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jugglingpup's review
4.0
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I got an ARC of this book.
This is the second book I have read in this series, but the fourth book released. The books don’t seem to be related in any way as of yet, but that could be an interesting tie in later. What I really like about this series is the main female love interest is always a total badass. Strong women, women in charge, and women bucking gender roles are by far my favorites especially in books set in societies with really rigid gender roles and in romances. So it is like this series was written for me.
Tressa is a high ranking mechanic on a submarine. How much more badass can you get? Not only is the society dictating that women must wear dresses and be more demure, but she bucked that to the point of being the best mechanic out there. It was so refreshing to see a capable woman as the main love interest. She was more capable than the men around her for the entire book.
The plot itself was interesting. I was curious at what the tragic backstory was and how it had gotten to so many kids. It wasn’t super graphic or sexual, which is also rare for a tragic back story for a woman. Rollins seems to know exactly what things to avoid to make me love a book. The kids were clearly abused, but very little happened on page so it felt safer to read the big reveal than I was expecting from the hints throughout the book.
My main issues with the book are that the romance seems a bit forced. By that I mean I don’t see why Tressa likes the guy. There was very little description of the two or them or why she would be interested in him. Tressa is shown to be black on the cover of the book, but throughout the book that is not something that is mentioned or plays a role in things. There are two references that her skin is tan, which if you pair that with she has been on a submarine forever would say that she might not be white. If you don’t pair those two details together then you miss her race entirely, because she might just be tan. Race could have played an interesting role in a book like this. So honestly, that mattered more to me than the romance. Having the romance be secondary was perfectly fine withe me. I was here for the mystery and the vampires, not boys. Though the first kiss was 100% the way I wanted it to happen. I really appreciated that the bulk of the book focused on the mystery plot, instead of having that as a sub plot. It allowed the characters to have depth and meaning. It also allowed the romance to feel a bit more natural. Have I mentioned that I adore awkward men who aren’t perfect? Rollins seems to have gotten the message even if I have never said it.
I could leave the ending since it felt a little rushed, which is the reason the romance felt rushed to me. If the ending had been a little more open ended, I would have probably given this book five stars. Considering the pages in question were maybe four pages on my kindle, that is a pretty fantastic amount of pages to just not be wild about.
I got an ARC of this book.
This is the second book I have read in this series, but the fourth book released. The books don’t seem to be related in any way as of yet, but that could be an interesting tie in later. What I really like about this series is the main female love interest is always a total badass. Strong women, women in charge, and women bucking gender roles are by far my favorites especially in books set in societies with really rigid gender roles and in romances. So it is like this series was written for me.
Tressa is a high ranking mechanic on a submarine. How much more badass can you get? Not only is the society dictating that women must wear dresses and be more demure, but she bucked that to the point of being the best mechanic out there. It was so refreshing to see a capable woman as the main love interest. She was more capable than the men around her for the entire book.
The plot itself was interesting. I was curious at what the tragic backstory was and how it had gotten to so many kids. It wasn’t super graphic or sexual, which is also rare for a tragic back story for a woman. Rollins seems to know exactly what things to avoid to make me love a book. The kids were clearly abused, but very little happened on page so it felt safer to read the big reveal than I was expecting from the hints throughout the book.
My main issues with the book are that the romance seems a bit forced. By that I mean I don’t see why Tressa likes the guy. There was very little description of the two or them or why she would be interested in him. Tressa is shown to be black on the cover of the book, but throughout the book that is not something that is mentioned or plays a role in things. There are two references that her skin is tan, which if you pair that with she has been on a submarine forever would say that she might not be white. If you don’t pair those two details together then you miss her race entirely, because she might just be tan. Race could have played an interesting role in a book like this. So honestly, that mattered more to me than the romance. Having the romance be secondary was perfectly fine withe me. I was here for the mystery and the vampires, not boys. Though the first kiss was 100% the way I wanted it to happen. I really appreciated that the bulk of the book focused on the mystery plot, instead of having that as a sub plot. It allowed the characters to have depth and meaning. It also allowed the romance to feel a bit more natural. Have I mentioned that I adore awkward men who aren’t perfect? Rollins seems to have gotten the message even if I have never said it.
I could leave the ending since it felt a little rushed, which is the reason the romance felt rushed to me. If the ending had been a little more open ended, I would have probably given this book five stars. Considering the pages in question were maybe four pages on my kindle, that is a pretty fantastic amount of pages to just not be wild about.
chymerra's review
4.0
Seawoman Tressa Wimple has lived for 20 years on the sea, fixing machines and maintaining engines. Landbound, Tressa is surprised when she comes into a considerable sum of money. She decides to donate that money to the orphanage that raised brother and herself. She wants to give back to the place that took her and her brother in. But her memories of Westwood are not all sunshine and rainbows. Something happened to Tressa there, something terrible. Something that was supposed to be stopped 20 years previous. Determined to solve the mystery, Tressa is helped by her brother and a mysterious, attractive man named Brox. What she finds hidden inside Westwood is evil at its purest. Will Tressa have the strength to confront her past? Will she be able to help the children?
Clockwork Image is a novella that takes place in the Steam and Shadow world. For a book that was 127 pages, the author was able to pack a punch. The plotlines were fast-paced. There were not any dropped storylines. Which I was thankful for. Lately, I have read a few books where some of the storylines disappeared. That drives me nuts!!
What I also liked is that while this book is 4th in the series, it can be read alone. Some of the other characters from the previous books to make an appearance, but they are in and out. The author didn’t linger on them. Again, something that I enjoyed.
I liked Tressa. She was at a loss on what to do with her life after her career ended. She wanted to do good for Westwood even if she had bad memories of the place. So, donating the money she came into seemed like the best thing. I got her confusion when things started happening. Everything seemed to be pointing to that mysterious event in her past.
I did have a small complaint about the event. The author did a great job of keeping everything wraps, but she did it too well. The clues were leaked too far apart. I did start to lose interest in that storyline.
The steampunk angle of the book was terrific. I loved that Tressa spent her entire career maintaining engines and fixing boilers. The author went into detail about what Tressa did while at sea. Tressa fixing Brox’s engine and the beginning scene fascinated me.
I loved the romance angle. I liked that Tressa was struck by Brox as soon as she saw him. I didn’t like that she had such self-doubt about how he felt about her. I liked that Brox wanted to court her. I mean, he asked to kiss her!! But what I liked the most was that there was no sex. It made for a refreshing read..
I do want to comment on Jasper and Tressa’s relationship. At the beginning of the book, I didn’t know what to think about how they interacted. But, everything smoothed out by the end of the book.
The end of Clockwork Image was explosive!! The twist that the author threw in took me by surprise. I couldn’t believe what I was reading!! Of course, I should have known. What happened to that little boy at the beginning of the book should have clued me in.
I would give Clockwork Image an Adult rating. There is no sex. There is no language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.
I would reread Clockwork Image. I would recommend it to family and friends.
**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**
Clockwork Image is a novella that takes place in the Steam and Shadow world. For a book that was 127 pages, the author was able to pack a punch. The plotlines were fast-paced. There were not any dropped storylines. Which I was thankful for. Lately, I have read a few books where some of the storylines disappeared. That drives me nuts!!
What I also liked is that while this book is 4th in the series, it can be read alone. Some of the other characters from the previous books to make an appearance, but they are in and out. The author didn’t linger on them. Again, something that I enjoyed.
I liked Tressa. She was at a loss on what to do with her life after her career ended. She wanted to do good for Westwood even if she had bad memories of the place. So, donating the money she came into seemed like the best thing. I got her confusion when things started happening. Everything seemed to be pointing to that mysterious event in her past.
I did have a small complaint about the event. The author did a great job of keeping everything wraps, but she did it too well. The clues were leaked too far apart. I did start to lose interest in that storyline.
The steampunk angle of the book was terrific. I loved that Tressa spent her entire career maintaining engines and fixing boilers. The author went into detail about what Tressa did while at sea. Tressa fixing Brox’s engine and the beginning scene fascinated me.
I loved the romance angle. I liked that Tressa was struck by Brox as soon as she saw him. I didn’t like that she had such self-doubt about how he felt about her. I liked that Brox wanted to court her. I mean, he asked to kiss her!! But what I liked the most was that there was no sex. It made for a refreshing read..
I do want to comment on Jasper and Tressa’s relationship. At the beginning of the book, I didn’t know what to think about how they interacted. But, everything smoothed out by the end of the book.
The end of Clockwork Image was explosive!! The twist that the author threw in took me by surprise. I couldn’t believe what I was reading!! Of course, I should have known. What happened to that little boy at the beginning of the book should have clued me in.
I would give Clockwork Image an Adult rating. There is no sex. There is no language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.
I would reread Clockwork Image. I would recommend it to family and friends.
**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**
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