Boneshaker review!

I'm sorry for my lack of posts! I have been caught up with coursework and what not *inserts crying face* so I have not had any time at all! Anyway, I decided to do a review on this book because I felt as though there was not enough information about it. :) So I saw Boneshaker first online whilst browsing out of curiosity for new reads, the extract they provide is the first few pages and provided me with a good insight of what the book would be about. A heads up to anyone interested, it is very steam punk!

You may want to zoom in to read the back as I couldn't make it any larger...

In it's basic form Boneshaker is about an inventor who makes the "incredible Bone-Shaking Drill engine" which is supposed to be sold to Russians who would then use it to mine out gold in Alaska. This wonderful machine however causes havoc in Seattle and ends up releasing this 'blight gas' which basically turns people into zombies (rotters). The story is based on two characters, a woman named Briar Wilkes who is the inventors widow -he mysteriously vanished- and her son Ezekiel. It changes to either character after each chapter, which is shown as an old gas lantern for Ezekiel and a pair of goggles (like on the cover) for Briar; I personally like this touch as it gives the book that unique steam punk feeling, not to mention that the writing is in a sepia tone and not black.

I brought this book purely for its beautiful cover.

The story in itself is extremely well written in my opinion and you do bond (and hate) certain characters very quickly. The overall plot is that Seattle has been walled up and all the blight and zombies have been secured inside, some people however do still reside within the walls to transform the gas into drugs in order to sell it at a high price. This is where the story gets its steam punk feeling from as this illegal action is often done via air ships (they play a large role in the story as well as gas masks). Ezekiel decides to go into the walled off city in order to find his father and get some answers, his mother Briar soon goes in after him however and desperately tries to find him in this massive, infested city with little luck. During their separate journeys each character encounters a variety of people, from air pirates to drug overlords.

Although I can say i thoroughly enjoyed this book there were a few problems I found with it... The story in itself (although brilliantly written) felt although it was lacking something, this may purely be because I have never read a steam punk styled book before and did not know what to expect! The ending and a certain death *cough Rudy cough* really irritated me, I was expecting a much better finale to the story and Rudy's death came as an utter shock as he suddenly reappears and then just dies pointlessly, not being mentioned again (imagine Fili's death in BOTFA and there we have it). I will quickly point out that I skipped all the other books as they did not interest me and went straight to the Inexplicable's (pictured below), this again is a brilliantly written book but some of the parts are just stupid and I may not even finish it. Overall, try out the Boneshaker and see if you like it! I certainly enjoyed it until the end and couldn't put it down!! Just don't get all the books as a gift because you may never read them... *hint hint*

I own all the books in the series, and
after Boneshaker I skipped them to read this one!
Big mistake...