“A secret isn’t worth anything unless we keep it from the wrong people and tell it to the right people” (pg 131)

I immediately liked the watercolor, coffee-stained illustrations. You can tell a lot of thought was put into the characters' designs and color schemes. The adventure is all here with moving levers and clockwork, baddies, and two wholesome kiddies trying to save the day. But, sometimes, the movement is difficult to follow, and I lacked a connection with the characters. I didn't feel any emotion at all. The random robot part was cool. Although the loose ends are tied, the ending felt abrupt to me.

2.5 ( )

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇Exceeded my expectations!⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

Highly recommended for older elementary school readers and middle grade readers, but this book can also be wonderful for adults as well. If you like intrigue, mysteries, adventure, fantasy, scifi, and/or steampunk, City of Secrets might be right up your alley! ( )

The character drawing is excellent. But the machinery and architecture that plays a big part of the story uses a very fluid muddy style, which makes it almost impossible to follow. The style for the machinery should have been very precise, like a blueprint.

The story itself is ok. ( )

Unoriginal plot but okay storytelling. Artwork was okay. ( )