Emilie & the Hollow World (ARC Review)

Book: Emilie & the Hollow World
Author: Martha Wells
Series: N/A
Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Format:  ARC
Pages: 287
Source: Received from the publisher.

Blurb:

While running away from home for reasons that are eminently defensible, Emilie’s plans to stow away on the steamship Merry Bell and reach her cousin in the big city go awry, landing her on the wrong ship and at the beginning of a fantastic adventure.

Taken under the protection of Lady Marlende, Emilie learns that the crew hopes to use the aether currents and an experimental engine, and with the assistance of Lord Engal, journey to the interior of the planet in search of Marlende’s missing father.

With the ship damaged on arrival, they attempt to traverse the strange lands on their quest. But when evidence points to sabotage and they encounter the treacherous Lord Ivers, along with the strange race of the sea-lands, Emilie has to make some challenging decisions and take daring action if they are ever to reach the surface world again.

 

My Rating:

 

When I saw this book I got so excited and requested it from the publisher for review, I mean I am a huge fan of steampunk so why shouldn't I be into this one right? Well, I didn't enjoy this one as much as I thought I would. It was a good book but I guess I went into with expectations that were too high.

 

The world building in this novel was phenomenal. A world within the center of the Earth just sounds exciting right? Well it totally was and somehow the author made it work. The descriptions of this world were magnificent and I could picture them in my head as the story progressed.

 

Now the story line on the other hand had great potential. I was expecting it to be full of danger and suspense, don't get me wrong there was some but just not as much as I thought there would be. The story really dragged in some places, like the times between the exciting adventures, and I found myself having trouble getting through those parts.

 

What redeemed this for me were the characters. Emilie was awesome and wasn't afraid to tell someone off or put them in their place and I loved that about her. Lady Marlende was another great character, she was intelligent and was ready to protect herself and fight anything that came at them. I think my two favorite characters were Kenar and Rani, two cirathi who lived in the world inside of Earth. They had fur and scales but weren't too different from the humans in the story. They showed great compassion and developed a close friendship with the humans they were travelling with.

 

All in all this was an interesting story and I would definitely recommend this for those who like their steampunk with loads of description and interesting worlds.

 

This ARC was received from the publisher for review purposes and did not effect my opinions in any way. The opinions expressed in this review were mine alone.