Steampunk fun

Lumiere

By Jacqueline E. Garlick

Series: The Illumination Paradox (Book 1)

Paperback: 400 pages

Publisher: Skyscape (September 15, 2015)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1503944557

ISBN-13: 978-1503944558

Approximate Lexile: 830

 

Publisher’s Blurb:

Even in a land of eternal twilight, secrets can’t stay in the dark forever.

Seventeen-year-old Eyelet Elsworth has only one hope left: finding her late father’s most prized invention, the Illuminator. It’s been missing since the day of the mysterious flash—a day that saw the sun wiped out forever over England.

But living in darkness is nothing new to Eyelet. She’s hidden her secret affliction all of her life—a life that would be in danger if superstitious townspeople ever guessed the truth. And after her mother is accused and executed for a crime that she didn’t commit, the now-orphaned Eyelet has no choice but to track down the machine that was created with the sole purpose of being her cure.

Alone and on the run, she finally discovers the Illuminator—only to see a young man hauling it off. Determined to follow the thief and recover the machine, she ventures into the deepest, darkest, most dangerous part of her twisted world.

 

My Thoughts:

In many ways, Eyelet bugs the heck out of me. She’s that typical YA “heroine” who doesn’t have much sense half the time. She is headstrong and doesn’t listen to reason. Yes, she has good reason to hide her infirmity, but you’d think she would be able to trust someone who is equally afraid of the authorities. Her desire to find her father’s machine and cure herself leads her to keep running into danger, rather than away from it.

The attraction between Ulrick and Eyelet reads like the typical “we hate each other, so of course we’re inexplicably attracted to each other” romance scenario.

That out of the way, however, I like the universe. Imagine a blighted world where the sun is out there somewhere, but cloud cover keeps it constantly from view. Oh wait, I don’t have to imagine. I lived in Portland for 12 years. Seriously though, some people have questioned how the world can continue to function—food can’t grow without sunlight. Let’s just suspend our disbelief and say the UV rays are making their way through.

This story has the undead for all the zombie lovers. What I love, though, is the steampunk inventions. This is steampunk the way I like it, with a winged, semi-sentient motorcycle and much more. Supporting characters are interesting and varied in their motivations. And yay, no teen-age dystopian YA love triangle! The underlying plot regarding the fathers of both Ulrick and Eyelet is interesting, and I will definitely search out the remainder of the series.

Bonus: The idea that science can’t explain everything, and that sometimes, you just have to believe that magic exists!

 

Possible Objectionable Material:

            Teenagers feeling attraction for each other, acting on it somewhat. Perilous situations. Violence. Sneakiness. Some cursing.

 

Who might like this book:

            Lovers of fantasy and/or steampunk. Those who like YA, dystopia, gadgets, zombies. It skews a little girly in my mind, but not overwhelmingly so.

 

I received a free e-book from NetGalley in return for this unbiased review.