Sunday, August 31, 2014

The Girl and the Clockwork Cat

ASIN: B00MLM9L46
Pages: 224
Publication Date: September 2 2014
Source: Entangled Teen
Appearance:
18980000

Summary:
Feisty teenage thief Maeko and her maybe-more-than-friend Chaff have scraped out an existence in Victorian London’s gritty streets, but after a near-disastrous heist leads her to a mysterious clockwork cat and two dead bodies, she’s thrust into a murder mystery that may cost her everything she holds dear.
Her only allies are Chaff, the cat, and Ash, the son of the only murder suspect, who offers her enough money to finally get off the streets if she’ll help him find the real killer. 
What starts as a simple search ultimately reveals a conspiracy stretching across the entire city. And as Maeko and Chaff discover feelings for each other neither was prepared to admit, she’s forced to choose whether she’ll stay with him or finally escape the life of a street rat. But with danger closing in around them, the only way any of them will get out of this alive is if all of them work together.
Hey everyone! Welcome to my early review for The Girl and the Clockwork Cat. This is a YA steampunk with adventure and mystery! 

Maeko is a street rat with exceptional skills. One night, she stumbles across a cat with a clockwork leg. Before she knows it, she's hanging out with a bunch of pirate musicians and then she's in jail and the cat is gone. Luckily, Maeko's tiny and she can easily fit through the bars to escape. Something stops her, a man who begs her to free him. She does and once they're free, he turns on her. Then she stumbles into the office/apartment of the owner who made the cat's clockwork leg to find two people dead and the pirate she saw earlier is the leading suspect.

Before I get into any detail, I just want to say that this book was really fun. The only reason why I didn't give it a higher rating was because I had just finished Clockwork Princess and I wanted something with clockwork things and that's what the publisher pitched it as. Personally, not as good as Clockwork Princess but it's still a really great book. I just wanted to clarify that, okay moving on~

One thing that Nikki McCormack did really well was capture the essence of Victorian London. The language, the writing, the way the characters spoke reflected the era really well. The characters were real and they touched you. Maeko has been living on the streets, but she has a mother who lives in a house. Why is that? Why did she run away? Maeko was a really interesting character for me. She was street smart and cunning, but she's a kid and you see that reflected through her personality and how she acts. The way that she acts around people and how she handles things show that she's a kid but she's a smart kid. 

The murder mystery intrigue was overwhelming. You got to see everything unfold and you have your suspicions and at times, you even suspect the people that are close to Maeko. Honestly, the intrigue of the story was what kept me turning the pages. It lures and pulls you into the story and makes you question the facts. Let me just say that if I ever run into Hatchet-face in real like I'm going to be real damn scared. 

There's a touch of romance but not too much. We have Ash on one side of the love triangle and Chaff on the other. I don't know whose side I'm on yet, but I'm leaning towards Chaff. Ash is a good kid, he's loyal to his family and he's determined. But Chaff, he's Maeko's mentor and there are so many times that he could have just been like "Nope sorry girl, I'm not helping and risking my life for someone I don't know, but he doesn't! He helps because Maeko is determined to help Ash clear his father's name and he doesn't want Maeko getting hurt or in trouble. Another reason why I'm leaning more towards Chaff is that he knows Maeko and he knows her abilities so throughout the book he never second guesses herself even when she might be feeling doubtful.

Okay so the conclusion. The Girl and the Clockwork Cat has action, mystery, intrigue, and really lovable characters. Definitely recommend that you guys give it a shot and if you do, let me know what you think in the comments below! 
3.5 out of 5 stars

Foreverly Obsessed,

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