Hardcover ( )

Beautifully constructed plot, complicated characters, a crazy "we've warred ourself back to the dark ages" future London, and some pretty great deadpan jokes about how our present might be interpreted by forthcoming generations ("Cheeses Crice!" "What the blog?" they blaspheme).

I haven't read the series to which this is a prequel, but I liked Fever Crumb a lot. I could almost tell when there was a reveal that would make a longtime fan reel. So I just might look into the Mortal Engine books now...

Oh, and does anyone else think the cover art totally looks like Natalie Portman? ( )

Three stars because the protagonist is a textbook passive character until the last few chapters. Her lack of agency really drains the urgency from the story.

Awesome worldbuilding, though - a whimsical far-future post-apocalyptic world that's jam-packed with clever details, silly jokes, and the odd David Bowie reference. Exciting action scenes and some beautiful human moments between parents and children (which is something you don't always get in YA, for some reason).

I'm not sure if I'm going to pick up the sequel, but the ending was fulfilling enough that I'm considering it. ( )

I've never read the Hungry City Chronicles, but I still really enjoyed this book even though it's a prequel. Sometimes books at the beginning of a series are a little slow because there is so much background to establish before the action can start, but I thought this novel did a great job of establishing a fully-realized other world as the plot moved along at a steady pace. Fever is a fascinating character who doesn't yet know herself; even as she re-evaluates her perspective on the world and decides to shed her previous identity, her character is strong and I'm really hoping that she appears in Mortal Engines so I can follow her life story. ( )

The far future world was well imagined. Populated with characters with great depth, especially Fever. ( )