From Goodreads:  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…

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This is my very first time reading a steampunk novel, and I must say, I really do like it.  I wasn’t sure what to think, and I even researched steampunk online and on twitter because I was having a hard time wrapping my head around the term, but after having read The Strange Case Of Finley Jayne, I finally understand!  And, I like it.  The use of steam power is present throughout the novel, as there are steam carriages, robotic horses, and even automatons with pincer-like limbs, yet the novel is set in 1897 London.  This alternate era and steam technology is what classifies the genre as steampunk, as it has dealings with excessively technological advances, yet set in the past—or so I gather from my research.

I liked this prequel novella.  It’s a completely new genre for me, and I liked the kick-butt heroine Finley a lot.  I was very interested in the plotline, though I do think that the story is a little too obvious.  I knew exactly what Lord Vincent was up to once Finley visited his house early on in the novel, yet the style of writing and the unfolding events still kept my interest.

The writing style was interesting.  I liked the amount of sarcasm that Finley possesses, though I did feel like some of the language was too modern, while at other times it was more archaic.  However, since this is an alternate world were technological advances exceed our own, regardless of the year, it didn’t bother me as it’s not technically a historical novella. 

While this novella does leave the reader with a few questions in terms of who Finley really is, and where her powers come from, I think that it stands alone very well, and I’m sure that The Girl in the Steel Corset will explain Finley in more depth.  This prequel is really just to whet the appetite, and I think it certainly did just that!  I am really looking forward to reading The Girl in the Steel Corset next, so stay tuned for my review of it tomorrow.  Three stars.

This is currently a free eBook download at Amazon and Barnes and Nobel, though I do not know how long that will last!  Pick up your copy today!