Peter Bunzl

When 13-year-old Lily's inventor father vanishes after a Zeppelin crash, Lily's determined to hunt down the truth behind his disappearance, helped by Robert, the local clockmaker's son, and her wily mechanical fox Malkin. But shadowy figures are closing in and treachery lurks among the smoky spires of London - along with a life-changing secret. Be swept away by airships and flabbergasted by dastardly plots in this extraordinary and wildly imaginative debut, bursting with invention and adventure.

Cogheart

Sian Wadey

I was recommended this by a boy in Year 4, called Austin. Cogheart is about Lily and the adventures she goes on to find her father who has gone missing after a nasty zeppelin collision. I love how the story is set in the familiarity of London, but in this alternative steam-punk reality where there are airships and mechanicals. The author describes this really well, you can smell the smoke and feel the grime as you're introduced to the bustling London streets. I also enjoyed the way the mechanicals were portrayed, Mrs Rust was my favourite. I would quite like to meet her.
This is a rip-roaring adventure, with great heart as well as poignant moments from all of the characters. I really enjoyed reading it and look forward to reading the next in the series.

Lily’s life is in mortal peril. Her father is missing and now silver-eyed men stalk her through the shadows. What could they want from her? With her friends – Robert, the clockmaker’s son, and Malkin, her mechanical fox – Lily is plunged into a murky and menacing world. Too soon Lily realises that those she holds dear may be the very ones to break her heart... Murder, mayhem and mystery meet in this gripping Victorian adventure.

Renee Delcourt

Very fun adventure that I definitely think is a perfect crowd pleaser. This has clockwork people, mystery, friendship, adventure, zeplins, a talking fox and a close found family. I think all these things make it a fun read aloud for families.

Story Eater

I’m not quite sure how to review this book. Two perspectives come to mind: how a middle grade audience might view the book and how I actually feel, personally, about the book.
 
I’ll start with the targeted audience review. For a reader who’s really into steampunk and does not care about the plot, this book will be awesome. It is full of coggy, steam-driven mech terminology that borders on a techocentric plot with hardly a story line to be read. Every page has a description of tech. I know, it is a steampunk novel; however, I have read at least one that was a story with steampunk tech in it and not the other way around.

Additionally, the villains in this novel are particularly evil. How they look, how they act, and what they do to some of the characters is pretty graphic. If you feel especially sinister villains who commit detailed violence and murder, using weapons such as fire and guns, is okay for your middle grader, this book should be okay.

As for my opinion, I felt the story dragged on waaayy to slowly. I feel much of this is from the over abundance of tech description (subjectively, I value one more than the other). Much of the plot takes place in about 5 locations. I also felt the introduction to one of the pivotal characters was a little thinly incorporated. It felt too convenient. I can’t write much more without “spoilering” stuff. 

Once I found out what the whole big deal was about and what the villains were after in the book, I knew immediately who, what, and where all the stuff was and what all the twisty end stuff would be. The end was not a surprise for me, which made the book even less enjoyable. To be fair, I have an uncanny ability to do that when reading books, which is why I don’t like thrillers very much and why no one likes to watch movies or TV with me. 

With all that written, I still cannot give this a low star rating because the words themselves that are configured to compose the book are done so in a way that does not impose an assumption of stupidity or ignorance on the reader. The descriptions are elegant (though in the beginning, I was a little scared the repetitive use of alliteration and assonance would plague the whole story-it does not). I like the female lead—she’s spunky but not smug, and neither she, nor the writer, treat any of the male characters with a measure of vengeful disdain that usually accompanies stories with similar circumstances.

Hannah

An exciting adventure that I did enjoy, I'd be interested in reading more and see what other adventures they get up to but it didn't make me immediately grab the next book. A nice heartwarming ending

Jessica Nottingham

So, this is a rough one for me to review. Anyone who has been following me for any length of time knows how much I love Middle Grade books. There's something beautiful about a tough topic dealt with in a way that is consumable by young readers. Even better, there's something lovely about watching a young person conquer an unimaginable adventure. I always have high hopes for all the MG books that I read, and this was no exception.

At first, I was enchanted with the idea of a steampunk story for young readers. The idea of Lily living in a place that was populated with dirigibles and mechanical people just stole my heart. However, I soon found that this book had a few flaws. While the story moves quickly, and the plot stays on track, there's not a lot of depth here. I found myself thinking about many other books that this story is similar to, that do things just a little bit better. It's a little cookie cutter, and that made it a rough read for me.

Now, do I think that young readers would like this book? Probably! The story has plenty of twists and turns and Lily's group is plucky to a fault. As I mentioned above, the plot moves quickly and the characters are rather fun. As an adult reader though, this book just didn't hold the magic that I really wanted it to. Lily was the basic version of every young heroine I've followed on an adventure, and all of the things that happened to her felt similar to other books I've read as well. This wasn't a bad book, just not a memorable one for me.

For young readers who enjoy high flying adventures with a touch of danger, this is a book they'll love. For adult readers, I'm not so sure.

Lisa Beasley

I enjoyed the world and the steampunk aspects of this book, but I have to admit it fell a little flat for me. I found it perhaps written a little too young for me as I saw all of the twists coming and nothing really surprised me. But yet at the same time some things happened that felt a little out of place, like major things would happen to these kids but they'd just be fine and carry on without really feeling the emotions or impact of those things. 

I liked the mechs but I don't think that will be enough to get me to continue with this series.

Cogheart

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