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mackle13's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
So, this book was fine, but it was also kind of boring and also a mess.
So maybe not fine?
Anyway -
Astor thinks she's going to be sold off to marriage, which she's fine with, but then she finds out she's really being sold as being a governess to the most awful children ever. And she's been given explicit instructions not to reprimand the children or try to make them behave in any way, because they're Swales and Swales don't behave!
Or some bullshit.
So the children are awful and she ends up hitting this 12 year old boy who tries to make a pass at her, and for that she's going to get thrown in a fucking dungeon and have her hair shaved off, so she ends up escaping with the help up Verrol, who's a servant to her family who gets left with her to be her servant, because I guess that's how things work.
So the two escape - and I'm literally just waiting the entire book for the Swales and the awful brats to get their comeuppance, and I guess they kind of do, but it's not super satisfying.
Anyway - after Astor and Verrol escape they go to the slums and have to join a band, because that's the only way to survive the slums.
But luckily for them, they come to the gang who's primary focus appears to be playing "slum music", lead by Granny, who wants to unite the gangs. Every gang has a "job" in the slums, and Granny's gang is apparently just playing the music, 'cause I'm not sure we ever see them do anything else.
Anyway - so Granny also has visions, and she has a vision one day of this monumental rock band and putting it together and them making it big and getting out of the slums. Luckily, Astor knows how to play music...
I mean... she has a harp, which apparently translates into her becoming this super awesome drummer in no time flat. For reasons.
And Verrol can sing, though Astor doesn't think so, and he basically joins the band with a clapper... so he... has a tambourine, essentially. But apparently that's good enough, because he needs to be there for the plot!
So they proceed to put this band together, and they play a few gigs, and it doesn't go great at first but, that's ok, because they become a rousing success and super popular in roughly 2 weeks!
But then they get kidnapped by the Swales! Oh no! Astor and Verrol's pasts are coming back to get them!
Except not really, because the Swales just want them to play their music for the posh people! Yay!
And of course, even though they hate them at first - because Reeth, their new manager guy who they picked up at some point - told them to play it safe for the poshies, but then Astor is like, let's play for us! And they do! And their new brand of music is instantly embraced by everyone!
Yay!
But no!
Because then the Swales want to use their music to help them lead a revolt against the government. The Swales and the other Plutocrats and the former soldiers want to start a war. Not because anyone has done anything wrong, but because business is good when theirs a war! So they want to just start a random war with literally anybody, doesn't matter who or under what pretense!
So the band is split. Verrol and a few others are like, no, this is bad! We can't use our slum music to help the Plutocrats!
But others are like, hey, we don't care about politics or starting wars or anything, we just want to be famous!
So this amazing band that Granny has a Vision about putting together literally has one big show and then they split up...
And half go with Reeth and the Plutocrats, and they're leading the militia men to have a protest against the government!
But Vellor and Astor go with the slum kids to fight against them!
And, literally, when the Rowdies (that's the band name) starts overplaying the other band and eventually steals their instruments, the militia men start losing focus on the fight, because apparently these seasoned soldiers and veterans can only continue to fight for their war and their jobs if they have some people playing music at them! Because that makes sense!
Anyway - so the Rowdies win, the Plutocrats are driven back and some, including the Swales, flee to foreign countries... but that's not really a satisfying conclusion, and I wanted to see some blood or something, because they were awful.
And then the Rowdies get medals from the government for helping, except the government won't actually make any promises to help the slums, because rioting is bad, mm'kay. Even if it literally saved the governments collective ass. But, you know, let's not fight...
(You might be thinking why the slum kids were on the government's side, and that would be because it wouldn't be the soldiers who go back to the war they want, it would be the slum kids and "undesirable" elements in society, to be cannon fodder. (Yes, the Plutocrats literally say the quiet part out loud, because there's nothing subtle in this book.))
Also, there's a romance between Verrol and Astor, if you can really call it that. He's sort of smitten with her from the start, for reasons I can't tell, and Astor has one of those Cher in Clueless, "I love Verrol!" revelations towards the end... but the spend almost the whole book arguing and not talking to each other, and not in that "banter that lets the audience know you love them" kind of way, but in every time they have a disagreement they don't talk for days kind of way...
But then they get together at the end, so there's that.
Also, some stuff with Astor's parents being jackasses, but whatever.
Mave is cool. I know I didn't mention her much - or, well, at all before now - but she's like the moody goth/emo kid that gets pulled into this rock band. So she's fun.
One final note, about the "Steampunk"...
Like, where?
I mean, there's a zeppelin, that ever popular transportation of Steampunk. But, otherwise... there didn't really seem to be a whole lot of actual anachronistic tech which is the hallmark of good Steampunk. The world, itself, didn't seem super fleshed out - but, like, none of the rest of it was, either, so ya know, why would this be different?
Like, yes, there was technology. There was discussion about the factories and the pollution and the smog. But those are things that actually happened during the Industrial Revolution, so... ?
Also, the blurb says Victorian, but King George is at the helm, so... not Victorian, guys. 'Cause the funny thing about the Victorian Era is it was when Queen <i>Victoria</i> was, well, queen... *eyeroll*
***
For a non-spoilery, super short summary, here's a better review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3515479479
So maybe not fine?
Anyway -
Or some bullshit.
So the children are awful and she ends up hitting this 12 year old boy who tries to make a pass at her, and for that she's going to get thrown in a fucking dungeon and have her hair shaved off, so she ends up escaping with the help up Verrol, who's a servant to her family who gets left with her to be her servant, because I guess that's how things work.
So the two escape - and I'm literally just waiting the entire book for the Swales and the awful brats to get their comeuppance, and I guess they kind of do, but it's not super satisfying.
Anyway - after Astor and Verrol escape they go to the slums and have to join a band, because that's the only way to survive the slums.
But luckily for them, they come to the gang who's primary focus appears to be playing "slum music", lead by Granny, who wants to unite the gangs. Every gang has a "job" in the slums, and Granny's gang is apparently just playing the music, 'cause I'm not sure we ever see them do anything else.
Anyway - so Granny also has visions, and she has a vision one day of this monumental rock band and putting it together and them making it big and getting out of the slums. Luckily, Astor knows how to play music...
I mean... she has a harp, which apparently translates into her becoming this super awesome drummer in no time flat. For reasons.
And Verrol can sing, though Astor doesn't think so, and he basically joins the band with a clapper... so he... has a tambourine, essentially. But apparently that's good enough, because he needs to be there for the plot!
So they proceed to put this band together, and they play a few gigs, and it doesn't go great at first but, that's ok, because they become a rousing success and super popular in roughly 2 weeks!
But then they get kidnapped by the Swales! Oh no! Astor and Verrol's pasts are coming back to get them!
Except not really, because the Swales just want them to play their music for the posh people! Yay!
And of course, even though they hate them at first - because Reeth, their new manager guy who they picked up at some point - told them to play it safe for the poshies, but then Astor is like, let's play for us! And they do! And their new brand of music is instantly embraced by everyone!
Yay!
But no!
Because then the Swales want to use their music to help them lead a revolt against the government. The Swales and the other Plutocrats and the former soldiers want to start a war. Not because anyone has done anything wrong, but because business is good when theirs a war! So they want to just start a random war with literally anybody, doesn't matter who or under what pretense!
So the band is split. Verrol and a few others are like, no, this is bad! We can't use our slum music to help the Plutocrats!
But others are like, hey, we don't care about politics or starting wars or anything, we just want to be famous!
So this amazing band that Granny has a Vision about putting together literally has one big show and then they split up...
And half go with Reeth and the Plutocrats, and they're leading the militia men to have a protest against the government!
But Vellor and Astor go with the slum kids to fight against them!
And, literally, when the Rowdies (that's the band name) starts overplaying the other band and eventually steals their instruments, the militia men start losing focus on the fight, because apparently these seasoned soldiers and veterans can only continue to fight for their war and their jobs if they have some people playing music at them! Because that makes sense!
Anyway - so the Rowdies win, the Plutocrats are driven back and some, including the Swales, flee to foreign countries... but that's not really a satisfying conclusion, and I wanted to see some blood or something, because they were awful.
And then the Rowdies get medals from the government for helping, except the government won't actually make any promises to help the slums, because rioting is bad, mm'kay. Even if it literally saved the governments collective ass. But, you know, let's not fight...
(You might be thinking why the slum kids were on the government's side, and that would be because it wouldn't be the soldiers who go back to the war they want, it would be the slum kids and "undesirable" elements in society, to be cannon fodder. (Yes, the Plutocrats literally say the quiet part out loud, because there's nothing subtle in this book.))
Also, there's a romance between Verrol and Astor, if you can really call it that. He's sort of smitten with her from the start, for reasons I can't tell, and Astor has one of those Cher in Clueless, "I love Verrol!" revelations towards the end... but the spend almost the whole book arguing and not talking to each other, and not in that "banter that lets the audience know you love them" kind of way, but in every time they have a disagreement they don't talk for days kind of way...
But then they get together at the end, so there's that.
Also, some stuff with Astor's parents being jackasses, but whatever.
Mave is cool. I know I didn't mention her much - or, well, at all before now - but she's like the moody goth/emo kid that gets pulled into this rock band. So she's fun.
One final note, about the "Steampunk"...
Like, where?
I mean, there's a zeppelin, that ever popular transportation of Steampunk. But, otherwise... there didn't really seem to be a whole lot of actual anachronistic tech which is the hallmark of good Steampunk. The world, itself, didn't seem super fleshed out - but, like, none of the rest of it was, either, so ya know, why would this be different?
Like, yes, there was technology. There was discussion about the factories and the pollution and the smog. But those are things that actually happened during the Industrial Revolution, so... ?
Also, the blurb says Victorian, but King George is at the helm, so... not Victorian, guys. 'Cause the funny thing about the Victorian Era is it was when Queen <i>Victoria</i> was, well, queen... *eyeroll*
***
For a non-spoilery, super short summary, here's a better review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3515479479
ay_vee's review against another edition
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
melbsreads's review against another edition
3.0
This was probably more like 2.5 stars for me. I loved the first section - I mean, how can you not love a steampunk-y YA story in which the female protagonist thinks she's en route to get engaged to one of the most eligible bachelors in the land only to discover that her stepfather has actually contracted her to be governess to his niece and nephews?! - but then so much of the middle of the book was caught up in forming a band and musical stuff that I didn't really care about. I loved the world building and the background of the rebellion/coup/whatever. But the band side of things, despite ultimately being incredibly significant, frequently dragged the pace of the story down and almost pulled me out of the world that Harland had created.
The romantic subplot was apparent from the get-go, but petered out midway through the story only to be brought back in a rush towards the end. Despite being brought back, it felt a little underdeveloped, and incomplete.
It almost ended up feeling like two completely different books - one about music and one about a girl who finds herself in the middle of a political upheaval - that had been crammed together into one. I wanted to like it a lot, but it ended up falling short.
The romantic subplot was apparent from the get-go, but petered out midway through the story only to be brought back in a rush towards the end. Despite being brought back, it felt a little underdeveloped, and incomplete.
It almost ended up feeling like two completely different books - one about music and one about a girl who finds herself in the middle of a political upheaval - that had been crammed together into one. I wanted to like it a lot, but it ended up falling short.
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