I had been eagerly awaiting this sequel since I closed the first book and it did not disappoint. It was muchier! We get more of our beloved characters, Constance gets some interesting depth and interdimensional perspective. Trusdale gets torn in two by his opposing duty/love predicament. Palaces fly, suffragettes obtain batons, and Popes aren't what they seem.
The costumes and gorgeous descriptions are worth the read alone.
“I loved The Brass Queen.” ―Genevieve Cogman, author of the Invisible Library series
“Lush, exciting, and endlessly inventive . . .” ―Cherie Priest, award-winning author of Boneshaker, on The Brass Queen
The grass was always greener in another dimension.
In a fantastical steam-powered world, eccentric aristocrat and secret arms dealer, Miss Constance Haltwhistle, has been blackmailed into stealing alien artifacts from the crown heads of Europe. Only the shady but annoyingly handsome US spy, “Liberty” Trusdale, can help her execute her perfect palace heists. As Constance creates chaos and mayhem across the Continent, monstrous creatures are plotting an interdimensional invasion…
A must read for anyone who considers themselves a logophile like me. For the word facts and etymology tid bits alone, it's fantastic and so well researched. The mark of an author who knows their craft is effortlessness, and the way information was presented and woven into the plot was effortless. Brutal in its story. Brutal in its message. Brutal, but so beautiful.
Gorgeous. The prose is stunning, and the story slowly wraps itself around you in such a gentle way that you don't realize you've become obsessed until it's much too late.
* 'The greatest psychological thriller of all time' ERIN KELLY * 'One of the most influential novels of the twentieth century' SARAH WATERS * 'It's the book every writer wishes they'd written' CLARE MACKINTOSH
'Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again . . .'
Working as a lady's companion, our heroine's outlook is bleak until, on a trip to the south of France, she meets a handsome widower whose proposal takes her by surprise. She accepts but, whisked from glamorous Monte Carlo to brooding Manderley, the new Mrs de Winter finds Max a changed man. And the memory…
When an unsettling event occurs in the Queendom of Frea, Jacs, an inventor's apprentice from the Lower Realm, participates in the Contest of Queens to prove that a Queendom is strongest when united.
In a Queendom divided, can one girl unite the realms?
Jacs, an inventor's apprentice from the Lower Realm, has only ever dreamed of what the land among the clouds holds. That is until she finds a letter from Connor, an Upperite boy who sends a wooden boat into the abyss, hoping to learn more about the land below. Little does Jacs know, Connor is actually Prince Cornelius of the Queendom of Frea. With wooden boats and hot air balloons, the two begin a secret correspondence that lasts years. But their friendship is divided by a heavily-guarded bridge and an inescapable prejudice.
The strength of their bond was thought to transcend distance and time, but when the royal family visits Jacs' town of Bridgeport, the illusion of peace between the Realms dissolves, and the old feud is reignited.
Now, to save her people, Jacs must infiltrate the Upper Realm and earn her place to compete in the Contest of Queens. She must learn how to survive against the contests' grueling tasks and within a political web she could not have imagined. In a story about friendship, love, bravery, and defying gravity, Jacs will strive to prove that a Queendom is strongest when united.
