"No person was entirely good or entirely evil- one side could not exist without the other." Chapter 7
The Girl in the Steel Corset is about a 16 year old girl, Finley Jayne, with a mysterious side to her. Set in 1897, being different wasn't generally accepted in society. Finley has a 'thing' inside of her, something that gives her strength and aggression when she is in danger. Soon, she finds other people each with their own power. Together they try to find 'The Machinist' - the mastermind behind several crimes. All of his crimes seem to be random and unconnected to each other, but there's one similarity- all of the crimes are done by automatons. And they aren't as random as they seem... all the small crimes are leading into something huge and catastrophic.
When I first saw the cover book, I already thought it was the style of book I'd enjoy. I know... you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but my assumptions of the book were mostly correct. At first glance, I predicted it would be both historical and romantic. After flipping to the first page, I saw that my first guess was right- it was set in the past.
The first few pages were disappointing, it didn't capture my interest. It seemed like it was going to be about the everyday life of a normal 19th century servant. However, that's not how the story goes. A few pages later, the 'thing' inside of her is mentioned. That made me curious, and captured a bit of my attention. But after the 'thing' was mentioned several times, and with no explanation of what it was, it made me a bit uninterested. I think it was supposed to make readers even more curious about what it was, but I think the repetition was exaggerated and ended up doing the opposite for me.The good news is that the more I read, the better it got. The seemingly simple plot has a lot more depth added to it.
Another thing I liked about the book, is that it's written in 3rd person. This meant that the point of view changed, one chapter it was focused on one character, but the next it focused on another. It made me realise how reality is really only a matter of perspective. I initially didn't like Sam but after seeing his point of view, I felt more sympathy towards him.
The theme of good and evil was one of the main themes in the book. Even though the book is made up of fantasy characters, we can also relate to them. As the quote at the start of the review says, no one is only bad or good, but everyone has a bit of both. I think the way the author explored this theme was rather interesting. Finley, the protagonist, has two sides to her- a good and bad side. She learns to control them and tries to merge the two together.
What I both loved and hated about the book is the ending. When I finally thought all the problems were going to be solved, and everyone would live happily ever after, there was a big plot twister (not saying what it is because I don't want to spoil it!). I loved it because it was a great cliff hanger, but now I need to know what happens next!!!
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