Didn't finish; probably won't.

I'm not sure why, I just couldn't get into it. There are some really interesting ideas (a steampunkification disease for example), but it was hard to get a grasp on exactly what was going on.

But hey, the cover looked cool.

I don't rate books that I didn't finish. Why I didn't finish is because that the writing is unrelenting bleak.... The plot is interesting, and has so much possibility, but the writing, while adequate, is not fun. It is dark, bleak, and depressing. I really wish the writing was better, this world is fascinating and has a lot going for it.

The steampunk elements are incredibly steampunky, and pretty unnerving. The themes of man, machine, power, and man as machine are interesting. The plot is … pretty standard, unfortunately, and the characters don’t really bring it to life. Close, in parts, but not quite. There are some spots where the plot diverges from, “Oliver will get out of this and keep saving the day” and a fair number of those were cool, but lost points for being slightly confusing. Like, I had to stop and read the passages over to work out what had happened? But if all you want is literal human machines and clockwork animals and giant steam guns and robots, well, have I got a book for you.

6/10 ( )

This was one of those books that I couldn't stop reading and yet once I did, because the story had ended, I was ultimately unsatisfied.

The imagery and atmosphere were gorgeous. I picked this book up because I wanted to read something steampunk and this book not only did not disappoint, it went over and above in providing me what I was craving. I could so easily visualize this heavily-industrialized area of London, from its frightening Gods to its citizens who were ill with the clacks.

Where the book lost me was with its characters. I found myself fascinated with Missy, Bergen, Tommy, Oliver, and even Baron Hume, but in the end the only character I really felt I had a handle on was Jeremy Longshore, a clickrat of great achievements.

All in all I enjoyed it even though it seemed there was a bit too much crammed into one small book. ( )

Not gonna lie, I fell for the cover art. I'm usually not a cover-lurker, but I couldn't pass up an image of a flaming chest cavity. It just screams, you know you wanna. And I do very much.