The girl in the clockwork collar is the second in the fantastic Steampunk Chronicles by Kady Cross, and although it continues on with the characters from the first, The Girl with the Steel Corset, this can quite easily be read as a standalone, with the only slight character introductions being missed.

Finlay is brave and dashing as our heroine of super strength; Sam is our oafish bull, half man, half machine; Emily is our tiny Irish inventor; Jasper is our faster than the speed of light cowboy; and Griffin is the money, the leader, and the rather staid glue that holds them all together. It is very hard for me to picture them all as teenagers – I automatically assume that they’re in their early twenties, but for the most part, they can all be whatever age the reader envisions.

Jasper has been arrested in London for a murder he’s supposed to have committed in San Francisco, his friends don’t believe a word of it, so are catching the next dirigible (owned by Griffin, of course) to give him a helping hand.

To add to the mix we have evil criminal mastermind, Dalton, who wants to get his grubby hands on a very special device that would cause all sorts of problems. So I guess it’s up to the gang to stop Dalton, rescue the girl (there’s Mei Xing, playing damsel in distress), and save Jasper.

This is a delightfully story, very light and easy to read, with fun plot. The twists and turns are a little predictable, but enjoyable to read none-the-less.

The biggest let down with the story is Griffin. He’s rather underdeveloped in this book, and he has such potential to be a great character. Here he comes across as weak and wishy washy, rather than still trying to ‘find himself’ he’s just indecisive; and his constant moaning about Finlay’s morals is awfully annoying. It just felt like a waste of story to keep hashing back to this issue, and will be even less relevant to those that are reading this before the first. However, just skim past and try not to let it annoy you, because the rest of the story is fun.

Kady Cross has managed to create a story that moves in ebbs and flows. Several times I thought I was at the end of the story, only to be confused by how many more pages she had to fill out the remaining plot details, then a perfectly natural tangent would occur sending the emotional rollercoaster off again.

This is a very plot driven story, with limited character development; but a gripping plot and characters that are just naturally interesting without being developed in an obviously manner, make for darn good reading.

The Girl in the Clockwork Collar is an ‘anywhere’ book, from the commute to work, a winter curl up, or a sunny beach laze-about, this will fit the bill.