✨ Adults Who Read YA ✨ discussion

a steampunk novel

Waistcoats & Weaponry is the third book in Gail Carriger's Finishing School series. Carriger has three series set in the same steampunk universe and all of them are a combination of Sherlockian mysteries, Whovian characters, and Pratchett-esque humor.

I've been biding my time to get to this novel as I much more enjoyed the first series, Parasol Protectorate, but Finishing School has turned over a new leaf of action and character development here.

Note: If you're looking for a steampunk book for this challenge, I would recommend Soulless if you can stand a bit of Victorian propriety.

While it's not overly Steampunk, the mentions Tesla contraptions fit right in. The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell isn't really one genre. It's like historical fiction, magic/fantasy, time travel, Steampunk, and contemporary all mashed up into one book. If I had to put a genre label on it to shelf it it'd be fantasy, but it's more than that.

We follow Esta, a present-day thief who's job has been to collect several magical artifacts to save them from The Order- a group bent on controlling magical people for over a century. Esta's newest heist requirement is to find the magician, stop him, and save The Book. She doesn't expect to get stuck back in time and she certainly doesn't know what she's in for with The Devil's Own.

This is a book full of brilliant twists and turns and cons, and the book will leave you feeling like you've just watched a magic trick (literally) and ready for the sequel.