2014, ARC, Books, Ebook

Review:: The Girl and the Clockwork Cat by Nikki McCormack

Note, I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review from Entagled Publishing.

An orphan child runs around town, dodging the law while trying to secure its next meal, branded a street rat. Sure, it may sound like a take on Disney’s Aladdin, but The Girl and the Clockwork Cat by Nikki McCormack places this strong girl in the midst of a murder mystery in a Steampunk world where trust is even more precious than the tin used as currency.

Maeko doesn’t consider herself a street rat, but society does. Maeko has been on her own for a long time, but she makes her way passing as a guy and collecting tin to pay off her dead mother’s debt. But all that she knows changes when Maeko finds a ticking cat with a mechanical arm in the alleyway–and the cat’s got an etched address within the mechanism that leads Maeko headfirst into the penthouse suite of a high-profile building, a suite with two dead bodies within.

The pacing and world-building aspects of this novel were essential to my enjoyment. I admit, that I am not normally a steampunk reader–while I love the concepts, I have a hard time getting into reading books set within the genre. The Girl and the Clockwork Cat provided me with an introduction to the novel, set within something I love–a classic mystery. This book also offers elements of comedy, thriller and drama.

Maeko is strong and she knows her strengths–I love seeing a confident teen heroine (whom is not without her vulnerable moments, of course). I loved the cat, Macak, as well. I wanted to know more about the cat, and found myself pulling one of our cats for a cuddle while reading this book (Newsflash: I survived).

The ensemble cast is also great. McCormack writes high society and low society without pretension or judgment–allowing the characters to speak for themselves in the manner in which they honestly would.

First off, as I have said, I am not a steampunk reader–at least I haven’t been before reading The Girl and the Clockwork Cat. I found this novel to be a fun and exciting introduction to the genre, and am looking forward to delving into the dirigibles and clockworks head first.

This book has 224 pages, and released today, September 2, 2014.
For more information, visit this book at the following places (I have reviewed it at all of the following places):

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1A1UyMl
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-girl-and-the-clockwork-cat-nikki-mccormack/1120134846
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18980000-the-girl-and-the-clockwork-cat?ac=1

You Might Also Like

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.