Review: The Strange Case of Finley Jayne by Kady Cross

Description:
Finley Jayne knows she's not 'normal'. Normal girls don't lose time, or have something inside them that makes them capable of remarkably violent things. Her behavior has already cost her one job, so when she's offered the lofty position of companion to Phoebe, a debutante recently engaged to Lord Vincent, she accepts, despite having no experience. Lord Vincent is a man of science with his automatons and inventions, but Finley is suspicious of his motives where Phoebe is concerned. She will do anything to protect her new friend, but what she discovers is even more monstrous than anything she could have imagined…
 
An ebook exclusive prequel to The Steampunk Chronicles.


Details:
ebook, 78 pages
Published May 1st 2011 by Harlequin Enterprises
ISBN 145920414X (ISBN13: 9781459204140)
primary language: English
series: Steampunk Chronicles 0.5
(Goodreads) 
 
Review:
“Steampunk” was a term that I had never heard before my wife, Rebecca (check out her blog here), introduced me to it.  Knowing what it is, I realized that Cassandra Clare’s works (I LOVED City of Bones) are in this same genre.  I was excited to find this as a free download (HOLLA!)  through Sony’s ebook store—partially because it would introduce me to Kady Cross and let me know if I would want to read The Girl in the Steel Corset or not, and partially because IT WAS FREE!!!
 
I must say that I felt like I was reading a novel by Jane Austen, if she wasn't dead and writing books in 2011.  Whether or not it was on purpose I cannot say, but Cross even used “Bennet” as Finley’s pseudonym.  I had to chuckle to myself about the shout-out to Ms. Austen.  Now, mind you, that I have never read anything by Austen, unless you count Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (which I didn’t even get half-way through before becoming overly bored and not finishing), so I am basing my comparison between Cross and Austen on the Pride and Prejudice movie with Keira Knightly, which my wife has made we watch numerous times with her (and is like her favorite movie of all time).
 
Cross entertained me—there was humor, there was intrigue, there was silly little teenage girl drama.  The “thing” that lives inside Finley Jayne, the darkness, or whatever, became a bit of a redundant theme, and somewhat of a drag, but I like that Cross made Finley get over herself and do what she needed to do, to let her manic side take over and accomplish great things.  The fast friendship between Finley and Phoebe was great, and even more so was the relationship between Lady Morton and Finley.
 
This was a short very rapid introduction, but definitely worth the read.  I look forward to continuing the series, and hope that we see more of Lady Morton and Phoebe.
 
5 Stars: Finley is awesome!
 
Many Adventures,
Richard