Very unique steampunk world and it was refreshing that it easily stood on its own. ( )

****I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review ****

This should have been a no brainer/ Insta win for me BUT it was a laborious read and an even more torturous test of my endurance. I LOVE Steampunk!! I said it... I know many are sick of it or never really warmed up to the (now abundant) trend but I really do love it...I especially love it when it is written well...and here it was...MEH! This was a tropic coming of age tale whereby the youth try to find their place in a world ruled by a corrupt system that seeks to conform everyone to their specific, moldable, ideology. The twists were not so hard to suss out and the plot moved at a snails pace. For me it did not resonate BUT if your into conspiracy theories revolving around some evil societal overlords and their machinations then this might be your type of read. ( )

The premise of this story really appealed to me, but the book itself didn't quite gel. The world building is a lot of fun, but starts to fall apart when you pull on the various loose threads, and I never quite got to the point where I had significant sympathy for the main character. Not bad, but a bit of a candy-floss read. ( )

In a peaceful valley there only seems to be one fear: That the Ironclads will appear and take loved ones away to work in Engn, a futuristic city where no one returns from.

Finn has made a pact with two friends. They will destroy Engn and stop the kidnapping for good. Of course it isn't easy as all that when Finn gets a firsthand look at what he's up against.

This was a decent read with a few flaws but still enough of a story to keep me interested. Engn's existence and/or purpose isn't really explained well so the whole theme of 'taking it down' is confusing and unfulfilling. ( )

I wanted to like Engn, and I sorta did. The premise was interesting enough and the characters were too. But there was just so much not explored or too superficially explained. And there were just way too many easy coincidences to allow me to believe in the events of the story.
It was very readable, just not quite complete.