Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassotti
My first Steampunk novel was Boneshaker by Cherie Priest. I fell in love with the genre right then and there. Then I read Scott Westerfield’s Leviathan and knew that it wasn’t a fluke. I was officially smitten.
I put Clockwork Heart on my to be read list because first, I loved the cover and second, steampunk, um.. yes! I wasn’t disappointed, and in fact was pleasantly surprised.
This was a pleasant mix of romance, mystery and steampunk. There were gadgets galore (even one to predict the perfect marriage!), there were crazy inventors, a strange caste system and.. my favorite thing about this book – a contraption to strap on your back that gives you wings. How. cool.
So why didn’t I go all out and give the book five stars? Oddly enough – although I’m not much of a romance person, I just felt as if the book started dragging in the second half when the whole romance triangle thing wasn’t there any longer. The mystery/intrigue part wasn’t strong enough to keep my attention on its own and I really felt the book would have been better if it’d been about 1/4th of it’s length shorter.
But – it’s a fun read, an easy one to get into if you are brand new to reading steampunk and..mm, wings. Who wouldn’t love that?!
