Author: Jacqueline E. Garlick

Title: Lumiére

Pages: 402

Genre: YA, Steampunk, Fantasy, Romance

Publisher: Skyscape

Date Published: August 11, 2015

Format: Galley

Source: Netgalley (Skyscape)

Read: January 19-20, 2016

Synopsis: 

Even in a land of eternal twilight, secrets can’t stay in the dark forever.
Seventeen-year-old Eyelet Elsworth has only one hope left: finding her late father’s most prized invention, the Illuminator. It’s been missing since the day of the mysterious flash—a day that saw the sun wiped out forever over England.
But living in darkness is nothing new to Eyelet. She’s hidden her secret affliction all of her life—a life that would be in danger if superstitious townspeople ever guessed the truth. And after her mother is accused and executed for a crime that she didn’t commit, the now-orphaned Eyelet has no choice but to track down the machine that was created with the sole purpose of being her cure.
Alone and on the run, she finally discovers the Illuminator—only to see a young man hauling it off. Determined to follow the thief and recover the machine, she ventures into the deepest, darkest, most dangerous part of her twisted world.
Revised edition: This edition of Lumière includes editorial revisions.

***I received a galley copy of this book from Netgalley (Skyscape) in exchange for an honest review.***

I regret putting off reading this book so much! I loved it so much I've decided it deserves to go on my Top Books of 2016!

Okay, so one of the first things that made me decide to keep reading is that things get exciting before I've even read 7% of the book. That is always a good sign, especially because I hardly ever read steam-punk. This book basically eased me into the genre and I'll be seeking out more books like this in the future. 

Actually, scratch that first part. The very first thing that kept me reading is the fact that the protagonist, Eyelet, is a diverse character. You hardly ever read about a protagonist who suffers from any sort of illness, much less one who experiences seizures. Further on in the story we are introduced to other diverse characters, and that made me extremely happy and excited. 

The characters in this book are not perfect. Even Urlick, Eyelet's love interest, isn't perfect, which is why I loved this book and made it pretty easy to lose myself reading until I got to the last page and cried when there wasn't any more to read.

The world-building in this book also kept me interested because I want to know more about Limpidous and the Embers. There's something that happens that made me question how I feel about the characters and their actions. I'll see how that plays out in book 2.

Lumiére gets all 5 Platypires because it kept me on the edge of my seat reading until the very end.

Author: Maddie DeLange

Title: Grayland

Pages: 264

Genre: NA, General Fiction

Publisher: Merchant Blue Publishing

Date Published: September 28, 2015

Format: Kindle edition

Source: Amazon

Read: September 30, 2015-January 2, 2016

Synopsis:

After her sister’s suicide, Marina Magaña struggles to get through each day. Stuck in a dead-end job, stalled out of college, and falling out with friends and family, her world is stagnating, drained of color. She’s lost and doesn’t know where her life is headed. 

One day she finds a mysterious locket, and soon after, a mysterious figure—the gray man—appears. Marina doesn’t know what to make of the strange events that follow, but she comes to understand that the gray man is more powerful than she could ever have imagined. 
​
In a tale touched by traumatic loss, painful self-discovery, and lyrical beauty, Marina must find out if she has what it takes to move on before it’s too late: before she, or someone she loves, gets caught between her mistakes and the power of the gray man.

*As part of the 2016 Platypire Diversity Challenge, I've decided to begin using this badge to identify books that include some form of diversity.

I didn't know how I felt about this book when I first started it at the end of September. If felt just like the name of the title--this grayland where our protagonist, Marina, lives in a state of limbo. 

I could connect to her on some level, not only because she is hispanic*, but because I too have felt like my life is at this stalled point where I don't know how to move forward. It's scary because you're supposed to know what you want to do and when and where. You're supposed to enjoy life, but you don't know how. So I could understand Maddie on that depressed level she lives in, and also on being the sister of a sibling who has been molested. 

All throughout the story though, I had one reoccurring question: Who is the gray man? While I never do get a response to that question, I do think he stands as a sort of symbol of depression and a representation of wishes we ask life to grant us. Like do-overs. I think he is freaky though, along with that creepy locket Marina finds that haunts her when she tries to get rid of it. 

This gave me a lot to think about in regards to how people deal with life and grief, but more especially about depression. It made me reflect on my own life.

4 Platypires.