ARC Review: The Friday Society by Adrienne Kress

The Friday Society (Click title for Synopsis)
Source/Format: Won (Appraising Pages, blog, thank you.), Bound ARC
Age range: YA

Publisher/Publication Date: Dial, December 6, 2012



My thoughts:

   
     The Friday Society is a whimsical, wonderful, and quirky novel full of steampunk fun—gadgets and scientific references included.  I loved all of the neat ideas incorporated into the book, which really made it work for me.  Steampunk is a vast genre and there are so many different things you can do with it.  Kress did a fantastic job of weaving the Steampunk elements into the story.

    The characters were lively, brilliant, and I enjoyed reading their story.  Each of the girls came from slightly similar circumstances as children, but where they ended up was completely different.  There was a dynamic to it that really fit with the story and kept it going.  I liked seeing the different backgrounds that Nellie, Cora, and Michiko came from.  The characters were well thought-out, and were in no way generic.  Out of all of the characters, Michiko, and the magician’s bird, Scheherazade, were my favorite.  At some points I was laughing out loud at Scheherazade’s antics. 

    The plot was great, and I was really in the dark until the end.  There were so many pieces to the puzzle that you wouldn’t think fit together, but they do.  The beginning was a little slow, and some of it got a little repetitive and seemed to drag a bit, but that didn’t take away from the overall greatness of the book.  The action really picked up towards the center and kept on going.  The surprise at the end—whoa—the culprit was someone I didn’t even notice, and the conclusion was satisfying.  There were also a few funny moments, but I won’t tell, because that would be too much of a spoiler. If you want to know, go buy The Friday Society.  I recommend it to anyone who enjoys the Steampunk genre. 

I really like it.  I recommend it.