kim3100's review
5.0
I received the ebook in exchange for an honest review.
I already read another book of this author and I was expecting a book in the same genre. This is not the case though. This story is a beautiful fantasy story. It is well written and complex. I even enjoyed this book more than her previous book. It is a must read!
I already read another book of this author and I was expecting a book in the same genre. This is not the case though. This story is a beautiful fantasy story. It is well written and complex. I even enjoyed this book more than her previous book. It is a must read!
hyperashley's review
4.0
I have read many of Jordan Elizabeth Mierek's (JEM) books and I have loved them all. She has a way of creating these amazing worlds usually full of magic and/or steampunk. This book is no exception to my love for her books or for my love for the worlds that she creates. It has magic in it so of course I was going to give it a shot. It did not disappoint at all.
From the moment it start it had my full attention. Honestly from the moment I saw this gorgeous cover I was hooked. The story follows 15 year old Edna as she tries to find her little brother. After she finds that he has been kidnapped by hags and replaced with a cogling.
I knew there would be a steampunk element in this and I love it. It wouldn't be a true JEM book unless it had a little steampunk thrown in there.
From the moment it start it had my full attention. Honestly from the moment I saw this gorgeous cover I was hooked. The story follows 15 year old Edna as she tries to find her little brother. After she finds that he has been kidnapped by hags and replaced with a cogling.
I knew there would be a steampunk element in this and I love it. It wouldn't be a true JEM book unless it had a little steampunk thrown in there.
emitchellwrites's review
5.0
**This review contains (non-blatant) spoilers**
Jordan Elizabeth Mierek sent me her latest book for an open and honest review.
I started the first half of this book almost a month before I finished it. It took everything I had not to stop everything I was doing to finish it, but I was in the middle of a move across the country and that took up a lot of my time and energy. But, finally, things calmed down and I was able to sit down and enjoy this imaginative story Jordan offered us.
As usual, I have good and bad to report - more good than bad. I won’t bullet point it, as it wasn’t that cut and dry. I find that is a testament to how much I enjoyed the book as a whole.
First, I should start by saying that I did not read a synopsis of this book before I began reading it. I had no idea what I was about to get into when I read the first line of this steampunk changeling young adult book, and honestly, I’m glad I didn’t. It’s not to say that I wouldn’t have enjoyed it either way, I would have, there’s just something to be said about discovery.
I hadn’t put together the creative word Cogling at all, so that was pleasant. Speaking of creative words, her cursing was clever, if not a little reminiscent of her other works. I think of that as a positive and negative. It’s clear that the writing is hers, unique and consistent, but I would prefer a smidgen of variety in that aspect. That being said, her ability to swear often without offending anyone is brilliant.
Jordan evokes responses with her descriptions, not just in my ability to visualize the wool coat or ticking pocket watch, but I can smell the lavender and unwashed vagrants, feel the liquid drip down a dress I’m not wearing. Words are hard, haha. They don’t always come easily, or how you want them to, but she hands them to me and lets me do what I will with them. I’m not spoonfed though, which I hate. It’s just enough.
The story is cute, unique in some parts, retelling in others. The retelling isn’t bothersome because it’s like an old fairy tale, it slips on like an old robe with new patches. There were some pacing issues at the beginning that evened out by 1/4 of the way through. It was as if things were speeding a little to get to the meat of the story. The only reason that really bothered me was it felt unrealistic. I’ve accepted that dragons hover over police officers shoulders and hags steal children’s dreams, but can one person talk to so many people in such a short time? I reference a chapter towards the beginning of the book. But, as I say, the pacing evens out. Towards the middle, Edna and Ike are on a journey that feels fantastical in a very fun way. The secrets that Ike and Edna both keep were added fun. With each page turn there were many more magical/ fantastical things that were so wonderful to read and kept my interest.
She let each character have a voice, and I don’t just mean perspective, though quite a few of them got that as well, if not for just a moment. Everyone from Harrison, the younger brother, to Hilda, the hag cousin, felt fleshed-out. I knew enough about them to care. I even grew to care about Edna’s mother whom we only meet for a moment, just through memories and stories Edna tells.
Ike’s character felt older when she met him while Edna acted younger than she was supposed to be. However, they began acting their ages as they grew comfortable with each other. They have a bit of romance going on towards the end. It comes and goes through the book, starting with an oddly forced kiss in a closet that could be out of self-preservation, or not. Honestly, it felt a bit odd at first, startling even, with Edna going from thinking him a friend or being irritated with him to wanted to snuggle into him or kiss him at inappropriate times, but it slid into place by the end.
As the story unfolded I became more and more lost in it. I couldn’t put it down. It started too fast, evened out, and then became such a page turner that I was the one moving too fast. I felt like I’d miss something if I didn’t take a breath, but I needed to know what was going to happen next. But really, isn’t that just Jordan’s way? The ending was just too sweet, but not sugary so. It felt like a nice bow on a really good present.
All in all, it’s another home run for Jordan Elizabeth Mierek.
Jordan Elizabeth Mierek sent me her latest book for an open and honest review.
I started the first half of this book almost a month before I finished it. It took everything I had not to stop everything I was doing to finish it, but I was in the middle of a move across the country and that took up a lot of my time and energy. But, finally, things calmed down and I was able to sit down and enjoy this imaginative story Jordan offered us.
As usual, I have good and bad to report - more good than bad. I won’t bullet point it, as it wasn’t that cut and dry. I find that is a testament to how much I enjoyed the book as a whole.
First, I should start by saying that I did not read a synopsis of this book before I began reading it. I had no idea what I was about to get into when I read the first line of this steampunk changeling young adult book, and honestly, I’m glad I didn’t. It’s not to say that I wouldn’t have enjoyed it either way, I would have, there’s just something to be said about discovery.
I hadn’t put together the creative word Cogling at all, so that was pleasant. Speaking of creative words, her cursing was clever, if not a little reminiscent of her other works. I think of that as a positive and negative. It’s clear that the writing is hers, unique and consistent, but I would prefer a smidgen of variety in that aspect. That being said, her ability to swear often without offending anyone is brilliant.
Jordan evokes responses with her descriptions, not just in my ability to visualize the wool coat or ticking pocket watch, but I can smell the lavender and unwashed vagrants, feel the liquid drip down a dress I’m not wearing. Words are hard, haha. They don’t always come easily, or how you want them to, but she hands them to me and lets me do what I will with them. I’m not spoonfed though, which I hate. It’s just enough.
The story is cute, unique in some parts, retelling in others. The retelling isn’t bothersome because it’s like an old fairy tale, it slips on like an old robe with new patches. There were some pacing issues at the beginning that evened out by 1/4 of the way through. It was as if things were speeding a little to get to the meat of the story. The only reason that really bothered me was it felt unrealistic. I’ve accepted that dragons hover over police officers shoulders and hags steal children’s dreams, but can one person talk to so many people in such a short time? I reference a chapter towards the beginning of the book. But, as I say, the pacing evens out. Towards the middle, Edna and Ike are on a journey that feels fantastical in a very fun way. The secrets that Ike and Edna both keep were added fun. With each page turn there were many more magical/ fantastical things that were so wonderful to read and kept my interest.
She let each character have a voice, and I don’t just mean perspective, though quite a few of them got that as well, if not for just a moment. Everyone from Harrison, the younger brother, to Hilda, the hag cousin, felt fleshed-out. I knew enough about them to care. I even grew to care about Edna’s mother whom we only meet for a moment, just through memories and stories Edna tells.
Ike’s character felt older when she met him while Edna acted younger than she was supposed to be. However, they began acting their ages as they grew comfortable with each other. They have a bit of romance going on towards the end. It comes and goes through the book, starting with an oddly forced kiss in a closet that could be out of self-preservation, or not. Honestly, it felt a bit odd at first, startling even, with Edna going from thinking him a friend or being irritated with him to wanted to snuggle into him or kiss him at inappropriate times, but it slid into place by the end.
As the story unfolded I became more and more lost in it. I couldn’t put it down. It started too fast, evened out, and then became such a page turner that I was the one moving too fast. I felt like I’d miss something if I didn’t take a breath, but I needed to know what was going to happen next. But really, isn’t that just Jordan’s way? The ending was just too sweet, but not sugary so. It felt like a nice bow on a really good present.
All in all, it’s another home run for Jordan Elizabeth Mierek.
aly36's review
5.0
Readers who love young adult fantasy and steampunk will enjoy this book. I was taken by this book in the first few pages. The world the author created was great. The characters came alive to me right off the pages. I was thrilled to find such a fun and exciting book to read. Twists and turns keep me coming back for more with this book. * I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review*
elkreil's review
3.0
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Cogling by Jordan Elizabeth is a book with a lot of potential. The plot is an interesting and refreshing take on the old fairy tales about changelings and the author does a decent job of keeping the story moving while laying down a lot of framework for the world her characters inhabit. If the writing fails anywhere, it’s that it feels like we are offered too much information at the beginning. The characters, for the most part, are well developed and each have their own unique voice, which the author uses to tell the story from multiple perspectives. The author also manages to avoid one of my pet peeves in YA fiction, she doesn’t completely forget about the adults in her world as soon as the trouble starts. The main character, Edna, only sets off on her own after unsuccessfully trying to get help from her neighbor, her mother and several police officers. The book did have several issues though, which kept me from giving it a higher rating.
To start off we have the protagonist, Edna, who is a naive, but very determined fifteen year old girl, and it just doesn't work. I think in an effort to attract an older audience, the author chose to portray Edna as a teenager, but her character really only works as a preteen or younger. Perhaps if she had been shown to have grown up in a very sheltered and coddled environment it could have been successfully pulled off, but she didn’t. An example of this is shortly after her brother, Harrison, explodes. Not able to convince her neighbor that she’s telling the truth and incapable of gaining access to her mother, she decides to go to the police, but this is her thought process:
"Once, when Lord Waxman had driven his motorcar to the ice cream parlor, a beggar had scratched the paint. An officer had found the culprit and had sent him to prison."
"The police would help her."
That is not the thought process of a fifteen year old, that’s the thought process of someone much younger. As for the multiple perspectives, I think the author went a little overboard. If the POVs had just been kept to those of Harrison and Edna that would have been enough. Instead we get thrust into Ike’s POV, which was totally unnecessary. Which brings me to another point, the romance between Ike and Edna, where did that come from? It was completely unnecessary and felt extremely forced in the narrative. Like I said before, this book has a great deal of potential and with a little more editing and the removal of the totally unnecessary romance angle, could be a 3 1/2 star book.
I gave this book three stars.
Spoiler
Cogling by Jordan Elizabeth is a book with a lot of potential. The plot is an interesting and refreshing take on the old fairy tales about changelings and the author does a decent job of keeping the story moving while laying down a lot of framework for the world her characters inhabit. If the writing fails anywhere, it’s that it feels like we are offered too much information at the beginning. The characters, for the most part, are well developed and each have their own unique voice, which the author uses to tell the story from multiple perspectives. The author also manages to avoid one of my pet peeves in YA fiction, she doesn’t completely forget about the adults in her world as soon as the trouble starts. The main character, Edna, only sets off on her own after unsuccessfully trying to get help from her neighbor, her mother and several police officers. The book did have several issues though, which kept me from giving it a higher rating.
To start off we have the protagonist, Edna, who is a naive, but very determined fifteen year old girl, and it just doesn't work. I think in an effort to attract an older audience, the author chose to portray Edna as a teenager, but her character really only works as a preteen or younger. Perhaps if she had been shown to have grown up in a very sheltered and coddled environment it could have been successfully pulled off, but she didn’t. An example of this is shortly after her brother, Harrison, explodes. Not able to convince her neighbor that she’s telling the truth and incapable of gaining access to her mother, she decides to go to the police, but this is her thought process:
"Once, when Lord Waxman had driven his motorcar to the ice cream parlor, a beggar had scratched the paint. An officer had found the culprit and had sent him to prison."
"The police would help her."
That is not the thought process of a fifteen year old, that’s the thought process of someone much younger. As for the multiple perspectives, I think the author went a little overboard. If the POVs had just been kept to those of Harrison and Edna that would have been enough. Instead we get thrust into Ike’s POV, which was totally unnecessary. Which brings me to another point, the romance between Ike and Edna, where did that come from? It was completely unnecessary and felt extremely forced in the narrative. Like I said before, this book has a great deal of potential and with a little more editing and the removal of the totally unnecessary romance angle, could be a 3 1/2 star book.
I gave this book three stars.
storieswithsoul's review
5.0
Wow! Let me just catch my breath before I write a review, because this book just took it away! Yes it's THAT good. ;)
Wait for it.....
I loved this amazing adventure of a girl to find and save her brother. When hags took Edna's brother, leaving a Cogling in his place, she went after them. She had to save him, she couldn't fail him. She promised herself she would bring him home. Ike helped her but he had reasons of his own to go after the hags. Hags must be stopped and Edna and Ike planned to do just that. But their journey was full of dangers and many experiences neither of them ever anticipated. Would they reach their destinations unscathed or even return back once they saved Harrison.
It's an awesome story which takes readers into a very well written fantasy you wouldn't want to leave. It's full of adventures, twists and turns which will keep you on your toes. Once I started reading I simply couldn't put it down.
Wait for it.....
I loved this amazing adventure of a girl to find and save her brother. When hags took Edna's brother, leaving a Cogling in his place, she went after them. She had to save him, she couldn't fail him. She promised herself she would bring him home. Ike helped her but he had reasons of his own to go after the hags. Hags must be stopped and Edna and Ike planned to do just that. But their journey was full of dangers and many experiences neither of them ever anticipated. Would they reach their destinations unscathed or even return back once they saved Harrison.
It's an awesome story which takes readers into a very well written fantasy you wouldn't want to leave. It's full of adventures, twists and turns which will keep you on your toes. Once I started reading I simply couldn't put it down.
taylorfennerwrites's review
4.0
An interesting steampunk novel!
I received a free copy of Cogling in exchange for an honest review.
After a hag takes fifteen-year-old Edna’s brother in the middle of the night and replaces him with a “cogling”, a sort-of clone version of the child made up of cogs and held together by a watch; Edna knows there’s something wrong with her brother the next morning. He is not acting like himself at all.
It isn’t until the butler of their employer spots a fancy watch around Harrison’s neck and Edna is forced to take Harrison home where she pulls the watch from his neck and he disintegrates into a pile of cogs that she learns the horrible truth.
But how could this happen? Nobody believes what Edna is trying to tell them, not her neighbor, nor the man at the theater where her mother works, and especially not the police. Then she encounters Ike, a thief out to rob her of the watch she holds… as the whole awful story spills out of her she finally finds not only someone to believe her, but someone who knows what is happening.
Ike tells Edna that children are being kidnapped by hags and are being forced to work in their factories. Coglings are left in these kidnapped children’s places. The police and the King seem either oblivious or unwilling to do anything. Ike agrees to take her to the hag’s factory in the swamps so Edna can save her brother… for a price.
As Edna and Ike set off on their journey they travel into the seedier side of the world. Will Edna be able to save Harrison? And is Ike someone she can really trust? Especially when Edna learns the huge secret that Ike is keeping about his true identity and his real motivation to help her?
I liked this book. Ike was my favorite character by far. The story was interesting overall and it’s not the type of book I usually read, so it was a nice change. If you’re a fan of steampunk you’ll gobble this book up!
I received a free copy of Cogling in exchange for an honest review.
After a hag takes fifteen-year-old Edna’s brother in the middle of the night and replaces him with a “cogling”, a sort-of clone version of the child made up of cogs and held together by a watch; Edna knows there’s something wrong with her brother the next morning. He is not acting like himself at all.
It isn’t until the butler of their employer spots a fancy watch around Harrison’s neck and Edna is forced to take Harrison home where she pulls the watch from his neck and he disintegrates into a pile of cogs that she learns the horrible truth.
But how could this happen? Nobody believes what Edna is trying to tell them, not her neighbor, nor the man at the theater where her mother works, and especially not the police. Then she encounters Ike, a thief out to rob her of the watch she holds… as the whole awful story spills out of her she finally finds not only someone to believe her, but someone who knows what is happening.
Ike tells Edna that children are being kidnapped by hags and are being forced to work in their factories. Coglings are left in these kidnapped children’s places. The police and the King seem either oblivious or unwilling to do anything. Ike agrees to take her to the hag’s factory in the swamps so Edna can save her brother… for a price.
As Edna and Ike set off on their journey they travel into the seedier side of the world. Will Edna be able to save Harrison? And is Ike someone she can really trust? Especially when Edna learns the huge secret that Ike is keeping about his true identity and his real motivation to help her?
I liked this book. Ike was my favorite character by far. The story was interesting overall and it’s not the type of book I usually read, so it was a nice change. If you’re a fan of steampunk you’ll gobble this book up!
urlphantomhive's review
3.0
Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com
While Edna is fifteen, she read like a younger person. I also thought the story was more middle grade than young adult. It was not just the writing, but also the story (as in everything was happening very easy and the problems were also solved with considerable ease). This set me back at first, because I was expecting YA.
While I liked certain parts of the story, the main drive felt forced. I never completely got the animosity between the Hags, Ogres and humans and what it all meant. There should have been more explaining about it. In the end, Ike's revelations were too much for me and I couldn't help but chuckle a bit.
I always try not to be too suspicious, and trust me - I do hope I'm wrong this time - but I find it at least a little bit strange but as I'm writing this review, the ratings for this book on GR are very high (maybe too high). I'm so far (out of 69 ratings on January 24th) the only one with a rating under 4 stars. While I may very well be the odd one out not enjoying this novel so much, it is my experiences that when there are over 10 rating for a book, never everyone is going to like it.
What was bothering me even more about it is that I was contacted a few weeks back by someone claiming to be from the author's 'street team' looking for reviewers for another of her books. I thought this was a bit odd, as usually I'm contacted via Curiosity Quills when they want reviewers, and since the sender also didn't take time to check my profile, which showed that I was already currently reading one of her books and had previously read another one (but as she made no reference to this, I'm quite sure she didn't bother to check), I just kind of ignored the mail.
Now I'm not sure what to think of it.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review during this blog tour!
While Edna is fifteen, she read like a younger person. I also thought the story was more middle grade than young adult. It was not just the writing, but also the story (as in everything was happening very easy and the problems were also solved with considerable ease). This set me back at first, because I was expecting YA.
While I liked certain parts of the story, the main drive felt forced. I never completely got the animosity between the Hags, Ogres and humans and what it all meant. There should have been more explaining about it. In the end, Ike's revelations were too much for me and I couldn't help but chuckle a bit.
I always try not to be too suspicious, and trust me - I do hope I'm wrong this time - but I find it at least a little bit strange but as I'm writing this review, the ratings for this book on GR are very high (maybe too high). I'm so far (out of 69 ratings on January 24th) the only one with a rating under 4 stars. While I may very well be the odd one out not enjoying this novel so much, it is my experiences that when there are over 10 rating for a book, never everyone is going to like it.
What was bothering me even more about it is that I was contacted a few weeks back by someone claiming to be from the author's 'street team' looking for reviewers for another of her books. I thought this was a bit odd, as usually I'm contacted via Curiosity Quills when they want reviewers, and since the sender also didn't take time to check my profile, which showed that I was already currently reading one of her books and had previously read another one (but as she made no reference to this, I'm quite sure she didn't bother to check), I just kind of ignored the mail.
Now I'm not sure what to think of it.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review during this blog tour!
booksavvyreviews's review
4.0
This book is a part of a Review Tour presented by Curiosity Quills.
Jordan Elizabeth has a way of depicting creepy scenes so wonderfully. She takes an idea, makes it her own and creates an entirely new world. This is a prime example, a tale full of hags [witches,] Nix, Ogres, and dragons! This isn't your typical Steampunk.
Edna Mathers discovers something horrifying, her little brother has been replaced by a Cogling and she must find him. Hags have him and what they use him as well as other children happens to be equally eerie. They're used in a factory to knit their dreams into powerful blessings and spells.
Along the way she finds an unlikely friend named Ike and a new journey begins as Ike promises to help her, but Ike has some secrets that he's keeping from her.
This story really is imaginative and I adore the wicked haunting quality to it, but there were some issues I had, too. Edna doesn't seem to be like a fifteen-year-old, rather she comes across as a twelve-year-old. I had this issue with Elizabeth's other story, Escape from Witchwood Hollow. She doesn't make it believable that she is older as Edna comes across as immature as a whole until the end where she seems to have aged a few years.
The other aspect of it that I found a little trying was that there was constantly a mention of the evil inside of Edna and even on page 215 you have yet to see what said evil is. You don't find out until oh the last 20ish pages. I felt like we could have done away with the repetitive mention of this, because while yes it does add a question as to what it is, it also adds frustration because you constantly are on the verge of learning only to have it snapped away.
The end seemed a bit rushed, but there are twists and turns that had me sitting back in my chair going "Huh?!"
All in all, this is a fairly adventurous read, fun and goes by relatively quickly.
Definitely recommended for those who enjoy a supernatural twist on Steampunk.
3.8 Stars!
Book Savvy
Jordan Elizabeth has a way of depicting creepy scenes so wonderfully. She takes an idea, makes it her own and creates an entirely new world. This is a prime example, a tale full of hags [witches,] Nix, Ogres, and dragons! This isn't your typical Steampunk.
Edna Mathers discovers something horrifying, her little brother has been replaced by a Cogling and she must find him. Hags have him and what they use him as well as other children happens to be equally eerie. They're used in a factory to knit their dreams into powerful blessings and spells.
Along the way she finds an unlikely friend named Ike and a new journey begins as Ike promises to help her, but Ike has some secrets that he's keeping from her.
This story really is imaginative and I adore the wicked haunting quality to it, but there were some issues I had, too. Edna doesn't seem to be like a fifteen-year-old, rather she comes across as a twelve-year-old. I had this issue with Elizabeth's other story, Escape from Witchwood Hollow. She doesn't make it believable that she is older as Edna comes across as immature as a whole until the end where she seems to have aged a few years.
The other aspect of it that I found a little trying was that there was constantly a mention of the evil inside of Edna and even on page 215 you have yet to see what said evil is. You don't find out until oh the last 20ish pages. I felt like we could have done away with the repetitive mention of this, because while yes it does add a question as to what it is, it also adds frustration because you constantly are on the verge of learning only to have it snapped away.
The end seemed a bit rushed, but there are twists and turns that had me sitting back in my chair going "Huh?!"
All in all, this is a fairly adventurous read, fun and goes by relatively quickly.
Definitely recommended for those who enjoy a supernatural twist on Steampunk.
3.8 Stars!
Book Savvy
leanner's review
5.0
Thank you to the author for the gift of this book. To be honest I wouldn't have bought the book, as Victorian or steampunk are just not to my taste...my bad, I would have missed a good tale. I've read this author before and I like her easy to read style so I was happy to try down the rabbit hole I went.
This was a YA fairy tale and a little dark, full of fantasy creatures in a weird and wonderful world. Humans against Hags and Trolls and other assorted strange creatures.
Edna a 15 year old girl is on the hunt for her kidnapped younger brother, along the way she too is taken. Her journey to escape and rescue him is quite the roller coaster ride, both fun and wrought with danger.
The story was steadily paced once I got into the story and worked out who was what and the characters interesting and entertaining. Well done Jordan, I loved it.
This was a YA fairy tale and a little dark, full of fantasy creatures in a weird and wonderful world. Humans against Hags and Trolls and other assorted strange creatures.
Edna a 15 year old girl is on the hunt for her kidnapped younger brother, along the way she too is taken. Her journey to escape and rescue him is quite the roller coaster ride, both fun and wrought with danger.
The story was steadily paced once I got into the story and worked out who was what and the characters interesting and entertaining. Well done Jordan, I loved it.