Book Review: Curio by Evangeline Denmark

Members of the Vise Library were selected to review Curio.  We received a copy of Evangeline Denmark's book for an honest review.

About the book:

Grey Haward has always detested the Chemists, the magicians-come-scientists who rule her small western town. But she has always followed the rules, taking the potion the Chemists ration out that helps the town’s people survive. A potion that Grey suspects she—like her grandfather and father—may not actually need.

By working at her grandfather’s repair shop, sorting the small gears and dusting the curio cabinet inside, Grey has tried to stay unnoticed—or as unnoticed as a tall, strong girl can in a town of diminutive, underdeveloped citizens. Then her best friend, Whit, is caught by the Chemists’ enforcers after trying to protect Grey one night, and after seeing the extent of his punishment, suddenly taking risks seems the only decision she can make.

But with the risk comes the reality that the Chemists know her family’s secret, and the Chemists soon decide to use her for their own purposes. Panicked, Grey retreats to the only safe place she knows—her grandfather’s shop. There, however, a larger secret confronts her when her touch unlocks the old curio cabinet in the corner and reveals a world where porcelain and clockwork people are real. There, she could find the key that may save Whit’s life and also end the Chemists’ dark rule forever.

To be honest, I have never read a Steampunk novel before this book by Evangeline Denmark.  So I was intrigued by the concept of Curio and decided to give it a shot.  I do not know if I can do it justice by describing what it was about (I will do my best).  Grey is the heroine of this novel and in her world, there is a group of people that set limitations on others.  Grey has lost her brother and there is a secret that her family is keeping from her.  She has been spurred into action after trying to help the person that is essentially her best friend, Whit.  In order to help Whit, she travels to another world through a curio cabinet.  There is a bunch of stuff that happens (read the book) but Grey stumbles upon something even bigger than she thought possible.  What she learns could possibly save her family and other people that are being mistreated in her world.  This book involves a lot of world building that was unique to me.  This book overall is about injustice (and fighting it), being strong, love and going on an adventure along the way.  I think readers will enjoy the adventure and all of the great characters involved.  This books releases today and is available in our popular collection.  Give it a try!

Buy the book:

     Amazon

       Barnes and Noble
      Parnassus Books

About the author:

Evangeline Denmark cannot sing. This tragic discovery led to bouts of angst-ridden poetry writing in her teens, an ill-advised relationship with Edward Fairfax Rochester, and the compulsive creation of her own fictional worlds. 
Having found her true voice, Evangeline writes fiction with hints of whimsy, glimmers of fantasy, and strokes of the supernatural. Her debut novel, Curio, sets coming-of-age and first love against a backdrop of steam-propelled greed and societal repression. For a peek into the origins of the Curio world check out the prequel novella, Mark of Blood and Alchemy.
Evangeline lives in Colorado with her husband, an engineer with a sense of humor and an artistic streak, two ravenous sons who steal her laptop and demand dinner, a cat, two turtles, and a cattle dog who runs the house.

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