Review: Ticker by Lisa Mantchev

Ticker by Lisa Mantchev

Publisher: Skyscape

 Goodreads link: (click here)

What's it about?

Penelope Farthing had a time bomb in her chest. A genetic heart condition had already claimed her older sister and her baby sister, and she knew she would probably be next. Her parents hired Calvin Warwick, a brilliant yet controversial surgeon to find a way to save her, and just as her heart finally explodes, he's able to implant a brass Ticker in her chest. Now, Penny is the first Augmented human. But her her heart was experimental and it's time may be winding down. While Warwick was trying to find a way to improve the Ticker, it's found out that he used humans to test his work, committing several murders along the way. Not only is he working on Augmented hearts, but he's also doing other experiments in Augmentation, and now he's on trial for his crimes.

Just as Warwick is about to be handed his sentence, there are explosions and riots across the city. In the ensuing pandemonium, Penny's family's factory is bombed, her is house broken into, her parents are kidnapped and Warwick escapes. Penny and her twin brother, Copernicus (Nic for short) are sent a ransom note, insisting that they hand over all of Warwick's research on Augmentation or something horrible will happen to their parents. Unfortunately for the kidnappers, Penny isn't the kind of girl to negotiate with criminals. She wants to save her parents, but she also wants to get to the bottom of this nonsense and figure out who is behind everything and why they are targeting her family.

With the help of SugarWerks baker extraordinaire, Violet Nesselrode, her dashing companion, Sebastian Stirling, and the alluring police inspector, Marcus Kingsley, Penny and Nic begin their perilous advenventures in hope of rescuing their parents before the clock winds down on Penny's mechanical heart. Somewhere in between, there will be an overabundance of fun, steampunk goodness, fantastical contraptions, exhilarating action, madcap adventures, datstardly betrayals, swoon-worthy romance and delicious cake.

My Thoughts

I really enjoyed Ticker. I do love Steampunk, though, and not only does Lisa Mantchev know her stuff, you can tell she really loves it too. I could tell that she really enjoyed writing this story, it showed in her writing and in the way the story flowed. There were a lot of fascinating gadgets and machines throughout the book and I got excited whenever a new one showed up. There was also quite a bit of steampunk terminology and I'm not sure how much of it was real and how much was made up, but once you got into the story, it all blended in and you got used to it. All the characters were unique and interesting with lots of cosplay potential. The gorgeous Victorian fashions took my breath away and made me wish I wore something other than jeans and t-shirts on a daily basis.

 I love steampunk fashion.

Besides all the wacky action, there are heartbreaking moments of family loss and ill-fated love and the story itself is a good mystery. It's fun to read and it has substance. Like I said, there is friendship, betrayal and romance. If you like steampunk, you'll enjoy this. If you are an anime fan, you should definitely check it out. I recently included it in a Top Ten Tuesday list of ten books/series for anime fans. You can see it HERE. 

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<3 Michelle