Megan Curd

Part steampunky, part post-apocalyptic tale, part mystery, part teen hijinks--honestly STEEL LILY wears many hats depending on what you like/focus on. Admittedly I almost gave up on the book--wait wait hear me out. Almost from the start Avery is given the worst luck in the history of ever. Her classmate pulls a cruel trick, several folks in the Polatzi (special police force) take advantage of her 'gift', her parents are missing, her gift makes her ill--and that's not even getting into some of the other stuff.

I'm not terribly fond of heroines (or heroes) who are so heavily tread upon from the get go. Sometimes, if handled well I'll ignore it and move on. But we all have those moments of impatience right?

Once the plot starts rolling...well actually Avery acquires almost chronically bad luck (mostly for those around her), but her proactive spirit to survive and help those around her (even the mean classmate) make her likeable. Also I'm a sucker for sarcasm.

Jaxon (or Jax) is an odd duck to be sure. He talks a lot, but most of what he says talks circles around itself and half of what he says is to get a reaction. He's quite full of himself, or projects as much at least, and I found myself quite smitten with his kind of reckless behavior (though if I was in Avery's position I may not have). His interactions with Avery tend to be him flirting, her smacking him down, him trying harder, her smacking him down harder and so forth.

I appreciated that Curd didn't have Avery just tumble into lust with Jaxon, but not question everything he said. Until some reveals about his past come about, Jax's actions aren't what you'd call in Avery's best interests. Secreting her out her first night to do something highly prohibited, talking about escape pretty quickly after knowing her--he seems reckless, problematic and disruptive to the new life Avery wanted to build. His softer side is shown slowly and covered up by a lot of bluster when caught out.

There's a couple twists in the book that come as a one-two punch at the end, and the supporting characters are certainly worth reading about (Sari is kinda hilarious and Alice wavered for me, she felt less defined then the others, Griggs is oily and swarmy while Xander is...difficult to get a handle on). I'm eager for the next book (Winter 2013 release, hopefully) and certainly hope that Avery finds some measure of peace eventually.… (mehr)

What I liked about it:

Loved Ethan's wisecracks- he was a smartass but also loveable!
I've read the author's first book (from another series) and this time, the writing felt much smoother.
I liked that Hannah didn't fall "in love" immediately.
the story isn't overly long.

I'd have liked it if the author had delved a little deeper into the mythology she had created for this novel.

Reine's betrayal didn't feel like much of a surprise, neither did Angie overcoming her dark side.

Also reviewed at:
Shelfari
Amazon
B&N
… (mehr)

I started reading STEEL LILY, mainly because I got an ARC for IRON PENDULUM. The blurb seemed interesting so I thought, why not give it a shot? Big mistake. I wasted my Saturday afternoon reading this book. I didn’t enjoy it at all. The beginning was okay and the ending was…interesting. I didn’t like anything else. I got bored of the characters–not one was interesting, they were dull. Also, it felt like Hunger Games and Divergent combined.

Why The Hunger Games? The Domes in STEEL LILY = Districts
Why Divergent? The Resistance/Alliance in STEEL LILY = Insurgents

It’s not that I don’t like Divergent or The Hunger Games because I love them. The thing is that the story reminded me of these series a lot and didn’t have anything of it’s own, aside from controlling steam.

I grew tired of the story. I forced myself to finish the book since I need to make a review for IRON PENDULUM for a blog tour.

I didn’t like this. Plain and simple. We’ll see if IRON PENDULUM is better.… (mehr)