"Before me lay a world of possibilities."
In her YA novel Mechanica, author Betsy Cornwell takes an entirely fresh look at a classic fairy tale. Sixteen-year-old Nicolette Lampton has been a slave to her stepfamily for six long years. Although Stepmother likes to fancy herself the queen of abstinence, she spoils her daughters terribly--and forces Nicolette to cater to their every whim. These recent years have been lost to a haze of grief and hard work for Nicolette. But when she discovers her late mother's workshop in the cellar, all of that changes. The palace is throwing a ball and a Royal Exhibition soon, and she means to attend...as an inventor, of course. Now all she has to do is earn enough money for parts, build a technological masterpiece, sew gowns for herself and the Steps, and work out her feelings for her charming new friend Fin. With her entire future at stake, what could possibly go wrong?
There's something verabsorbing about Nicolette's story. Maybe it's the way the prose dances easily across the page, or that this version of "Cinderella" is subtly steampunk. Whatever the case, it manages to be original while simultaneously playing out the age-old tale we know and love. An example of this lies in the fact that, somehow, several of the inventions tucked away in the cellar seem almost alive. They're thoughtful, creative, and full of hidden depths. For the longest time, the so-called "Mechanica" lives alone with the Steps, so it is the inventions she turns to for companionship, transforming them from animate objects into true friends. Despite a long backstory-dump near the beginning, Cornwell's writing is smooth and well-paced, making both plot and setting that much more believable.
Although Nicolette is not the Cinderella readers may have come to expect, she is a remarkably lovable heroine. When the Steps try to squash her newfound joy, she works doubly hard to protect it. When her friends are in need, she rushes to their side. Even her naturally proud, independent personality tries to set her back at times, but Mechanica perseveres. She endures so much tragedy and difficulty that it's impossible not to root for her, and she loves her friends so fully that disliking her would be a feat. And her companions are similar, facing hardships and challenges left and right, holding fiercely to those they love no matter what. This applies just as much to the living machines as it does to her human friends, making this story incredibly unique. In the end, it is love that will make or break their happily ever after, and only the three of them can decide what that means.
As far as preread-worthy content goes, Mechanica is very clean. No one curses or uses crude language, and violence is practically nonexistent. Nicolette is very knowledgeable in her profession, so while she doesn't go into great detail on how all of her projects work, there are occasions where she actually describes what she's doing--unlike in other novels, where characters use a bit of jargon to confirm their competency. This really makes her talent feel authentic, and adds to the flavor of the narrative. Small doses of Fey magic are used to clean the house and build gadgets. What romance there is is subtle, consisting of nothing more physical than kissing. While there is a love triangle, it is minor and structured in an entirely new way. None of this interferes with the plot; if anything, it furthers it, making room near the end for the possibility of a sequel.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a well-known fairy tale with a steampunk twist. Nicolette Lampton is an original heroine who dreams of love, and in her quest to prove herself she finds just that. She is accompanied by two friends and a menagerie of living machines, all of which are likable and rounded. The plot is compelling, the characters admirable, and the inventions amazing. Even though there is a rather long flashback at the beginning, it flows relatively well with the rest of the plot. Overall, Betsy Cornwell's Mechanica is a marvelous retelling deserving of four stars.