Review: Third Daughter

Third Daughter by Susan Kaye Quinn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I got this book as part of the Storybundle.com Extraordinary Steampunk Bundle. I had no idea what to expect when I started reading it. Based on the cover, I figured it was basically a Steampunk novel taking place in India rather than England. That, alone seemed kind of interesting. As I read through the book, it quickly became apparent that this was actually taking place in an alternate Earth with an India-like culture spread across three countries. After just a few chapters, the book becomes a spy thriller and I found myself unable to put the book down. Many times, while reading, I would keep telling myself “just one more chapter.” While this trilogy seems to have been plotted as one large story, this book has a story that comes to a satisfying ending.

If I had one criticism about this book, it’s that it is, in my opinion, mis-characterized. Both the description on StoryBundle and the back of the book describe it as a steampunk romance, but I found it to barely be either of those. Yes, there is an airship that’s an important plot point, but it barely figures in the story. There are two automatons that don’t do much. Nothing about their version of encrypted radio seems to depend on steampunk either. As for the romance part - there is some making out, but that’s about it. Maybe I missed something and this is YA or something, but I’m used to romance meaning quite a bit more. Even if there isn’t sex, the characters don’t even really express much more than a strong desire to kiss. Neither of those two things makes this a bad book - as I mentioned - I found myself unable to put it down, even when it was time to sleep. But if you’re coming into this expecting ROMANCE and lots of crazy steam-powered tech - you won’t find that here.

Overall, the story was compelling enough to keep me interested. It’s nice to have a Victorian story that takes place somewhere else than England. I’d recommend it as a nice, fun read.

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