Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Book Review: Mina Wentworth and the Invisible City

Mina Wentworth and the Invisible City

By:  Meljean Brook

Publisher:  Penguin

Publish Date:  August 7, 2012

Format:  eARC

Genre:  Steampunk, Romance

Series:  1.5 in Iron Seas Series

Recommendation:  Yes, so many elements wrapped in this little package; love, steampunk, and mystery.  All rolled into one!  And you can so read this without reading the first book!  Complete story here.

Book Synopsis:
Eight months after The Iron Duke, can their marriage survive a new danger?

When newly-married Detective Inspector Mina Wentworth is called to investigate a bounder's murder, she doesn't expect the mysterious machine she finds...or the danger that leads back to her husband.

First Sentence:
Even after eight months of marriage, Detective Inspector Mina Wentworth couldn't decide whether it was better to let her husband know that she'd been hurt on the job as soon as she returned home, or to wait until the readied for bed, where he'd see the evidence of her injuries for himself.

My Thoughts and Summary:
Rhys is finishing up preparations for a ball next week.  Detective Inspector Mina looks forward to an evening with her husband of eight glorious months, although not telling him about the shiny bruise she got at work as he worries.  When suddenly she gets called away due to a murder of an associate who wants to reward factories for not completely converting to machines.  Things run deeper than expected with this investigation and mystery. Mina learns new things of her new husband, and one thing she may not care much for...

A whole mystery is of its own and Mina and her husband learn a little more about themselves and family, growing a little more in the idea of together. There is difficulty with the journalists based on her personal relationships and her investigations, which makes the case a little tricky too.

I enjoy meeting the characters.  Anne - the young girl Mina seems to have "adopted", Scarsdale - Rhy's friend and business partner.  Then there's Mina and Rhys.  Wow, what a couple!

We get a quick glimpse as to how Mina and Rhys met.  We get a strong sense of how much Rhys loves and worries for Mina.  And how much Mina loves her husband.

I get the feel there is a long history here.  One with the Horde and nanoagents, the use of mechanical augmentation in bodies as well.  We see different body parts of iron and mechanical, partly the steampunk, that are useful to the people to make a living.  There are hints to Rhys past and sounds of great excitement.  We learn of his involvement against the Horde.  I will say all the details of happenings make me curious to read it all collectively and slowly in its time as it unravels.

We get views of the story from Mina and Rhys.  Both are so in love yet unsure if it'll last, sounds like quickly fell in love and married and maddeningly in love with each other still.

As this novella does come after the first novel, Iron Duke, in the Iron Seas series, it can be read on it's own.  The ground work for the world is here and you will get through.  The first chapter is heavy with world and character layout.  The story is a complete story in itself to enjoy.  The second chapter dives right into the murder mystery.  I read it before the first novel, understood and enjoyed it being new to the world and characters.  You can too!


I read this novella for the author to see if it could stand on it's own without reading books.

17 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. LOL! Blodeuedd, I do look forward to reading the rest of these books. I really loved this world and want to learn more of it. :) Got them now! :D

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  2. I still need to try this series, I keep hearing amazing things about it and I'm curious to know what I'll think about it. Glad the novella was great, I'm more and more curious.

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    1. Melliane, I got lucky and tested this novella and one other out for Meljean. And really enjoyed them. You can totally read them to get a taste of the world as they are their own stories and not a part of the books really, although they are the characters in the books. But I am really looking forward to the books now. :) Thank you! And hope you get to try them out as well.

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    2. thanks, I'll try it soon if I can, I'm so intrigued!

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  3. I have been thinking about trying another Steampunk series, as I loved Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate, but I wasn't sure which series to pick. This series sounds great, so I'm adding it to my wish-list!

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    1. Mirjam, Oh I want to try Gail Carrigers books, but haven't gotten there yet. Glad to hear you enjoyed them though. :) Thank you! Hope you enjoy if you get to reading these. :)

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  4. I loved the Iron Duke so can't wait to read this or the rest of the series!! I think you'll love it as well! :-)

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    1. Mel, I have the Iron Duke here now. :) And look forward to reading it one day very soon. :) THank you!

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  5. Can you believe I have yet to read the Iron Duke? I feel so left out and alone. *sniff* At least I'll know I have a new novella to add to my collection when I read it. :D

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    1. Oh Melissa (Books & Things) I thought of you reading this one. :D You can so read it out of order!! :D LOL! Thank you!

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  6. I can't wait to read this e-novella! I bought The Iron Duke in print and then I found out they were releasing an e-novella as part of the e-copy...so I'm so happy that it's now available on its own. August 7 can't come soon enough! Great post.

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    1. Jenn, I was very pleased with this one. And I have Tethered coming up in the pike here as well. Tethered will be in Heart of Steel I believe, and loved that one as well. :) Thank you greatly!

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  7. I still got the Iron Duke in my TBR shelves *hangs head in shame* better bump it up the line....

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    1. Don't worry Cherry. I've not read the Iron Seas series yet either. Which is why I got lucky in reading this novella, to test and see if will stand alone from the novels. I now have Iron Duke and look forward to reading it. :) Thankyou!

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  8. I really enjoyed The Iron Duke but i didn't like the sequel at all (I actually didn't finish it) I'm tempted by this novella though because it would be nice to read more about Rhys and
    Mina.

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    1. Simcha, I do hope you enjoy this story then, with Mina in it. Sorry to hear you didn't much care for the second book. I'm looking forward to getting into this series one of these days. :) Thank you!

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