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A review by inkandpages
Agatha H. and the Airship City by Phil Foglio, Kaja Foglio
2.0
I think I realised pretty early on while reading this book that I wasn’t really going to like it, but its pretty short length, as well as the fact I’d bought it for under £2, kept encouraging me to just plough through and get it over with. I think I would class it as steampunk – it’s set in an alternate eighteenth century Europe, with mad genius scientists, hybrid soldiers, and the huge airship city from the title. Agatha, the main character, I actually really didn’t like; she was very inconsistent. At times she was portrayed as very prudish, but the next page she was being sexualised for the reader, and she was stubborn, but not in a compelling, interesting way, just a pig-headed and stupid way. She irritated me right from the start, and I much preferred the parts of the book that were about the other characters. The book itself didn’t really surprise me at all, I guessed pretty much every twist ages before it happened, and for all its trying to be quirky and exciting, it felt a bit too formulaic. The blurb made it sound really interesting and exciting, so the actual story was a huge disappointment.
Originally this book got three stars from me (which was already a little generous), but then I realised something – something so ridiculously annoying that I am actually getting more irritated just thinking about it – which severely affected my opinion of the book and made me lob off that original third star from the rating. The main character, Agatha, is called “Agatha Clay” on the blurb, and most of the book itself, and what I didn’t realise until after I’d finished that the very title of the book is a spoiler; “Agatha H and the Airship City”. I mean, I saw that particular twist coming a mile off, but why on earth would the author and publisher even try to call it a twist when it’s literally spoiled in the title. I thought it was so patronising and ridiculous and I’m really glad I didn’t cave and buy the other two books at the same time because trust me, I have no plans to ever continue with this series.
Rating: ⭐⭐
Originally this book got three stars from me (which was already a little generous), but then I realised something – something so ridiculously annoying that I am actually getting more irritated just thinking about it – which severely affected my opinion of the book and made me lob off that original third star from the rating. The main character, Agatha, is called “Agatha Clay” on the blurb, and most of the book itself, and what I didn’t realise until after I’d finished that the very title of the book is a spoiler; “Agatha H and the Airship City”. I mean, I saw that particular twist coming a mile off, but why on earth would the author and publisher even try to call it a twist when it’s literally spoiled in the title. I thought it was so patronising and ridiculous and I’m really glad I didn’t cave and buy the other two books at the same time because trust me, I have no plans to ever continue with this series.
Rating: ⭐⭐