Book Title:                    Chasing The Star Garden
(The Airship Racing Chronicles Series #01)
Author:                           Melanie Karsak 
Number of pages:    325

Synopsis:

An opium-addicted beauty.
An infamous poet living in self-imposed exile.
An ancient treasure about to fall into the wrong hands.

Melanie Karsak’s Chasing the Star Garden takes readers on a thrilling adventure from the gritty opium dens of gaslamp London to the gem-colored waters of the ancient world. Lily Stargazer, a loveable but reckless airship racer with a famous lover and shattered past, reluctantly plunges into a centuries-old mystery in a romantic adventure best described as Dan Brown meets Mary Shelley.

It all begins on one of the worst days of Lily’s life. She just lost the London leg of the 1823 Airship Grand Prix. To top it off, a harlequin fleeing from constables shoved a kaleidoscope down her pants, told her to fly to Venice, then threw himself from her airship tower. What’s a girl to do? For Lily, the answer is easy: drink absinthe and smoke opium.

Lily’s lover, Lord Byron, encourages her to make the trip to Venice. Lily soon finds herself at the heart of an ancient mystery which has her running from her past and chasing true love and the stars along the way.

(re: Goodreads @ Chasing The Star Garden by Melanie Karsak)

Should this book be picked up? the tl;dr spoiler-less review:

• It’s like the Da Vinci Code meets Indiana Jones – a treasure-hunt of sorts on both tangible/intangible extremes.
• Fancy steampunk? World building is superb and this is a fast-paced read that might fit your bill.
• Anti-heroine is fleshed out well. She also inhales drugs and alcohol like oxygen. So that’s cool.

Initial Thoughts:

I don’t really understand the hype of steampunk or the vintage feel of steam-powered technology. I mean, I guess I can visualise the appeal others might have…but it just never did it for me. And then I was graced with this read; which I will say kind of changed my perception of steampunk. Not by much, but it’s a step in the right direction in discovering new things.

Let me throw down some concrete thoughts:

Disclaimer: Potential spoilers inherent to this review from here onward.

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