#youngadult #steampunk #adventure #comingofage
Book Blurb
In an autocratic society that refuses to let her move forward, can Poppy stay ahead of the pack?
As expensive steam-powered automobiles speed across the land, Poppy Orpington is trapped and going nowhere – until her father reveals his secret project, a petrol-fuelled car ready for the race track. But will they even be allowed to compete?
Racing is the preserve of the wealthy elite and few will welcome a working class family onto their hallowed ground. Can Poppy overcome social prejudice and conformity, or will her one and only chance of a better life be crushed before it can even begin?
Full Throttle; book one of a Steampunk motor racing adventure set in a world of division, intolerance and inequality that modern readers may find disturbingly familiar…
My Review – 5 high octane fuelled stars!
I’ve given 5 high octane fuelled stars to Jon Hartless’ Steampunk adventure, Full Throttle, set in an alternate Edwardian reality of British society. Through the trials and tribulations of the protagonist, Poppy Orpington, the author explores the discrimination and divisions inherent in early twentieth century society, discrimination and divisions which still have resonance today. The novel is a hugely entertaining and thought-provoking read.
At the centre of the tale is Poppy, whose father is on a mission – to produce a petrol-fuelled car fit to compete with and annihilate the steam-powered vehicles which dominate motor racing and wider society. Success will give him and Poppy an escape route from working class poverty and failure is not an option. Poppy’s life and future is inextricably linked to her father’s work and that of the vehicle as her life takes her on a totally unexpected trajectory for a working class girl from the Black Country. Yet will this future be the making or breaking of her and those close to her?
Poppy is an outspoken and strong-willed character whom I greatly admired – as a female with a physical disability her life is far from easy, and I relished how her personality develops throughout the book. I also enjoyed the secondary characters who play an important role in the unfolding drama, namely her best friend Amy (an excellent foil for Poppy) and her father’s backers, the young aristocrat Simeon and his wife Helena, with whom she forms a friendship, despite their social differences. I admired how, through these relationships, the author explored the key themes of the novel. I was entertained throughout by the world building, portraying a Steampunk Edwardian Britain in which the author both encapsulates the excitement and drama inherent in the infancy of motor racing and society’s divisions.
I will not reveal the storyline, as to do so would be a disservice to the author and reader, but the narrative expertly explores discrimination in terms of sex, class and disability. The read also touches on greed and obsession, the abuse of power and the ills of misogyny. The book is a cracking, page-turning read, which deserves to be on the reading list of every teenager and adult.
Reviewed by Tina Williams
Please note that a copy of this book was given to me by the author for the purpose of a fair and honest review.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36157152-full-throttle
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