Hello, night owls! You know, I never was a big fan of YA fiction, even when I was old enough to be categorized in that audience. There were too many shticks in the stories and characters that I found annoying. But as I've advanced into my twenties and found that a lot of adult fiction is equally shticky, I've realized there is something I miss about YA fiction: the faster pace. YA authors know that they've got to capture their readers within the first page or at least the first chapter. Now, I don't have a short attention span, but let's be honest. If the book doesn't grab me within the first chapter, there's a good chance I might not pick it up again (I read to be entertained, so entertain me!). And with YA fiction, at least most books in that genre cut to the chase and take you into the story.
This book, however, doesn't do that. In fact, it fails at pacing and a lot of other things...too many other things. The level of annoyance this book made me feel was enough to make me write a review, so you know we've got a lot of ground to cover. So without further ado, here's my rant on Betsy Cornwell's Cinderella adaptation, Mechanica.
NOTE: If you have any interest in reading this book or are in the middle of reading it, there may be spoilers ahead, so you have been warned.
Now, I'm not going to detail the exact plot like I've done in my movie reviews, because we all know the basics of the Cinderella story. Girl loses parent/s, forced to work for horrible step-family, goes to the ball, leaves a shoe behind, gets found, and is given her happy ending. This pretty much happens except for how she gets her happy ending and what kind of happy ending it is. You see, this Cinderella story comes with a "twist".
She doesn't get the prince...what a shock.
This Cinderella is the daughter of an inventor and a merchant (I think) and her name is Nicolette, though she often goes by Nick (ugh!). The book opens with her discovering her mother's mechanics workshop, where she discovers her mother's incredible clockwork insects and a special clockwork horse named Jules. We learn Nicolette has a thing for mechanics just like her mother and that this workshop could be her shot at building a future and a way out.
Then what happens?
For a almost a third of the book, we dive into boring exposition written dryly with dry dialogue where we learn about her past.
Look, I know it's difficult trying to weave in a backstory and keep the present story going. But with this book, it completely halts the present so we can learn about Nicolette's family life. You...just...can't...do that! By doing that, it makes the reader feel like they're slogging through some required reading assignment before they can get to whatever's good. At least, that's how it felt for me. After the first chapter when she discovers the workshop, I was ready to read about what she would do next. Instead, I got treated to two whole chapters of nothing but pure backstory. I had to wade through two long chapters before I could resume the real story. Besides, she already summed up her life story within the first chapter!
Stay focused, Maud...
In these two chapters (aside from getting endless glorifications of her mother), we learn what kind of world we're in. Nicolette lives in a steampunk city known as Esting City in the land of Esting. In this world, there is also an island called Faerie and guess who happens to live on that island?
The fey (a term for fairies that's used too much in fan-fiction).
...I'm going to be splitting hairs here, so bear with me!
While steampunk and fairies can technically fall under the term "fantasy", I feel steampunk definitely has a deeper connection with science fiction. The whole notion behind steampunk is that of scientific advancement (albeit in a 19th century way with steam power being the emphasis). Fairies, on the other hand, are a very mystical concept that lend themselves more to wispy, sword and sorcery fantasy. Now, I'm not saying you can't throw steampunk and fairies together in a story...however, they just don't sit right with me. Especially in this novel, since the only reason there is fairy stuff in this book is to provide Nicolette with magical cleaning supplies, a magical disguise potion, magical healing plants, and the Ashes (more on this frustrating bit later).
However, there is one interesting aspect about throwing fairies in as a powerful race into a primarily steampunk toned story. In Mechanica, the subject of social injustice is explored by showing a strenuous connection between humans and the fey. The only character I liked in here, a half-fey servant named Mr. Candery, gives Nicolette a closer look at the prejudice against the fey held by the people of Esting, who colonized them.While that prejudice is based on the fact that the fey use magic and every fantasy story under the sun has used magic as a mechanic for prejudice, the history between the fey and the humans in this story shows potential for an interesting story. At the very least, it sets up what could possibly be an awesome fey revolution story. I'd rather read about that than Nicolette!
Otherwise, they just provide a social backdrop and magic in this story.
It's also worth mentioning that the only distinguishing feature that the fey have in this world are freckles...blue freckles. For a while, I couldn't decide whether that was a little bit interesting or lame. After a few moments of befuddlement, I came to my senses and realized what it was: lame. Sprinkling blue paint on their faces just doesn't seem good enough if they look like humans in every other way.
Moving on!
Before I talk about our protagonist, I have to point out that the moment where she earns her Cinderella nickname is the worst. It's drawn out just as badly as it was in the 2015 live action Disney movie. After destroying Nicolette's workshop (a truly terrible moment), her stepmother and stepsisters decide to combine her nickname of Nick with her skills of being a mechanic. Mechanic. Nick. Put them both together and you get Mechanica! Half a page is dedicated to the invention of this name. I wanted to kick myself the entire time as I read the dang thing.
Now about Nicolette/Nick/Mechanica...her character is a mixed bag of nuts. On the one hand, she is great with machines and that lends to her being a Cinderella with ingenuity. She makes her own horse and carriage to take her to the ball - no fairy godmother ex machina there! What's more, her skills not only help her advance herself, but they also help her build up friends and allies when their machines are broken. How could she not be the perfect steampunk heroine?
On the other hand, she's really not that interesting to follow. Most of what she talks about are her mother, her step-family, machinery, dress-making, and her going ga-ga for the prince. She plans, dreams, and dwells too much to keep you interested in what's going on. It's also a little difficult to feel sorry for her since she rarely goes into detail about how her step-family treats her. She mostly complains about them giving her lots of tasks that prevent her from making new machines, and even then, she always manages to find time for her projects. As a modern version of Cinderella, she's almost as vapid as Lily James' portrayal in Disney's live action remake of Cinderella (surprisingly, both the book and that movie were released in the same year).
She also stays at her family home as a testament to her parents...
Look, I don't care how sentimentally attached I am to a house, once it stops feeling like my home, I'm out. Nicolette argues that it's better to stay and take abuse than to leave and become a servant elsewhere when she really just wants to settle into a mechanic business of her own. While it's smart not to make rash decisions, there is the undeniable fact that at least in another person's house, she could be treated better. Not to mention, she wouldn't have to be a servant forever. She could just work for a while until she can set up a business.
However, if she did that, then the ball wouldn't be so important.
Here, I do have to give Cornwell points because she makes the ball mean more than just a night out with a strapping royal. In this version, the ball precedes a grand exposition where many inventions, creations, and other such exhibits will be displayed. What this means for Nicolette is the chance to find a rich patron who can support her as a mechanic. She's already planned on going to the exposition to display her wares, but by going to the ball, she can get an early chance at meeting potential patrons.
The "by midnight" rule makes more sense in this version, too. The horse she makes to take her to the ball runs on a finite amount of coal. She can't have her horse run out of coal, because she'll have to be able to make it home before her disguise potion wears off (and her secret can't be revealed to her step-family). Unfortunately, she wastes too much of her precious time with the prince and she leaves for a stupid reason. Since that reason involves a whole other black hole of annoyance I could get pulled into, I'm not going to get into specifics, but I will say this. There's the most half-assed love triangle thrown into the whole mix that ultimately serves no purpose.
The ending is also half-assed and abrupt. I have no other insights into that.
Now, the last and (personally) most important thing I want to touch on is the one element that never ever gets resolved or explained in the entire story. This part, more than the Cinderella character, the lame fairies, and the love triangle bothers me the most.
The Ashes.
What the hell are the Ashes!?
When Nicolette discover's her mother's workshop, she opens a drawer where a bunch of shadowy, leafy things (?)suddenly rise up). For some reason, it scares her and she keeps them shut away in the drawer for the majority of the story. Only every once in a while does she look at them. On and off, throughout the story, she wonders what they are. We get hints that they may be the life force that give her mother's inventions a sentience/personality of their own, but it's never explained. My impression was that they were some sort of fey magic...stuff? Like I said, I don't know. Neither does Nicolette. And at the very end of the story, she still doesn't know. She simply says she'll find out what they mean someday and leaves it at that.
Maybe you're okay with that, Nicolette, but I'm not!
I don't know if the Ashes were a magic ex machina thing Cornwell created and couldn't explain. Perhaps she didn't know how to incorporate this element and found it difficult to define. I can understand that. But if you're going to overlook that element all together, you can't expect a reader to do the same. Plus, the Ashes never actually get used for anything. So why the hell were they there in the first place!? I smell sequel fodder (and it stinks!).
Sigh...you know, it's hard to adapt a fairy tale, especially one like Cinderella. With a good but passive character and a minimal plot, it can be difficult figuring out how to flesh out the character and broaden the story in a way that will engage modern audiences. And I really do have to applaud anyone who endeavors to make more out of less, because that's what you have to do with traditional fairy tales. But with Mechanica, it's just not good enough. The story is padded with too much exposition, the pacing is slower than a snail, there really isn't any action, and by the time you've finished it, you forget you even read it. There was potential, but it was all squandered for keeping in touch with the original material. All you're left with at the end is a poor ending and a headache.
If only Betsy Cornwell wrote about that possibly awesome fey revolution instead!
~Maud,
Official Night Owl
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