Amanda Forester

First off, this book was way too long. And for the length, it lacked depth. The characters were flat and the plot was predictable. But it did have potential, unfortunately that was mainly towards the end. The last quarter held some gems of potential. Frankly, I'd be more interested reading about the pirate who stole the English woman (Harriet's mother) away to sail to America and make their fortune. The daughter's story was honestly a bit boring. I did like the focus on finding your passion, but Harriet's passion was more superficial than anything else. There's lots of talk about science but very little actual science. It made it feel like it was more of a placeholder than an actual passion - something to write about for the masses who love heroines who are smart and odd.

I did like her attitude towards just smiling and being blunt - but it would've been better if she had followed that through with the people looking down on her and called them out on it. Plus she never even bothers to confront her grandfather. He's planning to marry her off without her input or consent. Without even asking or telling her that's what he's doing. And when she finds out she basically just nods, smiles and moves on. WTF? That was weird as. It was particularly inconsistent with her characterization as a strong outspoken female. She doesn't discuss it with the grandfather at all! Not even to say I know what you're up to. It was just odd. Duncan was reasonably likable - but he was fairly tame and relatively unmemorable. Except for his stupidity concerning their marriage. Once they've married he finds out she is actually rich and decides they should annul? WTF? That was just dumb. The romance between them was sweet I guess, but it didn't have me swooning.

I did like how they caught the thief with the glowy stuff Harriet makes. That was clever and an interesting angle but it was also a little too late in the story to redeem it. There's very little actual science in the book - more science descriptions and explanations would've made this work better - but as it is, it felt like the author was just trying to make sure all the buzz words were hit. The same thing happened when she is described as a "tracker" and she literally just follows the obvious trail the horses have made - like what it's hard or something? Plus for all Harriet's interest in chemistry and her forays into experimenting - one, it's never explained what the hell she's doing and two, it pretty much always explodes and starts a fire?! I'd understand if she was doing experimental work or something but it's never commented on and it makes the whole story fall flat.

Although the use of glowy stuff was ingenious to catch the thief - it was fairly obvious who it was. Neville was practically screaming he was the guilty party. The plot itself was a bit disjointed. There were so many different strands that it made it hard to keep a track. There were spies and saboteurs and matchmakers and fortune hunters and it was just too busy to do any of them justice. Like the horses. Seriously there's a fire and the horses are kept underground and a whole bunch of people work to bring them out into the open - and not one person says hey, why are you keeping horses underground? Where did they come from? Etc, etc. It was just weird. To be fair - I haven't read any other books in the series - maybe reading the first one clears up some of the second, but it did seem like a self-contained story, albeit a crammed one.

Overall 3 stars. There were some good parts and it was an enjoyable if not perfect read.… (meer)