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A review by briggamooz
The Brass Queen by Elizabeth Chatsworth
5.0
Move over Evie and Rick, there's a new sassy British/American pairing to sit upon the Shelf of Goals.
I literally cannot get over how much I adore Connie and J. F. and need more of them in my life.
Brass Queen itself is a whip-crack of a novel, setting a rapid pace form the first chapter which never lets up. Taking place in a fully realized streampunk Sheffield, Chatsworth wields her pen with finesse as she takes the reader through the misadventures and steps of a Plan with a capital "P" to set all wrongs right, and achieve a few more wins along the way. 'Plucky Heroine' does not quite describe Constance Haltwhistle to her full extent. Sassy, competent, headstrong, and hilariously stubborn, she inhabits a world that simply needs to keep up with her and refuses to make concessions to those who won't do as she says. She usually knows best, after all. And when she doesn't, J.F. is there with cautious bravado and the aid of vast experience to clean up the mess. Our two leads inhabit such a level playing field it is hard to determine who finishes the novel with the upper hand.
Which is just how it should be: Connie's faults illuminate J.F.'s strengths and vice versa; and when the two finally decide to stick together and form a Plan with a capital "P" as a team, they are unstoppable.
I laughed out loud far more than is appropriate for reading in bed late into the night, and couldn't wait to pick the novel back up in my waking hours. THIS is the book we need as 2020 comes to an end: a fun, fancy, joyous adventure reminiscent of The Mummy (1999).
I literally cannot get over how much I adore Connie and J. F. and need more of them in my life.
Brass Queen itself is a whip-crack of a novel, setting a rapid pace form the first chapter which never lets up. Taking place in a fully realized streampunk Sheffield, Chatsworth wields her pen with finesse as she takes the reader through the misadventures and steps of a Plan with a capital "P" to set all wrongs right, and achieve a few more wins along the way. 'Plucky Heroine' does not quite describe Constance Haltwhistle to her full extent. Sassy, competent, headstrong, and hilariously stubborn, she inhabits a world that simply needs to keep up with her and refuses to make concessions to those who won't do as she says. She usually knows best, after all. And when she doesn't, J.F. is there with cautious bravado and the aid of vast experience to clean up the mess. Our two leads inhabit such a level playing field it is hard to determine who finishes the novel with the upper hand.
Which is just how it should be: Connie's faults illuminate J.F.'s strengths and vice versa; and when the two finally decide to stick together and form a Plan with a capital "P" as a team, they are unstoppable.
I laughed out loud far more than is appropriate for reading in bed late into the night, and couldn't wait to pick the novel back up in my waking hours. THIS is the book we need as 2020 comes to an end: a fun, fancy, joyous adventure reminiscent of The Mummy (1999).