| Title | : | CurioInternational Edition |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 031072936X |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780310729365 |
| Format Type | : | ebook |
| Number of Pages | : | 432 |
| Publication | : | First published January 5, 2016 |
CurioInternational Edition Reviews
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Curio was an interesting, intricate book to say the least. It was hard to get into and at times because of the POVs and different settings but was worth the read because it was definitely something new.
My video review will be up this weekend!
3/5 stars -
So... I READ THIS IN ONE SITTING..
Such a unique novel. I don't think I have read anything like it. It has the main theme of a girl coming into a heritage and then sparking a rebellion.
It is very steampunk with hints of The Emerald City from Wizard and Oz.. Really enjoyed this read!
PLUS THE COVER IS AMAZING -
This book was pretty freaking awesome! I felt like I was in a strange Doctor Who episode in a sense, but not as good as Doctor Who =)
There are evil, evil Chemists, Porcie's (porcelain people), clockwork people (although, they don't look like the Doctor Who ones, just people like), Defenders, Warriors, stone people ← for reasons and other stuff.
All of the people in the town have to take a potion that gets rationed out daily for the people to stay alive. There is a whole thing about that you can read in the book.
But, Grey and her family are different. The men in the family are different and Grey herself. They are strong and they may not even need to take the ration. And why are they so big and strong?
All of this stuff goes down in the beginning with Grey and her best friend Whit. Some things happen and he gets taken away to be um, taught a lesson. This upsets not only Whit's mom, but Grey, her father, grandfather and her mom. They try to help the family but this evil Chemist named Adante comes and starts trouble. (I hate him!)
It ends up that Grey is on the run for her life and her grandfather tells her to go to his shop where she works with him and one of his assistants. Well . . . instead of Alice falling down the rabbit hole, Grey gets tossed into the Curio Cabinet. Yes, I know that sounds funny as all get out but it was freaking cool after she got to the bottom. This is where she meets all of the porcelain people, the tocks and the infamous, Mad Tock. She's actually supposed to find him for reasons.
It ends up being an amazingly, bizarre book that I just loved. I had a little crush on the Mad Tock too, he's not what you think he is and neither is a lot of people for that matter!
MY BLOG:
Melissa Martin's Reading List -
What a wonderful introduction to a new genre. At least, new to me. Steampunk had no meaning in my vocabulary. It was explained as something like the old “Wild, Wild West” television program where weapons and doodads were anachronistic. That didn’t help much.
After reading Curio, I get it!
That’s a nice bonus to the pleasure of reading a great story populated by believable and intriguing characters. This author is not afraid to allow her hero and heroine to suffer, make mistakes, and endure the consequences. I’ve thrown books away where the goal seemed to be to just torture the main characters. This story had a good balance of struggles and victories, moments of hopelessness and rewards for diligence and valor. I read rapidly when my emotions were caught up on their trials and cheered for the triumphs. And the big sigh as I turned the last page was one of contentment. I love a good tale. I certainly hope this is the beginning of a series. -
Thanks to Netgalley and Zonderkidz for giving me this book to review.
Gray Haward detests the Chemists, the rulers of her small western town, but she has always taken their potion which helps people survive. When her best friend, Whit, is punished by the chemists for protecting her, Gray decides to take risks, but when the chemists find out she retreats to the safe haven of her grandfather’s shop. However, there she discovers an even greater secret, a world full of porcelain and clockwork people.
I was very confused by Curio as the world building was not very good and I had no idea what was going on, but it did seem to have an interesting story idea. Gray was rebellious against authority, and seemed a nice and helpful character but I didn’t really connect with her. I am sure that those who love steampunk novels will enjoy this book but the writing style and lack of world building put me off this book and I had to DNF Curio at 27%.
This and my other reviews can be found at
Amethyst Bookwyrm -
Grey has lived under the oppression of the Chemist her entire life. When she is attacked by werewolf type creatures, her best friend, Whit, comes to her rescue sending Whit into a night of hellish punishment and Grey drawing the attention of the Chemist.
The Chemist attack Grey’s family sending Grey running to her grandfather’s shop and accidently sucked into an alternate universe through the Curio. The new world is inhabited by clockwork people and Grey soon discovers she’s ran herself right into another tyrannical society.
The story jumps back and forth between the Chemist world with Whit’s discoveries and Grey’s exploration, captivity and discoveries in the clockwork world.
I’m a big Steampunk fan so this story seemed right up my ally. The overall premise was amazing with highly imaginative and original ideas that would completely blow you away if you weren’t feeling, well, confused. Denmark takes a huge undertaking not just creating one world but two and I think that is where it lost me. Separately, both worlds were very interesting but the jumping back and forth caused a low in the pace. I’m giving Curio 3.5 stars. I was caught between liking it and really liking it.
I received this copy of Curio from Zonderkidz-Books - Blink. This is my honest and voluntary review.
My Rating: 3.5 stars
Written by: Evangeline Denmark
Series: Blink
Sequence in Series: 1
Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: Blink; Reprint edition
Publication Date: January 10, 2017
ISBN-10: 0310729513
ISBN-13: 978-0310729518
Genre: Steampunk
Reviewed for:
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Самое крутое в книге - обложка.
Она обещала мне чудо, сказку, стимпанк, алхимию, магию, романтику и еще кучу всяких приятностей, но оказалась подлой динамщицей.
Нет, история, наверное, неплохая, но при всей моей любви к странным книгам я не прониклась. Ни героиней, ни миром, ни сюжетом. Хотя нет, задумка стоящая, некоторые моменты весьма увлекательные, но, имхо, автор заигралась в загадочность и необычность и в попытке уйти от штампов скатилась в другую крайность, когда уже середина романа, а читатель сидит и лупает глазками, силясь понять, какого черта происходит.
Альтернативный мир, западный городок и его обитатели, которым для выживания нужны определенные зелья, иначе кранты. Зелья поставляют Химики, соответственно, они же всем заправляют. Героиня подозревает, что она как раз может обойтись без подобного химического рациона, и вообще она удивительно здоровая и высокая для этого рассадника мелких заморенных людишек. А когда к тем же выводам приходят и Химики, жизнь девицы резко меняется.
И все б ничего, но нифига непонятно. Ни про Химиков, ни про мир, ни про многочисленные правила и положенные за нарушения наказания. Как, почему, зачем. Автор с любовью и трепетом обмусоливает каждую никчемную мысль Грей, но не утруждается объяснением простых основ собственноручно созданного мира. Вообще я не люблю, когда все разжевывают, но когда меня толкают в совершенно незнакомые условия, хотелось бы узнать хотя бы минимальные вводные.
Темп очень неровный. То мы с героиней куда-то бежим-летим, то гоняем по кругу думы тяжкие и рефлексируем. Много крови, рвоты и всяческих масс. Боли и ругательств. Но они отнюдь не добавляют происходящему реалистичности.
Короче, хочу себе аватарку с девицей с обложки, а продолжать серию не хочу. -
{{AGE WARNING on this review & book. There are lots of touches & detailed kisses in this book and listed in this review. This review should not be read by girls under 14.}}
About this 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.”
Series: Book #1, has a prequel novella which is considered #0.5. Review Here!
Spiritual Content- Mentions of the Designer & thanking him; A mention of Heaven; The author thanks the One in her acknowledgments;
*Note: All about blood magic & evil magic; A mention of a (fake) Saint (prequel); A mention of being a savior; “made my life hell.” is said; “Holy Chemist elbows”, “Holy Chemist Knees” and “Holy Defender” are each said once.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘crack you’ (said as a curse), a ‘damnation’ (said as a curse), a ‘shut up’, a ‘suck it up’, nine ‘stupid’s; Grey curses once, Blaise curses five times but none are written out; Many mentions of curses that are said but not written; Lots, lots & lots of blood & pain (semi-detailed to detailed); Fighting (semi-detailed); A broken wrist & showing the bone (semi-detailed); Abuse (up to semi-detailed); Broken porcelain people & dead-like ones; Many Mentions of blades, whippings & blood (semi-detailed); Many mentions of vomiting, vomit & starving (semi-detailed); Many mentions of going to the bathroom, leaking & taking a leak (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of bullets & shooting (semi-detailed); Mentions of fighting & hitting (semi-detailed); Mentions of pain & blood (semi-detailed); Mentions of blood sucking & vampires (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of rabies & wolfs (semi-detailed); Mentions of hunting; A couple mentions of boxing; A couple mentions of taverns; A couple mentions of suicide.
Sexual Content- a hand kiss, a forehead kiss, a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, five semi-detailed kisses, two detail kisses, and two very-detailed kisses; Staring at lips (semi-detailed); Wanting to kiss (semi-detailed); Wanting to touch (semi-detailed); All about Touching & not touching (semi-detailed); Lots and Lots of Touches, Sensations & Holding (semi-detailed to detailed); Remembering touches, Heat & Dancing (semi-detailed); Lots of Smelling, Blushes & Nearness (semi-detailed); Lots of Noticing & Staring (semi-detailed); Aching & Longing (semi-detailed); Fantine is Lord Blueboy’s mistress, along with Mentions of him visiting her room, Mentions of his next mistresses & Mentions of Grey’s body not being her own; Lord Blueboy wants Grey to be his next mistress & calls her Mistress Grey; Lord Blueboy wants to see all of Grey’s veins & tries to touch her (Grey says she’s not a doll to be undressed, but that does not stop him from wanting to touch her); Grey is tied to a bed for Lord Blueboy’s curiosity, he touches, straddles, sits on & kisses her, but she gets away before anything else happens (up to semi-detailed); A law that unmarried males & females can’t touch or fraternization and many, many mentions of it; A mention of being naked; Mentions of bare chest (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of kisses & kissing; Mentions of reproducing, procreating & pregnancy; Mentions of jealousy; Lots of Attraction & the emotions;
*Note: A few mentions of Grey’s full chest & figure; Many, many mentions of indecent necklines, low necklines, dresses showing cleavage, belly-showing dresses, a ruffled skirt that ends at the wearer’s thighs & no pants underneath, showing bare legs, & flimsy nightgowns.
-Grey Haward, age 16
P.O.V. switches between Grey, Blaise & Whit
Steampunk
427 pages
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Pre Teens- One Star
New Teens- One Star
Early High School Teens- One Star
Older High School Teens- One Star
My personal Rating- One Star
{{Every book reviewed is tested against Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”. Rating reflect the content of the book compared to the Scripture.}}
Have I ever mentioned I don’t do well with blood? No? Really? It’s true, I get light headed at the sight of blood. And that’s one of the things this book has a lot of: Blood. Lots and lots of Blood. Also lots and lots of: pain, cursing, fighting, evil magic, touching, & kissing.
Lots, y’all. Lots.
There was a major importance on unmarried males & females not touching, so due to that law, anytime Grey is touched/near-a-guy/started at sheand the readeris very uncomfortable. It happens a lot. Like, a lot a lot.
I don’t think the author explained things well at all. Sure, I get that you want a bit of a mystery, but when the book is set is another world that only the author can picture, it’s just frustrating for the reader. I actually did something I’ve never done before: I looked at the author’s Pinterest board for this book before I started reading “Curio”. I normally look at the board after reading the book—if at all. Steampunk isn’t a new genre to me, but this is my first time reviewing it on here due to only a couple Christian Steampunk books are published. When looking at Steampunk pictures, I stay towards the lighter side of things. The board for this book took me back with all the black, darkness & a few pictures of naked porcelain dolls.
Boarder-lining magic at many points, this was not what I was expecting from I division of a Christian publisher. Of course, I haven’t had good experiences with Blink books {Two of their most popular books, Doon & Storm Siren, are not clean either.} Why did I read this book? Simply because it was many of y’all requested it.
This book felt & read a lot like a secular book, and while I’m disappointed that the publisher counties to go this route, I’m not surprised at all.
Link to review:
http://booksforchristiangirls.blogspo...
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
*I received this book for free from the Publisher (Blink) for this honest review. -
I loved Curio and I demand a sequel immediately. Oh, wait. I'm getting ahead of myself. Curio won't officially be published until early January and the only reason I have had the pleasure of devouring the book is that Blink sent me an ARC.
Thanks Blink!
Things I adored about Curio:
1 - All the gadgets! I want them please and thank you. Then I can be a tock.
2 - Not your average steampunk, at least not that I've seen. Porcelain & Clockwork => Amazing. Who knew?
3 - Kickbutt and not-so-kickbutt female characters in a variety of body types who possess a variety of levels of personal agency and abilities, both mental and physical.
Kickbutt and not-so-kickbutt male characters in a variety of body types who possess a variety of levels of personal agency and abilities, both mental and physical.
--- What? This is both unheard of and refreshing! The egalitarian-ness of it all! "Curio"'s characters are as realistic as they are fantastical. They are thoughtfully crafted and diverse and their choices feel completely natural within the unfair worlds they inhabit. Grey, our heroine, is neither the damsel in distress nor super-girl (except when she's both).
4 - A story that was completely different than anything I've read before
Curio requires a somewhat higher than normal suspension of disbelief in regard to world building. After all, Denmark is building not one but two fantastical worlds for the reader, each with their own characters, interactions, and problems. The idea of world-within-a-world may seem daunting to some, but the author pulls it off masterfully. I cared deeply about the inhabitants of both. More books please! -
HOLY WORLD-BUILDING BATMAN. I really enjoyed a lot of things about CURIO, but the one aspect that kept blowing my mind over and over again is the world-building of not one but TWO completely weird and unique worlds, both so bizarre I am jealous of Evangeline Denmark's imagination.
There's the weird west steampunk Colorado mining town controlled by sinister magical overseers, and then there's the world-within-a-world of clockwork people and sentient porcelain dolls (nightmare fuel, thanks), and with complicated story lines about politics and revolution and action and betrayal happening in both.
Add in a handful of characters who have decided they can't live in their oppressive world anymore without fighting to change it, and it's an inventive steampunk adventure all around. -
This review is also available on my blog,
Read Till Dawn.
I'm a long-time fan of the author Donita K. Paul. Her DragonKeeper Chronicles are amazing - literally the best Christian fantasy I have ever read - and I've gobbled up tons of her books over the years. When I got a newsletter telling me that her daughter Evangeline had a book coming out, and that it was steampunk dystopian, I was excited. Then I saw the gorgeous cover and I was completely hooked.
It was available on BookLook Bloggers, a review program I'm a part of, but the copies were snapped up so fast that when I went to request it the day it became available, they were already out of hard copies. I hate reading ebooks unless I absolutely have to, so I sent a semi-begging email to Blink. I got a lovely email back letting me know that I would be getting a copy in the mail, asking whether I would like to interview the author, and just all-around being so nice and welcoming to me that it made me feel even more warm and fuzzy about the book than I already did. That was literally the most pleasant interaction I've ever had with a publishing company! Plus, they sent me a gorgeous hard-back copy instead of an ARC or even just a regular paperback. When I pulled that beauty out of the package my heart just about stopped.
The trouble started once I actually cracked open the cover. And I'm absolutely heartbroken to say it, but . . . Curio was really bad. And the terrible thing is that I actually really love the premise - even now, having read the book and kind of hated it, I'm still excited about the premise because I feel like Denmark really had some really awesome material to go on. She came up with a fascinating scenario, with the tocks and the porcies and the entire world full of fully-animated, living dolls. The entire dystopian backstory to everything sounded really cool too, and the writing was quite good - though I kind of lost track of all the myriad side-characters running around - and, with a few rounds of judicious edits, the book could have come out really well.
I'm not talking about editing for grammar or anything like that - Denmark is a competent writer, there's really nothing lacking there, though I wouldn't have minded a few more paragraphs explaining the dystopian setting before diving into the story. But no, what I would really focus on removing are all the lust scenes. Like, seriously. In Grey's community there's some rule (that really doesn't make any sense, to be perfectly honest) that forbids males and females from standing within a few feet of each other. Literally from the first chapter - when a childhood friend picks her up to protect her from a pack of wolves - every single time she touches a man Grey starts obsessing about it. Every. Single. Time. Her heart starts racing, she starts focusing on the touch of his skin, she forgets whatever super-important thing she's in the middle of and just starts thinking about that person's eyes. And I'll be straight with you: it's not just Grey who gets carried away with her lustful instincts. Whit does too, and so does a character who comes into the story later (whom I don't want to name for fear of spoilers). People who barely know each other randomly start passionately kissing, but it's supposed to be okay because we know that the kissing obviously means that they are meant to be a good match for each other - they're soul mates or something, never mind the fact that they have no idea whether they even have anything in common other than some hormonal urges.
But honestly. I don't really like reading a book where I get the feeling that if you left the two main characters alone together in a room for more than ten minutes you'd come back to find them, ahem, getting it on. I legitimately think that the self-control in all of these characters is so low that they could not deny the urge to take it all the way and sleep together if other pressing matters didn't keep them preoccupied most of the time. And that is really not a pleasant impression to have of the protagonists of a story.
Plus, I'll just add, there's some really creepy goings-on amongst the porcies, including a lord who we're told cycles through mistresses and who actually tries to rape Grey at one point. I wasn't such a huge fan of that, either, for obvious reasons.
Basically, if all those pages of racing heartbeats and trembling kisses and creepy hands-on-skirts had been deleted from the book, it would have been a very entertaining read; as it is, though, I struggled to get past all of the troubling parts and through to the meat of the story. I almost DNF'd about halfway through, actually, but I decided I was still interested enough in the core story to see it through to the end. I can't say I'd highly recommend this book to anyone, but I am interested to see what Denmark comes out with in the future; she's definitely inherited that knack for creating fascinating worlds from her mother, and if she would just stop giving her characters so many hormones she could easily write some quality fiction.
Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. -
I was first drawn to this book by the lovely book cover, than by the fact that the author is a Colorado author, and lastly by the summary of this book. I do like reading steampunk books but they can be hit and miss for me. This book is what steampunk is about and how to do it right. I instantly was transported into the world that Grey resided in. I could picture everything and it all had a touch of steampunk elements to everything.
While I am talking about this book I have to also mention the whimsical world behind the curio. All of the people who live in this alternate world are memorable and intriguing. This is another reason that I enjoyed reading this book. It helped because for the first third of the story there was not a lot happening in the action department but after that it was full of action. The story did end nicely. I can't wait to read the next book and continue the battle with Grey, Whit, and the rest of the defenders. -
CURIO is a complicated and fascinated steampunk debut by Evangeline Denmark. Grey Haward lives in a harsh, punishing world in Mercury City, in a Colorado I'm grateful never existed. Some of the mystery behind the city and its founders is eventually explained, but it's clear at the outset that Grey has a narrowly circumscribed life. After unsuccessfully resisting those in authority, Grey is forced to flee for safety--and finds herself inside the world of a curio cabinet: a world populated by clockwork figures and porcelain people, where humans like herself are a rarity. But Curio City, though lovely to look at, is as dangerous as the outside world, and if Grey wants to survive to change either world, she'll have to find and ally herself with the only other human in Curio City.
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Thank God, it's over. Woah. This book was one of the worst books I've read in a long time. Definitely, won't be reading anything else by this author or continuing with the series - if there are future books.
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This book was... interesting? Different? Perhaps both. And I don't mean this in a bad way, but in the way one might feel after watching something odd, yet they find they kind of like, or at least are fascinated by it. I don't believe I've read anything like this before, but maybe that's because I've not read much in the steampunk genre. But there were things I liked such as, one, the world in the curio cabinet with the people made of porcelain and the people who run on gadgets like a clock. So different for me, and I found them pretty cool (save for the villain, who is not cool). I also liked the characters of Grey and The Mad Tock. And, happily, the book wasn't too predictable, so it gets bonus points for that.
I did have some things in it that lower my rating, though. First, the romances (yes, there was more than one) were too instant-lovey for me, and... yeah. The other is that the book was confusing in spots. I don't know why, but perhaps it's because it's a book I really had to pay close attention to in spots, and sometimes I wasn't... This is probably more my fault than the author's.
In the end, while I think parts of "Curio" strange, I did find after reading it that I did overall like it. Not my favorite read, but not a horrible one. I'm giving "Curio" by Evangeline Denmark a rating of four, and recommend to mature teens and adults who like YA that stretches the imagination.
On a last note, I will say one more thing, and that is that this book didn't have much a Christian theme in it to me, despite being published by a publisher that is part of Zondervan. There was mention of a Designer (I think that's what he was called), but he didn't have much of an effect on the story. I could see that maybe he'd have a bigger part in the future of this series, but that remains to be seen, but even then I'm not sure what kind of a character he is. Anyways, I just thought I'd let others know this.
You may want to know- There is kissing, violence, use of magic, and content not suitable for young readers.
*Thanks to the publisher through Netgalley and Booklook Bloggers for a free e-copy and print copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. -
***I received the ebook from the publisher through
BookLook Bloggers in exchange for an honest review***
As someone new to the steampunk and Christian genre, this book threw me straight in the deep end. It begins in Mercury City (the world of the Chemists and Defenders) where repression and violence is a daily occurrence, and then everything is turned on its head when Grey falls into her Grandfather’s old cabinet which transports her to Curio (the world of the Porcies and Tocks).
For me it read like two different stories/a whole new story inside a story and that wasn’t even the most trippy part (the clockwork people are strange to put it lightly). The multiple perspectives meant we could see into both worlds and how each affects the other which I did actually find interesting, though with no emotional connections to any of the characters I wasn’t invested in what happened. There were many points when I was close to putting it down for good and having no regrets. Of course that’s when some action kicked in and I decided to give it another shot.
The pace was very touch and go with sporadic world building and character development that didn’t flow smoothly, which the change in POVs undoubtedly didn’t help. Overall I can’t say that this book was for me. Original and unique with a concept that I’ve never experienced before but not my cup of tea at all.
Posted on
Enchanted by YA -
I received a copy from Netgalley.
Steampunk novels are touch and go with me. It's not my favourite genre, really, but every now and then I see a steampunk novel I like the look of and figure I'll give it a chance. Which is exactly what I thought when I saw Curio pop up on Netgalley.
I made it 108 pages, but this is another not for me book. I don't think it's a terrible book at all, its very creative, descriptive and quite original in its storyline and ideas. The main character is likeable enough. However, I am very confused by the lack of world building. There's a lot going on and I'm just not following it, and not really that interested in continuing to be honest.
It's not a bad book and I think people who like fantasy steam punk would really enjoy it, it's just not my cup of tea.
Thank you to Netgalley and Zonderkidz-Books for approving my request to view the title -
3.5/5 stars
I loved the steampunk aspect of the book, and the porcie storyline was really good!
It was a fast paced and unique book, I enjoyed reading it :)
I was a bit bored with Whit's pov, this might be because I was more interested in Grey story...
The characters were likeable and the whole world was really interesting, I just felt that it dragged in some places... -
4 1/2 stars
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In Curio, Grey Haward lives in a world where Chemists oversee her every choice. Dependent upon a daily potion, which the leaders allow residents once a day, Grey’s family is special. Her grandfather and father possess the ability to survive without the potion, which leads her to question her own dependency. Even still, Grey tries to remain overlooked as the family protects their secret. Every night, a strict curfew is adhered to until one night when Grey’s best friend, Whit, takes the blame for Grey breaking curfew. He returns battered and in great pain, which prompts Grey to give up her potion to repay him and assist his survival. All of this is followed by a series of events that lead to Grey becoming of interest, and hunted by the Chemists…
To save her life, her grandfather’s shop assistant sends Grey through a wardrobe door, unlocked by a key Grey seems to have magical sway over. Inside this world, Grey is told to find “him,” only she doesn’t know who to look for. Inside the dangerous world, Grey sticks out as one of a kind and catches the eye of a volatile man who will stop at nothing to have what he wants…
Steampunk isn’t something I actively read. That’s not to say I wouldn’t wish to or that I don’t enjoy the world it infuses in the imagination, it’s simply an era/genre I haven’t traversed. Debut YA author (she’s co-authored two children’s books), Evangeline Denmark is ready to take this genre by storm with her wacky (best term scenario) and colorfully imaginative, Curio. This novel is one of the most unique I’ve read in a long time. The world building is phenomenal and I also thought the sense of adventure was in high form. Think along the lines of what something like Pirates of the Caribbean did for remaking swashbucklers, this novel is capable of for steampunk. Yes, it’s THAT entertaining.
Aside from its sense of adventure, there’s a moral sense of figuring out what’s right vs. wrong, and a power struggle between the evil in Grey’s world and the people who fight to right the sense of balance. Told in alternating worlds – Curio City and a small “western town,” the novel works well as a three-character narrative. Between Grey, Whit and Blaise (one of the characters Grey meets in Curio), the novel has multiple points of view and personality interests that serve it well. Because of this, there is more than one perspective, which allows the reader to grasp more of the world as seen through the eyes of the many characters, characters that are well developed to say the least.
Last but not least, there is the romance. The sizzling chemistry and sparks are crazy good. This follows suit with most YA novels and doesn’t solely focus on said romance (everyone is too busy trying to stay alive!), but what’s there is always teetering on the edge of fantastic potential. As we all know, this is just how any good romance begins. If you enjoy adventurous novels or any fantasy-esque young adult story, Curio is worth a look. It’s a hot-off-the-press release (January 5th) and even has a novella prequel, Mark of Blood and Alchemy, currently free on e-book platforms. I’ve not read it but suspect it’d give the interested reader an excellent notion of what to expect from the talented pen of Denmark, and Curio, the first in this new series.
This review originally appeared on
Silver Petticoat Review. -
Grey lives in Mercury City, a city controlled by tyrannical Chemists and the potion they produce. After breaking the law, Grey runs to her grandfather's store for refuge and ends up inside a curio cabinet. The cabinet contains a world of its own, with creatures unlike anything Grey has encountered before. Grey then must find her way back out, but only after she's located a mysterious stranger she knows nothing about.
There is much to love about this book, but it's certainly not perfect. The word choices threw me off quite a bit and inhibited the otherwise beautiful flow of the story. There were many instances where I had to read a sentence several times before I understood what was happening simply because the word choice was so unusual or overly "creative". There were also huge gaps in the backstory. I spent much of the book wondering who the Chemists are, why they're in charge, what the potion is, what it does, and why people are dependent on it. Some things eventually get explained in very sparse terms, but my questions were never really answered. The end of the book left me with even more questions and feeling generally unsatisfied. Of course, once I finished the book, I found out about the short prequel that contains most of the backstory. I'm not a fan of prequels that are required reading in order to understand the main story, but if you decide to read this book, read the prequel first. It will save you a lot of head scratching.
By this point you're probably thinking that I didn't like the book, but that's not the case at all. In spite of the confusion I felt, I loved a lot of things about Curio. For starters, the premise is unusual and interesting. It combines popular dystopian themes with fantasy in new ways that kept me turning pages. Once I got sucked into the story, it was easy to keep reading, and I looked forward to each time I picked the book up. I liked the themes and different societies that existed both inside and outside the cabinet. The characters are interesting, flawed, and strong in their own ways. I especially liked the difference between the Chemists and Defenders, and the Tocks and the Porcies, along with the abilities and limitations of each one. The story balanced both worlds and both sets of problems well. I'm interested to see how things turn out as the rest of the series unfolds.
It all boils down to this — read the prequel first. I haven't read it, but I'm guessing that much of my confusion stemmed from the fact that I didn't. You will probably enjoy this book a lot as long as you understand the story behind it. It's worth the read, and I will definitely be reading the next installment when it comes out.
Content: Violence and sensuality.
Source: I received a copy of this book from BookLook Bloggers in exchange for an honest review.
My blog:
Batch of Books -
My thanks to NetGalley and Zonderkidz-Books Blink for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.
This book was not for me. The cover, gorgeous. The interior, not so much.
I had started reading this book, was confused as all get out, realized there was a prequel novella and figured that would make everything make sense. Again, not so much.
From what I could gather, this is a steam-punk, alternate America, with Alchemists/Chemists and various types of constructed people. The world wasn't built in a way that I could clearly understand and from the prequel at least, there was no real Christian over or under tone that I could discern, which I was hoping for/expecting from this publisher.
Not a bad book, but the whole dystopian world with baddies controlling everything and a plucky "different" and "special" young girl in love as the savior of all and beats the baddies has been SO over-done that if it isn't done INCREDIBLY well, just goes over like a lead balloon.
This book didn't work for me at all. Not saying it's horrible, just that it wasn't my cup of tea. I DNF'd it because I was complaining about reading it to my friends more than I was actually reading it. My friends were all counseling me to DNF, because I was obviously not enjoying it. I decided life is too short and did so, but with a heavy heart. I really REALLY wanted to like this one, but it just wasn't clicking for me.
Two stars, because I didn't hate it, but I didn't really like it either. Again, not for me, but it may be for you. -
I read an advanced copy of Curio in return for an honest review, which I am happy to give.
Confession - I had never read a steampunk novel before reading Curio! The whole book is a rollercoaster ride: Evangeline Denmark tosses her readers into the thick of things from page one and then never lets up. The world building is astonishing; as a writer I can only imagine the time spent to develop this time and place, because it felt so real to me as a reader. I liked the main character Grey, from the get-go. A powerful young woman, she is compassionate and strong in the face of a society that values neither. There are plenty of twists and turns here and how I thought things would turn out is not how they turned out, which to me is a sign that the author is not pandering to their audience. I really enjoyed this book and think this is an impressive debut! -
CURIO is a book I started to read, couldn't get into, put down, then picked up again when Mom said I needed to read it. It is Steampunk, a genre I've never read, and I think it's really not for me. Once I got started I found CURIO to be a very imaginative book, the author has a very active imagination. In some places it is real and down to earth, but not mostly. She's trapped in a CURIO cabinet and she has to rescue someone so she has to overcome the powers of CURIO. I did enjoy the book and found it very cool. This would be an awesome movie. I really loved some of the things in it. However it was very slow and confusing in some places.
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Really cool concept and intriguing world-building all around. Honestly was super confused the whole time on plot and motives and basically everything in general. Also got annoyed with how the MC gave herself whiplash checking out the new mysterious hot guy after going on about how much she's crushing/in love with homeboy from her world.
Maybe it was just me, but I had a lot of trouble sorting everything out. LOVED the worldbuilding though. Some epic steampunk stuff going on. Characters were all pretty cool, but my main problem is listed above. lol! It's a very high paced story and I definitely couldn't put it down, just couldn't sort out what was happening 90% of the time. -
This book was; interestingly enough, full of steampunk vibes. At the beginning of the book I was confused and a little lost but once I got into it I was addicted! The romance was my favorite part because it didn't overwhelm the story, it was just enough. The story was very unique and very different compared to what I've been reading lately so it was refreshing to read. Overall I am very impressed with this book despite the murky beginning.
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I have such mix feelings for this book. I enjoyed the concept of the world but I was also bored and lost so many times.
“Being brave for bravery’s sake isn’t much better than being beautiful for beauty’s sake.”
I was hooked right from chapter one, but as I go on I became more bored and bored. It picked up in the middle but there were still parts I'm really not interested in.
On one hand (pun intended haha!), I really enjoyed the story when they were inside the Shelf. The Curio city was such an interesting world. It's my first time reading about a world where those who 'live' in it are dolls. Blaise and Gray's story line was really interesting and I enjoyed their journey and interactions with the porcies and tocks. In another hand, I didn't care much about Whit's storyline. He's such a boring character for me. But I'm still fascinated with the world where people need to take potions everyday to fight off their starvation disease.
There are still a lot of things I didn't understand about the world and all the defenders stuff and I'm loaded with questions. It took me a while to really get into the story, it could be because I'm really not in to steampunk or it could be because the writing was really not for me. Also, while reading it, I kept getting The Hunger Games vibes. Gray as Katniss, Blaise as Peeta, and Whit as Gale, the Chemists as those of the Capital, the Shelf as the Hunger Games arena. It's not a bad thing, I just want to throw it in there.
Anyway, there were several times I found myself questioning whether I want to continue on or to finally put down the book, but obviously I went on because the world was just really interesting and new. I skipped a lot of paragraphs so I can finish it faster, mostly on Whit's perspective.
All in all, I did enjoy the world but the writing was just meh and the world building was not done well so it took me a long while to understand a lot of things. I'm not sure if I want to continue on with the series but I guess we'll just have to see.
I recommend this book for anyone who likes steampunk books, I think you guys will enjoy this better than me! -
DNF (stopped at 50%)
I was recommended this book a couple years ago as a good steampunk read and I was very excited to start it. But it unfortunately did not impress me. The worldbuilding was so confusing and even at 50% of the way through, I still wasn't sure what was going on or where the plot was taking me.
It also doesn't help that I was reading the ebook version before I realized I don't read well on a screen. But sadly this doesn't seem worth it for me to buy a physical copy.
It seemed like it could've been a really interesting read with some more edits and clarification and could very well be the steampunk novel someone else is looking for.
But it wasn't for me -
Steampunk has always held a fascination for me, but I've never really gotten a chance to read many novels within the genre. When I first saw Curio, not only was I intrigued by the cover, but I was also excited to learn that it was being published by a company I review for- giving me the perfect opportunity to read it.
While imaginative, I found that Curio had some very distracting issues. Like its prequel novella, Mark of Blood and Alchemy, I felt that this novel really faltered in its lack in giving the reader a sense of place and in-world logic and possibilities. It was descriptive in the fact that I could easily picture in my mind the characters (and fashions, for that matter) and I got the overall "feel" of the book--but unfortunately, there was little to no worldbuilding in how this steampunk world actually worked both scientifically and politically. It is a ridiculously hard element to balance when writing a fantasy because you want to educate the reader without overloading them with info-dumps, but I can't say that this method of jumping right into the action without much background knowledge truly helped me. In fact, I think the backstory I gained by reading the prequel might have made it more confusing. By the end of the book, the reader did get more information, but I felt that it was too little too late.
I felt this book had a lot in common with another Harper Collins Imprint YA, Storm Siren, because both of them contained imagination and promise, but both also suffered from the many of the same world-building problems. I feel like they're both on the right track, but fell short of the mark a little bit.
Another issue I had with Curio was the constant focus on the body. This was not always in a romantic context (although it often was), but it happened so often it ceased to become uncomfortable and felt like over-kill; for a book from a Christian publisher, I was very disappointed with the extent of the teenage romance [insert picture of the disapproving frown of a Victorian grandmother on my face]. I really wouldn't call this Christian fiction at all, which is not something I have a problem with in and of itself, although I do think it might be something Christian readers may wish to be aware of since it is from Harper Collins Christian Publishing.
There are many five-and-four-star reviews for this book on Goodreads, so this may strike the right notes for some people. It did have an intriguing premise and a distinctly "different" setting. However, I confess that I was disappointed.
I received this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. -
There is so much to love about Evangeline Denmark’s CURIO. It’s imaginative. And exciting. And completely captivating. The characters are interesting, likable, unusual, appealing. The worlds are incredible - both the world of the Chemists and Defenders and the world of Porcies and Tocks. The lore is intriguing.
Its pages are filled with magic and alchemy, battles of good versus evil, and moments of unimaginable bravery, selflessness, sacrifice. There are a number of wonderfully unique inventions and beings. The characters’ abilities are fascinating. There is romance. There is rebellion. There is a quest.
Until the moment Grey Haward stood up against the Chemists to protect her friend Whit she didn’t know she was different. She didn’t know her family was different. Being kept in the dark may have once been what kept her safe. Now, not knowing what she is and how to call upon her abilities could put her in even greater danger.
With the Chemists after her, she’s forced into hiding and sent on a journey to a place she never knew existed to find the one person who may be able to save her and her family. But with no time to learn who she is looking for or how to return, her task may prove impossible. Especially when the place she ends up in appears to be as dangerous as her own.
Told from multiple perspectives, readers will get to see what’s going on in both worlds. They’ll get to know more about the three main characters - Grey, Blaise and Whit. They’ll learn more about the history of the Defenders and Chemists. And they’ll get to experience even more action and adventure, tension and suspense.
Author Evangeline Denmark delivers a spellbinding novel that is creative and original, immensely entertaining, thrilling. Her steampunk creations are bizarre and amazing and disturbing. Her worlds are ones readers will thoroughly enjoy exploring along with her characters and want to keep exploring.
CURIO wraps many things up in its epilogue but leaves open the possibility of returning to the worlds in a sequel. There are questions that still remain, battles yet to be fought, victors to be decided. The ending will more than satisfy, but is sure to leave readers eager for more.
This is a definite must read for those looking for a story they can escape into, become immersed in, be riveted by.
Original GR comments:
This book is awesome. So glad I was introduced to it. Loved the world and characters. Could not put this one down. Review TK tomorrow!
