Review: The Peculiars by Maureen Doyle McQuerry

 

 A girl with a mysterious family and a burning question.  Steampunk.  Possible medical experimentation on humans.  Even a theological debate.  Throw in action and adventure and you've got yourself a pretty good book.  You also have The Peculiars by Maureen Doyle McQuerry.

Here is the summary (from Netgalley)

On her 18th birthday, Lena Mattacascar decides to search for her father, who disappeared into the northern wilderness of Scree when Lena was young. Scree is inhabited by Peculiars, people whose unusual characteristics make them unacceptable to modern society. Lena wonders if her father is the source of her own extraordinary characteristics and if she, too, is Peculiar. On the train she meets a young librarian, Jimson Quiggley, who is traveling to a town on the edge of Scree to work in the home and library of the inventor Mr. Beasley. The train is stopped by men being chased by the handsome young marshal Thomas Saltre. When Saltre learns who Lena's father is, he convinces her to spy on Mr. Beasley and the strange folk who disappear into his home, Zephyr House. A daring escape in an aerocopter leads Lena into the wilds of Scree to confront her deepest fears. 

This book was up and down for me.  It started off really good, I liked Lena, I wanted to learn more about her / her family / her condition.  And then, I didn't really like Lena and I wondered why the others could forgive her for what she did.  But then, upswing, and I liked Lena and the book again by the end.

Now that I've had time to think about it, I understand why Lena did what she did in the middle of the book.  She didn't think things through.  She was sidetracked by other's opinions.  She wanted to please a handsome (yet mysterious) gentleman.  Had she stopped and thought it through or stopped and asked questions (or even stopped and talked to Jimson) the whole mess in the middle would have been avoided.  BUT, then you would miss the action and adventure of the second part of the book.  So, I guess it was something that had to happen.  

I was also left with some questions, and maybe it was just because I was reading the ebook version, but I would have appreciated a map of Scree and drawings of the various medical conditions and inventions.  I do better when I have a picture to reference. 

All in all it was a good book.  I'm glad I read it. 

Please note, I downloaded this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.