants to find it first. Modo and his fellow secret agent, Octavia, begin their mission in New York City, then take a steamship across the North Atlantic. During the voyage, Modo uncovers an astounding secret. (description from Amazon.com)

This was a very cool and exciting middle grade steampunk adventure. I loved "Modo" as a character. He is well-intentioned, brave, kind, and fiercely loyal. His shape-shifting ability, which makes for some fantastic disguises btw..., is really well considered and written out. I also loved how Modo was not the only classic horror character in the series. There are appearances by Dr. Hyde which made me smile, even as what he was doing made me squirm.

I loved the fact that this was an underwater adventure. I love submarines (ummm... in books - I don't think I could handle actually being IN one) and the early imagined versions here were just, well...COOL! The scientific advances were awesome.

I definitely plan to read the next book in this series! I love the spies, friendships, secrets, and adventure! Plus, the audio version is great.

Full disclosure: Audio book received for SLJ review

Matched by Allie Condie - Book Trailer

A book trailer for the fabulous Matched by Ally Condie was just recently released. You can check it out below and my review of the book here. I loved it and hope you do, too. Enjoy!!



Matched comes out on November 30th!