Finley Jayne knows she’s not ‘normal’. Normal girls don’t lose time, or have something inside them that makes them capable of remarkably violent things. Her behavior has already cost her one job, so when she’s offered the lofty position of companion to Phoebe, a debutante recently engaged to Lord Vincent, she accepts, despite having no experience. Lord Vincent is a man of science with his automatons and inventions, but Finley is suspicious of his motives where Phoebe is concerned. She will do anything to protect her new friend, but what she discovers is even more monstrous than anything she could have imagined…An ebook exclusive prequel to The Steampunk Chronicles.
I’m a huge fan of anything Victorian. So, when steampunk became the “thing” I jumped on it. Granted, I think I jumped on it before it was a huge deal, but if so, it wasn’t long before it was steampunk this and steampunk that. THE STEAMPUNK CHRONICLES, Kady Cross’s young adult steampunk series, started roughly the same time. I was planning on reading the first book a while back, but finally got to it with my library book. That said, the novella THE STRANGE CASE OF FINLEY JAYNE was in the book and I felt compelled to read it before delving into the first book in Cross’s series.
I’m glad I did that. I honestly don’t know if I would have felt as connected with Finley, the main character, unless I had read the novella first. The novella also gave me an opener on what Cross’s steampunk world was going to be like. There is extremely advanced technology (automatons or metal walking horses) and there is cultural comparisons to what our world would know as Victorian London.
The novella itself is fast paced and fun. You get to learn who the main character is and see her in action. Which is great. I am going to read the actual first book in the series and from what I’ve read, I don’t think I’ll be disappointed. Finley and the other characters are well rounded and really make the world its own world.
Finley is a caring girl and sometimes gets succumbed by her dark impulses to act unladlylike in the midst of danger. That’s what makes her so amazing. She tries to be meek and with her station, but when there is a wrong, she makes it right. Granted, it is like it isn’t her doing it, but she still does it. Finley is the girl I wish I was like as a teen.
I’m looking forward to reading more about Finley.
Casia's Corner 