The Upstream Writer: Reader's Review: "The Girl and the Clockwork Cat" by Nikki McCormack

Synopsis from Amazon:

Feisty teenage thief Maeko and her maybe-more-than-friend Chaff have scraped out an existence in Victorian London's gritty streets, but after a near-disastrous heist leads her to a mysterious clockwork cat and two dead bodies, she's thrust into a murder mystery that may cost her everything she holds dear.

Her only allies are Chaff, the cat, and Ash, the son of the only murder suspect, who offers her enough money to finally get off the streets if she'll help him find the real killer.

What starts as a simple search ultimately reveals a conspiracy stretching across the entire city. And as Maeko and Chaff discover feelings for each other neither was prepared to admit, she's forced to choose whether she'll stay with him or finally escape the life of a street rat. But with danger closing in around them, the only way any of them will get out of this alive is if all of them work together.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

My Review:

This one might have been a book I expressed interest in ahead of time. Certainly at the time, I wasn't intending to pick it up. Usually when I get a book by a new author, it's usually after I've interacted with them or a review of their book online. In this case, I went to a local craft expo intending to pick up the three books in a series I really loved--and, lo and behold, it was a "buy-three-get-one-free" deal, and the seller (an author I heartily support, and who has supported me ever since he was so supportive of me when I was just starting out as a review blogger) heavily recommended it to me, so I figured, "Why not?" I added this fun steampunk adventure with a spunky heroine and a cat with a mechanical leg to take home with me, sight-unseen!

Having read it, all I can say is, it's a good thing I love steampunk so much, because that is this book's best feature! Most of the world-building was your standard Victorian-era fare, to the point that it wouldn't really look out of place in a British period film--but then McCormack adds touches like the quasi-police force known as the Literati to bring a touch of otherworldly whimsy to the story as a whole.

The mystery at the heart of it was deliciously twisty. Plenty of conspiracies and intrigue, the story took a while to build itself, but eventually we arrived at the scene--a mother and child murdered in a swanky penthouse, and a man--brilliant inventor, notorious scientist--gone missing. The only clue is a cat left behind, with a mechanical hind leg.

That cat, and its inventor were probably the two most interesting characters in the whole novel. Possibly in a pinch, I would recall a few instances in which the main character, a half-Japanese "street rat" named Maeko, made herself relatable and almost interesting. Frankly, I cared more about her dysfunctional relationship with her only surviving relative that she blamed for abandoning her to her current situation than the two "love interests" that were made into a whole thing in this story. Frankly, I didn't know one well enough to root for him, while the other seemed a lot more interesting, but somehow the author didn't think it was in Maeko's best interest to go with him... we'll see how the "romance that doesn't want to be a romance" plays out in future installments, sure.

For all of the downplaying I've been doing, The Girl and The Clockwork Cat is some decent storytelling. I give it a *****4.5 STAR***** rating, and yes, as I mentioned, I would be interested in seeing how the series develops from there! Certainly the aesthetic and the world-building makes Clockwork Enterprises a series to watch! If you're looking for a light, fun, steampunk adventure, start here!

Further Reading: (Steampunk/Conspiracies/Teenage Heroines)