Reviews - The Wonder Engine

You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.

1.89k reviews for:

The Wonder Engine

T. Kingfisher

4.15 AVERAGE

_jamie's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous funny fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

the last few chapters were frustrating with the "mind reading" expectation from Slate... Understand that she is dealing with grief but I found it annoying on Caliban's behalf

lyriclorelei's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

If I hadn't already decided to read all of Kingfisher's backlog before this, this series cemented that decision.

sophieconstable's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous funny fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This was an excellent sequel to Clockwork Boys, which I read earlier this year and really enjoyed. It wraps up this story satisfactorily while still leaving space for more stories to take place in this world. The character arcs introduced in book one are also resolved in this one, and I loved getting to see the characters I enjoyed so much in the first book again. The world building is excellent, and I particularly loved learning more about gnole culture. A great sequel, and I am eagerly anticipating my next T Kingfisher read!

seabirds's review against another edition

3.0

the overall tone of this book was much graver & grimer than the first one which i should've maybe expected considering the entire plot but then again it still managed to be light-hearted in spite of it all with clockwork boys? so i was a bit taken aback by the amount of sheer anguish & hopelessness & body horror in this one. it was still witty & funny in places though & i remained engaged enough to want to get to the bottom of the mystery!

+ i can't believe brenner died LOL i was in denial for a good while & flabbergasted for even longer because what do you mean brenner is dead. brenner can't be dead? brenner literally can't be dead he's BRENNER? also i thought i had been spoiled & was therefore convinced edmund was the one who was possessed the whole time LOL which didn't make a lot of sense to me but i was willing to roll with it. speaking about edmund: EDMUND 💘💘💘 MY DARLING 💘💘 i think out of everyone he ultimately became my most favourite because i absolutely love his character development. he's still him but the way he gradually warmed up to slate & how he was willing to question his world's views & challenged them... my darling so much!!!!!! i was so sad to see him go but hopefully i'll get to see more of him in the next books set in this universe!

+ the mystery surrounding the clocktaurs was GRUESOME to say the least. what the hell... i didn't see the twists coming about amadai & how the clocktaurs were made so i was properly & genuinely surprised (not to mention DISGUSTED) every time. also i really enjoyed the gnoles, they were very interesting characters!! love you grimehug!

+ the romance between slate & caliban felt lacking because most of the time (like. 95% of it—which is an awful lot if you ask me) it seemed like she truly couldn't stand him. his values, who he was fundamentally as a person, the way he deals with situations etc. it was more lust than love to me & the same goes for caliban: at times i suspect that he only wanted to feel useful to someone, something, anyone, anything & that's why he was so hellbent on playing the knight in shining armour rescuing & protecting his (not so helpless here) princess. i would have been fine if the book ended with them staying apart tbh, especially after that whole fiasco with killing brenner LOL

amariamari's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging funny medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

a gnole called Sweet Lily foda demais cara

kgc8's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark emotional funny medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I highly recommend reading this book shortly after finishing the first in the series, as it's really one big story and you will find all the answers here. Now that the crew has arrived in Anuket City, things really pick up as they acclimate to a city with different rules about magic, try to outrun Slate's secret past, stay hidden while searching for answers to the Clockwork Boys, and deal with lots of unresolved sexual tension/love triangle! The gnoles are also a delight. I couldn't help but giggle when Grimehug dispensed his wisdom ("stop twisting your whiskers") and I loved that Learned Edmund does a deep dive on gnole language.

While I guessed a few things correctly, I absolutely did not foresee the secret behind the Clockwork Boys, which was pretty creepy and gruesome (classic T. Kingfisher) and the ending wrecked me a bit.

Everyone knows in a love triangle, one person is going to "lose" but I did NOT guess this was going to be how this particular triangle ended... Credit though to the author for having the two handle the fallout realistically, instead of everything being sunshine and daisies immediately once they can be together.

Overall a very good and believable resolution, and I can't wait to check out Swordheart next.

Content Warnings