The Girl and the Clockwork Cat
Release Date: 09/02/14
Entangled Teen
Summary from Goodreads:
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.
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.
Review
This is my first foray into Steampunk
fiction. What a great place to start!!
“The Girl and the Clockwork Cat” had me glued to the pages right away. Nikki McCormack
is a fantastic storyteller. Her world building abilities dropped me right into
Victorian London. I could see the dirty streets, the bustling people, and the
intricate details of the Macak’s clockwork leg. I could smell the aromas in the
kitchen, the stench of prison, and the smell of so many of the London places
Maeko visited. It’s all in the descriptive talents of Ms. McCormack, however
she didn’t overwhelm, or bore me by spending too much time on the details.
The
characters in this story are vivid and their personalities leap right off of
the page. Maeko is certainly feisty, but you would have to be in order to
survive on the streets. She is scrappy, determined, and incredibly intelligent.
There is, however, a sweetness to her that rounds out her character, creating
balance, allowing me to admire and empathize with her.
Macak is
so intriguing. He has a strong personality and I must give to kudos to Ms.
McCormack for being able to give Macak character without giving him a fictional
ability to speak. It amazing when you connect with a character of the feline
species in a book! Macak holds his own in the story, and is at time, Maeko’s
best source of comfort.
I have to
admit, I hate love triangles…97% of the time. So often I find myself unable to
root for one person, I care too much about them both. Then in the end, I often
find myself harboring animosity for the heroine. This book falls (mostly) into
that 3%. I don’t love it, but I was not turned off by it. Again, I fell into the
role of caring for both Chaff and Ash. The true test came in my opinion of
Maeko at the pinnacle of the triangle. I wouldn’t want to be in her shoes with
those boys. They both have endearing qualities and ones that make you want to
slap them upside the head sometimes. But, Maeko handles it well. Though her
confusion is clear, I felt like she was open about it. I hate to choose
sides…but I have to admit, I lean more towards Ash. He may have been a jerk in
the beginning, but he redeems himself and I fell a little bit in love with him.
There are so many
secondary characters that shape this story. Ms. McCormack knows how to contour
the tale with the surrounding characters, moving it in the right.
About the Author
Nikki started writing her first novel at
the age of 12, which she still has tucked in a briefcase in her home office,
waiting for the right moment. Despite a successful short story publication with
Cricket Magazine in 2007, she continued to treat her writing addiction as a
hobby until a drop in the economy presented her with an abundance of free time
that she used to focus on making it her career.
Nikki lives in the magnificent Pacific Northwest tending to her husband and three cats suffering varying stages of neurosis. She feeds her imagination by sitting on the ocean in her kayak gazing out across the never-ending water or hanging from a rope in a cave, embraced by darkness and the sound of dripping water. She finds peace through practicing iaido or shooting her longbow.
Nikki lives in the magnificent Pacific Northwest tending to her husband and three cats suffering varying stages of neurosis. She feeds her imagination by sitting on the ocean in her kayak gazing out across the never-ending water or hanging from a rope in a cave, embraced by darkness and the sound of dripping water. She finds peace through practicing iaido or shooting her longbow.
GIVEAWAY::
Thank you for taking the time to read and review the book! :)
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