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lekiare's review
2.0
This book deserves 2.5 stars. It's not the worst thing I've read, yet it wasn't the best either.
The protagonist, Emily Fenwick, is a police officer who is suddenly whisked into an alternate New York set in 1890. Except it's not really an alternate New York, nor are there any scenarios that could be labeled steampunk. It's more fantasy-based with a world that I found intriguing.
Emily wakes up in Steamside, a world connected to 1890's "normal" New York. Steamside's inhabitants are refugees like Emily who long to return to their times. Why are they here? It's not clearly explained, and that's not a good thing, which is a shame because Steamside is interesting.
Rather, the setting is used more as a backdrop to a juvenile, nonsensical romance between the two leads. POVs were difficult to distinguish, and the dialogue was all jumbled up. The romance was tedious and unbelievable. Have I mentioned juvenile?
It was a fun read, but Steamside Chronicles just wasn't the best.
The protagonist, Emily Fenwick, is a police officer who is suddenly whisked into an alternate New York set in 1890. Except it's not really an alternate New York, nor are there any scenarios that could be labeled steampunk. It's more fantasy-based with a world that I found intriguing.
Emily wakes up in Steamside, a world connected to 1890's "normal" New York. Steamside's inhabitants are refugees like Emily who long to return to their times. Why are they here? It's not clearly explained, and that's not a good thing, which is a shame because Steamside is interesting.
Rather, the setting is used more as a backdrop to a juvenile, nonsensical romance between the two leads. POVs were difficult to distinguish, and the dialogue was all jumbled up. The romance was tedious and unbelievable. Have I mentioned juvenile?
It was a fun read, but Steamside Chronicles just wasn't the best.
mcummings's review
3.0
This was a book that Amazon.com recommended to me, and since it seemed like it was going to be steampunk and time travel (and it was a little shorter than most) I was in.
There are however, some definite problems with the book. I was initially confused by the story. Emily Fenwick, who is a cop in 2010, finds herself pulled into 1890's New York. But there are two versions of the 1890's - Normal and Steamside. She meets up with a cast of characters there, led by Jack Pettigrew and his sister Annalise Pettigrew. While I often enjoy first person point of view, it kepts switching back and forth between Emily (Fen) and Jack (The Man) in a way that I had trouble tracking. And the names that they used to refer to each other also kept changing, which again caused me problems. And while I enjoy a good romance, the main characters relationship was very teen angsty, yet explicit, so I wouldn't quantify it as young adult.
But I really enjoyed the actual story. Are the characters time traveling, or are they in a limbo world or maybe even dead? Their ancestors become involved, as well as Howard Carter! So now we have added Egyptology to the steampunk and time travel - which I totally love. And I never felt like the characters were doing anything stupid - they were trying to figure out how to get back home - which helped me feel how it would be to live in their shoes.
There are however, some definite problems with the book. I was initially confused by the story. Emily Fenwick, who is a cop in 2010, finds herself pulled into 1890's New York. But there are two versions of the 1890's - Normal and Steamside. She meets up with a cast of characters there, led by Jack Pettigrew and his sister Annalise Pettigrew. While I often enjoy first person point of view, it kepts switching back and forth between Emily (Fen) and Jack (The Man) in a way that I had trouble tracking. And the names that they used to refer to each other also kept changing, which again caused me problems. And while I enjoy a good romance, the main characters relationship was very teen angsty, yet explicit, so I wouldn't quantify it as young adult.
But I really enjoyed the actual story. Are the characters time traveling, or are they in a limbo world or maybe even dead? Their ancestors become involved, as well as Howard Carter! So now we have added Egyptology to the steampunk and time travel - which I totally love. And I never felt like the characters were doing anything stupid - they were trying to figure out how to get back home - which helped me feel how it would be to live in their shoes.
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