By Susan Dennard
Published July 24th by HarperTeen
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Synopsis borrowed from Goodreads:
The year is 1876, and there’s something strange and deadly loose in Philadelphia…
Eleanor Fitt has a lot to worry about. Her brother has gone missing, her family has fallen on hard times, and her mother is determined to marry her off to any rich young man who walks by. But this is nothing compared to what she’s just read in the newspaper—
The Dead are rising in Philadelphia.
And then, in a frightening attack, a zombie delivers a letter to Eleanor…from her brother.
Whoever is controlling the Dead army has taken her brother as well. If Eleanor is going to find him, she’ll have to venture into the lab of the notorious Spirit-Hunters, who protect the city from supernatural forces. But as Eleanor spends more time with the Spirit-Hunters, including their maddeningly stubborn yet handsome inventor, Daniel, the situation becomes dire. And now, not only is her reputation on the line, but her very life may hang in the balance.
Darkfallen's thoughts:
I would say that this is more of a 3.5 stars so I rounded up to 4.
El is trying hard to keep her family name in good standing and their financial ruin under wraps since her father passed away and her brother still hasn't come home form New York. It isn't an easy task to handle, especially when you have a mother that spends money the way she does, and a brother that seems to have gone missing. Never mind the fact that the dead have started to rise in Philadelphia, and always seem to show up at the most inopportune time. Will El be able to save her brother before the dead take over, and her mother spends every last cent they have?
I loved El and her snarky attitude right from the beginning. I loved that she wasn't the "prim and proper" lady that she was expected to be. That in fact she was more practical and less frivolous, unlike her mother. I also liked Daniel and all his ungentlemanly ways. Still I was expecting this to be a steampunk book about zombies. A YA novel to rival Gail Carriger's Parisol Protectorant series, and sadly it wasn't quite there. It just didn't really live up to the expectations I had set for it. I think the main reason is that I saw the ending coming a mile away. Almost from the very beginning I had already figured out who the villain was.
Still this was a very fast paced read. Full of action that keeps you flipping the pages until the very end. If the zombies would have played a bigger part I think it would have been better.
Overall...would I read the sequel? YES! Now that I'm not expecting the zombies to be the big bad wolf or the story I will definitely give the second one a go!
El is trying hard to keep her family name in good standing and their financial ruin under wraps since her father passed away and her brother still hasn't come home form New York. It isn't an easy task to handle, especially when you have a mother that spends money the way she does, and a brother that seems to have gone missing. Never mind the fact that the dead have started to rise in Philadelphia, and always seem to show up at the most inopportune time. Will El be able to save her brother before the dead take over, and her mother spends every last cent they have?
I loved El and her snarky attitude right from the beginning. I loved that she wasn't the "prim and proper" lady that she was expected to be. That in fact she was more practical and less frivolous, unlike her mother. I also liked Daniel and all his ungentlemanly ways. Still I was expecting this to be a steampunk book about zombies. A YA novel to rival Gail Carriger's Parisol Protectorant series, and sadly it wasn't quite there. It just didn't really live up to the expectations I had set for it. I think the main reason is that I saw the ending coming a mile away. Almost from the very beginning I had already figured out who the villain was.
Still this was a very fast paced read. Full of action that keeps you flipping the pages until the very end. If the zombies would have played a bigger part I think it would have been better.
Overall...would I read the sequel? YES! Now that I'm not expecting the zombies to be the big bad wolf or the story I will definitely give the second one a go!
Lymi...
Great review. I'm about 60 pages in and I'm pretty sure I know who the villain is too, and that is sad considering the fact that there IS a villain hasn't actually been established... That said, I'm really enjoying the writing and the story as a whole (so far).
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