Rebel Mechanics by Shanna Swendson

Rebel Mechanics

by Shanna Swendson

A sixteen-year-old governess becomes a spy in this alternative U.S. history where the British control with magic and the colonists rebel by inventing.

Reviewed by Heather on

4 of 5 stars

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It's 1888, and seventeen-year-old Verity Newton lands a job in New York as a governess to a wealthy leading family--but she quickly learns that the family has big secrets. Magisters have always ruled the colonies, but now an

Verity is just looking for a job as a governess when she meets up with a group of mechanics testing their latest invention – a bus that runs without horses or magic. Members of the group befriend her and introduce her to the revolutionary cause. They see her as an asset because she got the job as a governess to a powerful British family. They want her to spy for them.

I enjoyed this author’s Enchanted, Inc. series and couldn’t wait to read this book. I love the premise that the revolution failed because the British have magic.

I like the way that the romance was handled in this book. At first it seems like it is going to play a major part in the story but then it ends up focusing on Verity making decisions for herself not based on what the men in her life want from her. There is flirtation and it may play out more in future books in the series but she isn’t focused just on finding a man to marry. It is hard to pull that combination off but the author did a great job of it.

I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next in the story.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 23 July, 2015: Finished reading
  • 23 July, 2015: Reviewed