Engn was an adequate novel. It was not anything to talk about but kept my attention enough that I did read the whole thing! The style of writing just was not my type, but the plot itself was very interesting.

I do not like giving bad reviews but, i did not like this book. I did not like the universe in wich it takes place, i tought the characters were one dimentional. I really think that as a reviewer, we get the chance to read so many amazing novels...but this one did not meet my expectations. I would have been very dispointed if it was the only book i brought on vacation

From the blurb I really expected to enjoy this steampunk adventure, but while the book had some good points, it also had flaws. Engn is the story of Finn, a young boy captured and kidnapped to work in the mysterious city of Engn , a sprawling ever growing industrial metropolis, constantly needing to replenish its workforce. Rumours abound that all is not what It seems, and with a little help from friends, Finn is determined to destroy it from within.
First the positives, the basic idea of the plot is good, and the character of Finn is reasonably well developed. There are a couple of nice plot twists too.
Now for the problems. The first and most obvious is the pacing, this book felt quite dragged out, almost bloated, especially in the middle, and then the ending just seemed to come from nowhere, the whole concept of the Directory seemed to come from nowhere , just in time to conveniently wrap up the book. I also felt like some of the characters felt a little flat and one dimensional.

****I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review ****

This should have been a no brainer/ Insta win for me BUT it was a laborious read and an even more torturous test of my endurance. I LOVE Steampunk!! I said it... I know many are sick of it or never really warmed up to the (now abundant) trend but I really do love it...I especially love it when it is written well...and here it was...MEH! This was a tropic coming of age tale whereby the youth try to find their place in a world ruled by a corrupt system that seeks to conform everyone to their specific, moldable, ideology. The twists were not so hard to suss out and the plot moved at a snails pace. For me it did not resonate BUT if your into conspiracy theories revolving around some evil societal overlords and their machinations then this might be your type of read.

Ok, let me start off by saying, it took me 5 days to read this book. I’m not even sure why I finished it. Simon Kewin could be a great writer but from this book I didn’t see it. The writing style was very predictable and not interesting. Present, past, present, past then a different POV. Then back to the present. It was a little all over the place and it just didn’t work for me. I think it could have been better with less information about the past.

The plot was there. The story line really had potential and I think it was talked through well but the characters didn’t line up with the story line. At the beginning Finn is portrayed as a scared little boy who always runs home to mommy when things go wrong. He’s even scared of his “best friend” Connor. There was never a specific point where he “outgrew” that faze and out of nowhere he is supposed become part of the Wreckers and destroy Engn? His character was the downfall of the book for me. And he’s the main character so it never got better. I think if the story would have followed Connor’s or Diane’s POV it would have had a better chance of working. Because Connor’s storyline made sense do to his family ties. And Diane had been running from Engn for a while so it would have made sense to talk about her side of the story.

I couldn’t tell if there was a romance aspect to this book. I think Kewin hinted at it but it never really connected.

The reading level was easy. However there was a lot of past information I felt I needed to remember only for it to not play any roll in the rest of the book.

The ending was very predictable. Going in I could see the ending going several different ways but as the book progressed it was easy to see which direction Kewin wanted to go. I think it had great potential for plot twists and a shocking ending but it didn’t get there. There was a part that was left open ending and it might be in the second book (if there is one) but if not, it could have easily been left out to not confuse the reader.