Lady of Devices by Shelley Adina

About the Book
London, 1889. Victoria is Queen. Charles Darwin’s son is Prime Minister. And steam is the power that runs the world. At 17, Claire Trevelyan, daughter of Viscount St. Ives, was expected to do nothing more than pour an elegant cup of tea, sew a fine seam, and catch a rich husband. Unfortunately, Claire’s talents lie not in the ballroom, but in the chemistry lab, where things have a regrettable habit of blowing up. When her father gambles the estate on the combustion engine and loses, Claire finds herself down and out on the mean streets of London. But being a young woman of resources and intellect, she turns fortune on its head. It’s not long before a new leader rises in the underworld, known only as the Lady of Devices . . . When she meets Andrew Malvern, a member of the Royal Society of Engineers, she realizes her talents may encompass more than the invention of explosive devices. They may help her realize her dreams and his . . . if they can both stay alive long enough to see that sometimes the closest friendships can trigger the greatest betrayals . . .

My Thoughts
This was my very first introduction into the world of steampunk fiction, and I have to say I rather enjoyed it! As I started reading my mind immediately kept going to the TV show Warehouse 13's flashbacks to Warehouse 12, which was probably my actual first taste of anything steampunk. I kinda like the whole idea behind steampunk and I'm pretty sure I'll be reading more of this genre!
But anyway, enough talk about the book's genre and onto the book.! Like I said I did really enjoy this book. I'll admit it was a little slow for the first half and didn't really speed up too much at the end either, but there was a lot of background that needed covered so it was really necessary. But while it was slow it wasn't really boring and it's a short enough book that slowness doesn't matter too much.
The main character, Claire Trevelyan, was pretty cool. It's not often that socialites aren't stuck on themselves and spoiled in the lap of luxury, but Claire defied the stereotype. She was smart, clever, considerate, caring, and wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty. And speaking of dirty, I loved all of the orphan kids that she joins with and starts helping. They each have such a unique story and they are pretty funny and cute to boot! I'm interested to see where the story will go in book 2 and I have already been told that it was even better than the first!

About the Author
Award-winning author Shelley Adina wrote her first teen novel when she was 13. It was rejected by the literary publisher to whom she sent it, but he did say she knew how to tell a story. That was enough to keep her going through the rest of her adolescence, a career, a move to another country, a B.A. in Literature, an M.F.A. in Writing Popular Fiction, and countless manuscript pages. Between books, Shelley loves traveling, playing the piano and Celtic harp, making period costumes, and spoiling her flock of rescued chickens.