Title: Steel Lily (The Periodic Series #1)
Author: Megan Curd
Genre/s: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Steampunk, Apocalyptic, Fantasy, Romance
Published Date: August 20, 2013
Synopsis:
AVERY PIKE is a commodity. No, more than a commodity. Her existence is guarded at all costs.
She’s a water Elementalist, the strongest of her dwindling kind. She creates steam to provide energy to fuel Dome Four: the only thing standing between humanity and an earth ravaged by World War III. No steam, no Dome. No Dome, no life.
Or so she thinks.
That is, until a mysterious man offers her a way out of having to donate steam. A way to escape the corrupt government of Dome Four. While the offer seems too good to be true, Avery is intrigued. But when she arrives to her new home, she realizes the grass isn’t any less dead on this side of the fence. Instead, the lies are just hidden better.
…Which means digging deeper.
When Avery enlists the help of her friends to uncover the truth, she learns that while some secrets are better left concealed, humankind was never meant to live in a cage. And when you can control the most sought after resource, you can learn to control anything…including the fate of your world.
My Thoughts:
Megan Curd's Steel Lily is a surprisingly riveting dystopian novel, that has a good dose of impressive world-building, realistic heroine, swoon-worthy male lead and complicated plot twist that will keep you engaged until the very end.
Avery Pike's life used to be normal until a nuclear bomb exploded close to where she and her family were. It exposed them in radiation which in turn, developed her abilities that allowed her to create steams. After being separated from her parents, she was now living in Dome Four and was the number one contributor of steam, the most essential power source of the dome.
But Avery, have had enough of people using her, treating her like a tool or a personal steam generator, for their own purpose. So when an eccentric-looking man offered her to come with him into a new Dome with the promise of a better life among with other kids who also have an ability, she tooked the risk. With her bestfriend, Alice in tow, Avery went to Dome Seven with high hopes and a mindset that things couldn't get any worse than what she experienced in Dome Four.
But soon, she found out that she's terribly wrong. Things in Dome Seven can get worse, a lot worse. She's not a tool or a pawn anymore but she's now a lab rat. And if she wanted to stay alive, she have to put her trust to the enemy.
Okay I'm going to come out and say this now, I LOVE STEEL LILY! There's some kind of gravitational pull in every pages of this book that will sucked you right into the story immediately and makes it hard for you to put down.
“No one is ever too far gone for redemption, if there’s just one person to help them get there.”
Avery Pike was the perfect combination of compassion, stubborness and sense of humor. She's always ready to do the best that she can for the people she love. She's the kind of heroine who is easy to root for because you know that she's fighting for all the right reasons. Also her interaction with Jaxon was really cute and their bantering was hilarious.
"There have been contests where my ass took first place in squeezability.”
I like Jaxon the moment I met him. He's funny, sarcastic, confident and sexy. But that's just the other half of him. He's also a son who's constantly seeking for his father's love. And whenever that side of him shows, my heart breaks a little and I just want to pull him out of the book and cradle him into my arms.
"Damn it, if he wasn’t such an ass, I might have been willing to admit I liked him."
Avery is in constant battle with herself about her feelings with Jaxon. And it's realistically understandable since she only met him for a couple of weeks. And she doesn't give her trust that easily to anyone which made her more true to me.
Other minor characters like Alice, Legs and Sari also caught my attention with their unique personality. Overall, it was an awesome read. The world building was amazing, the plot was unpredictable and characters were awesome. Will definitely recommend this book to all dystopian and steampunk lovers out there.
My Rating
Author Bio:
WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE
Megan Curd is a graduate of Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minnesota. While having always enjoyed reading any books she could get her hands on, Megan didn’t begin writing until a friend encouraged her to do so while in college.When not writing, Megan enjoys spending time with her family and friends. She loves to snowboard and travel to new places, and doesn’t turn down the opportunity to play xBox with her brother and friends when it presents itself.Megan currently resides in Stanton, Kentucky with her husband, son, and Great Dane named Dozer.
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