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....
Hardcover, 416 pages
Published May 22nd 2012 by Harlequin Teen
(info grabbed from GoodReads)
I don’t see why a lot of people like this one less than The Girl in the Steel Corset. I found the change in setting refreshing and thought it was well highlighted what differences were present between the two places. It added interest into the sequel for me. It was something new to explore as we were already familiar with the world Kady Cross had started to build and the characters she had created in the first book. I think the characters became better defined and I was impressed that relationships grew instead staying stagnant. The only complaint I have is that there wasn’t enough Jack Dandy, because he was still in London for this book. Sad face.
I loved seeing more of Finley Jayne and watching her grow into her new, more complete skin. Her two sides have merged into one and she has to figure out which one is dominant. Will it be her softer side, or the raging fire or her more destructive side? Finley spends a good portion of the book cut off from the rest of the group, giving her time to find herself away from Griffin and who he wants her to be. Maybe that’s part of why this book isn’t as well liked is that it has less swooning and action than The Girl in the Steel Corset. But still, there is quite a bit of action. Just maybe not enough swooning.
In The Girl in the Clockwork Collar, we get to see a lot more of Jasper, our rogue cowboy. He was more of a side character than the rest of the group in the first book and it was nice to get to know more about him and his back story. I missed his more casual and flippant nature from the first book at first, but it makes sense as to what is going on in the story. So again, not a criticism or a fault, just a change. The beautiful thing about this series is how fluid the characters feel -- like real people, they grow and change with circumstances and time. At the very least, hopefully Jasper will be back to his old self in the next book, The Girl with the Iron Touch.
The Girl in the Clockwork Collar was a wonderful continuation of the world I’d begun to love with a new tale to wet my palate with. I can only hope that the next book will keep me as satisfied as this one did. I am for sure looking forward to reuniting with a certain criminal rogue back in London.
Final Thought: 25 out of 28 toadstools
This review is also posted on GoodReads
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