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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
I received a free copy of the ebook from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I enjoyed this third book in the Cogheart Adventures series. I am eager to continue reading book 4. It continues the steam punk vibe. Lily, Robert, and Malkin continue to find plenty of mischief and adventure. This one felt pretty steadily paced, to me. I thought they quickly found their trouble, and it seemed to present them with different challenges at good intervals. I did not feel as much emotional growth here as the last one, but I did find the overall theme of hope of acceptance to shine through more. The characters continue to be endearing. I will definitely recommend this book to future middle grade seekers, and continue to look forward to more mischief with Lily, Robert, and Malkin.
I enjoyed this third book in the Cogheart Adventures series. I am eager to continue reading book 4. It continues the steam punk vibe. Lily, Robert, and Malkin continue to find plenty of mischief and adventure. This one felt pretty steadily paced, to me. I thought they quickly found their trouble, and it seemed to present them with different challenges at good intervals. I did not feel as much emotional growth here as the last one, but I did find the overall theme of hope of acceptance to shine through more. The characters continue to be endearing. I will definitely recommend this book to future middle grade seekers, and continue to look forward to more mischief with Lily, Robert, and Malkin.
dark
Third and darkest of the series, still good. Rumor has it that the 4th is way dark, but I can't find it anywhere, so will pirate if I get around to it. One thing I like is that you can stop the series at any book. They each resolve quite cleanly while still building on previous books. You aren't left hanging, but also don't feel like you're in a completely new story on the next one. Malkin is still an asshole - wonder if I just missed it in the first book? There were maybe some more frequent & clearly obvious bad decisions here - in previous books decisions might be risky, but they made sense.
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This being the third book in the series I have read this year, I was expecting to have got bored of this universe a little now, especially after not feeling engaged with Moonlocket that easily. However, I was pleasantly surprised that this third installment was really interesting and engaging, really progressed the story in a thrilling way and developed characters it introduced as well as the main characters we already knew. I may be biased as compiling Victorian era steampunk and Paris is going to be of interest to me regardless, but I really enjoyed this narrative! I think determining whether characters are diverse can be difficult because there is a diversity, the hybrid/human/mechanical discussions obviously and appropriately call other inequalities to mind, however, there is little explicit diversity in regard to race for example - even in the circus there is not discussion of the inevitable racial and ethnic inequalities that would have been highly evident in the implied era, regardless of the existence of hybrids. However, the illusion to gender equality and discussions of the place of women in maths, science and mechanics felt a very natural inclusion in this installment.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I read this book not knowing it was the final book in a series and everything was well explained. but if I had read the rest of the books in the series I would proably found it quite boring. Because apart from tying stuff in from other books the plot is very simple. But overall the book was well written and I felt was a nice break from reality and with characters in the end that you were routing for. It does have a lot of like power of friendship so if that isn't you're thing I wouldn't reccomend it.
4.5 stars
This is the third book in the Cogheart series & this was my favourite so far.
Lily is learning about other ‘hybrids’ like herself and how they can work together to show people that they aren’t ‘freaks’, they’re still people just like the circus audience.
There is mischief, adventure & lessons to be learned in this new instalment & I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next.
This is the third book in the Cogheart series & this was my favourite so far.
Lily is learning about other ‘hybrids’ like herself and how they can work together to show people that they aren’t ‘freaks’, they’re still people just like the circus audience.
There is mischief, adventure & lessons to be learned in this new instalment & I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next.
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
2.5/5 stars
This is the weakest book in this series so far, and it was a really weak book. At this point, I'm not sure I'll bother to read the rest of the series, if there are ever any more books in it.
The writing is still ok, but there's so much repetition and fluff, it felt like it could have been cut at least pages in repetition and such. Ok, that's an exaggeration, but it's what it feels like having read it.
I don't feel that the writing style had evolved all that much since book 1, and that is disappointing, for I felt the language was a little heavy back then, and that hasn't changed.
The story in this book is slow and rather uninteresting. Sure, there are some fun hints to what created steampunk to begin with, but not enough.
And there is a rather important message in this book, one I would like as many kids to read and learn as soon as possible, but that doesn't make up for the slow and boring story.
Then there's the characters.
While Lily thinks about how they've all grown and changed, I can't say that I agree. They're pretty much the same as they were in book one. A somewhat scared but still brave boy, and a spoiled girl. I don't much like them, and the only character I feel any interest n, is Malkin!
As said, this is a children's book, but I don't think that's an excuse to make as grave errors in regard to animal nature as the author did here. It is rather clear that Bunzl focused on doing things that would be exciting for the story, rather than thinking about the belivability - and yes, I know it's a book about a girl with a clockwork heart, but that doesn't make it ok to change something as natural as animal instinct in the way he did here. OK, it is a small thing to be annoyed over, but it really rubbed me the wrong way then it was introduced, and it continued to rub me the wrong way as things progressed. Sometimes, real life is much more scary than what you can come up with, and if that tiger had been allowed to finish the job, it would have been a much greater lesson to the kids.
But sure, let's protect their small, soft hearts from reality *sarcastic*
And this is where I apologize for that last part of the review. I don't know why it annoyed me so much, but it really did. Kids deserves the truth, and in a book with so much focus on telling the truth, having a ''lie'' like that felt really, really wrong for me.
This is the weakest book in this series so far, and it was a really weak book. At this point, I'm not sure I'll bother to read the rest of the series, if there are ever any more books in it.
The writing is still ok, but there's so much repetition and fluff, it felt like it could have been cut at least pages in repetition and such. Ok, that's an exaggeration, but it's what it feels like having read it.
I don't feel that the writing style had evolved all that much since book 1, and that is disappointing, for I felt the language was a little heavy back then, and that hasn't changed.
The story in this book is slow and rather uninteresting. Sure, there are some fun hints to what created steampunk to begin with, but not enough.
And there is a rather important message in this book, one I would like as many kids to read and learn as soon as possible, but that doesn't make up for the slow and boring story.
Then there's the characters.
While Lily thinks about how they've all grown and changed, I can't say that I agree. They're pretty much the same as they were in book one. A somewhat scared but still brave boy, and a spoiled girl. I don't much like them, and the only character I feel any interest n, is Malkin!
As said, this is a children's book, but I don't think that's an excuse to make as grave errors in regard to animal nature as the author did here. It is rather clear that Bunzl focused on doing things that would be exciting for the story, rather than thinking about the belivability - and yes, I know it's a book about a girl with a clockwork heart, but that doesn't make it ok to change something as natural as animal instinct in the way he did here. OK, it is a small thing to be annoyed over, but it really rubbed me the wrong way then it was introduced, and it continued to rub me the wrong way as things progressed. Sometimes, real life is much more scary than what you can come up with, and if that tiger had been allowed to finish the job, it would have been a much greater lesson to the kids.
But sure, let's protect their small, soft hearts from reality *sarcastic*
And this is where I apologize for that last part of the review. I don't know why it annoyed me so much, but it really did. Kids deserves the truth, and in a book with so much focus on telling the truth, having a ''lie'' like that felt really, really wrong for me.
1st Read- April 2019
- Original Rating- 3 Stars
2nd Read- May 2020 for Medieval-A-Thon (orange on the cover)
- Rating- 4 Stars
It's been so lovely re-reading this series. I knew that I could remember everything from the first 3 books in this series but I just desperately wanted to re-read them before jumping into the fourth book and now I finally can.
- Original Rating- 3 Stars
2nd Read- May 2020 for Medieval-A-Thon (orange on the cover)
- Rating- 4 Stars
It's been so lovely re-reading this series. I knew that I could remember everything from the first 3 books in this series but I just desperately wanted to re-read them before jumping into the fourth book and now I finally can.
Earc from netgalley
Out of all the cogheart adventure books, I enjoyed this one the best! It was action packed with more of an interesting setting than the first two, so I liked that part. For sure read this if you have read the first two in the series!
Out of all the cogheart adventure books, I enjoyed this one the best! It was action packed with more of an interesting setting than the first two, so I liked that part. For sure read this if you have read the first two in the series!
Another great adventure for Lily and Robert. Quite dark in some places but pleasantly unpredictable. I was racking my brain for what use they could possibly have for Lily in the circus.
I also really like the other hybrids introduced and the references to Ada Lovelace and Mary Shelly.
I also really like the other hybrids introduced and the references to Ada Lovelace and Mary Shelly.