Where do I even start? I absolutely adored following the main trio as their loving relationship only grows in beautiful and healthy ways. I LOVE THEIR RELATIONSHIP SO MUCH. I love how Nick grows as a person, through discovering her strengths and recognizing and working through her weaknesses. The book tackles many complex themes and pulls it off.

Most of all, though, the writing in this book is top notch. Utterly gorgeous. I can't quote specific lines because they are so embedded into the context of the book that they wouldn't make sense individually. The story is built through a powerful web of words and phrases that often made me stop, re-read, and roll their beauty around in my mind. I have such a clear picture of what the world looks like, but also how Nick sees it. I felt fully invested in experiencing the world and story from Nick's perspective. Cornwell does a masterful job of expressing how Nick reacts to events, of fully pulling in the reader and somehow making the characters' emotions crystal clear with complex, stunning wordsmithing. I legit sobbed-not just tears, full on sobbing-at one point.

I cannot recommend this duology enough.

Not a huge fan of how the author handed the poly romance. They were never official, and I don't think they ever kissed each other except for on the forehead or cheek.

It feels like the author wants it to be a poly romance, but she's too scared to call it that. They're just "really close friends".

Not really as good as [b:Mechanica|40963299|Mechanica (Mechanica, #1)|Betsy Cornwell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1532734417l/40963299._SY75_.jpg|18982957] but still lovely.

Nice wee bit of gay too.

*This review will unavoidably spoil Mechanica if you have not read it and want to.

Venturess picks up a year after Mechanica left off: Nicolette has found a family in her best friends, Caro and Prince Fin of Esting. Even though Fin has always loved Caro, and Nicolette loves Fin, we don’t get a love triangle. Instead, they have a poly-amorous non-sexual (at least there isn’t even a hint on page) relationship. Nicolette has a patron and her own shop, and she’s busy with orders (especially those mechanical glass slippers she wore to the ball last year). The annual Royal Exposition of Art and Science is here again, and Fin speaks in front of a crowd. Then, a bullet rips through his shoulder. His mother and older brother have already been murdered by Faerie assassins, so is this another attempt on the royal family?

Nicolette receives a letter from her old housekeeper, Mr. Candery, who lives in Faerie, asking her to bring Prince Fin to negotiate a treaty between Esting and Faerie. Everyone is under the impression Fin and Nicolette are engaged because they’ve both used the rumor to placate the kingdom, a kingdom that needs fairy tale endings in the midst of impending war. Mr. Candery assumes Nicolette can convince her fiance to come to him. Fin, Caro, and Nicolette decide they must travel across the ocean to Faerie to discuss a peace treaty.

Years ago, Esting invaded and colonized Faerie. Some Esting soldiers remain stationed in Faerie, and there is an embargo on Faerie people and goods in Esting. One member of the court has no intentions of seeing Prince Fin negotiate and begins to build a mechanical army to attack when the time is right.

The emotional depth of Venturess was better than in Mechanica. There were times I wanted to feel more while reading that first book, and in its sequel readers get dialectical emotions: anger and love, relief and remorse. Characters who are supposed to be good have major flaws that Nicolette has to get work through, characters are killed or maimed, bad things happen. There are several surprises; things I thought resolved in Mechanica come back powerfully, giving Nicolette interesting situations to process. Cornwell writes with actual colonization in mind, never romanticizing it to soften things for readers. For these reasons, Venturess felt like a much more adult novel, not young adult.

Perhaps because she is a year older now (maybe 18??), Nicolette’s narration has matured. She sets emotional boundaries, protects her friends, and withstands grief in the face of death and ethical issues. As she thinks about what’s happening, she processes her emotions and how she wants to react to them. She admits she knows she should feel grateful when compared to the loss of others — but does not, and thinks through why. I’m not providing concrete examples to avoid spoilers.

I felt that the plot moved along at the right pace, too, slowing in more tender moments, such as Fin, Caro, and Nicolette laying on the deck of the airship taking them to Faerie and looking at the stars. Later, when Esting inevitably attacks on Faerie land, the action is well-described but doesn’t drag. I got the full experience of loss faced in battle when characters are described — without going through each gory stabbing. And even though I don’t see it often, I appreciated that information readers learn through narration is shared verbally between characters, so we know the info was actually shared. Typically, a writer will skip anything that sounds like repeated info, which I find unrealistic.

Venturess is an emotionally-driven novel about love in the broadest sense of the word, gender-fluid characters, colonization, and different types of slavery. It gets dark in places, but history is indeed dark. Several gear-ladened, coal-powered animals, people, and contraptions appear throughout, so the wonder of steam-punk inventions remains a prominent element.

This review was originally published at Grab the Lapels.

I liked Ventures way more than Mechanica; I already know the characters and I already love them, their relationship is solidified and the basics of the world-building have been established. I don't know, I think the story worked so much better here than the first book. Don't get me wrong, I liked Mechanica but between explaining the world building, the characters, their motivations, and stories, I felt like something was missing.

Ventures is full of adventures, terrifying magic, incredible new inventions, anti-colonization discussions, misogynist villains, and a delightful queer-friendly fairy world. The characters are so lovely and their relationship is beautiful. Nick, Fin, and Caro are a polyamorous couple and AHHHH. They're a family, they love each other so much and it makes my heart so ridiculously happy.

So yeah, I adore this story and I would protect these characters from everything. I can't wait to read The Forest Queen.

Venturess is the second book in the Mechanica series by Betsy Cornwell; a steampunk fairytale retelling. I absolutely loved Mechanica and was so excited to finally dive into the next part of Nicolette's story.

One of the things I love most about this series is Nicolette's strong conviction about being her own heroine and how love, as defined by society, plays a lesser role. Her version of love comes in the form of her two best friends: Fin and Caro. These three characters share such a unique bond that speak directly to my soul.

Love is such a diverse and ever adapting facet and my own unique family dynamic reflects that. Maybe that's why I am so drawn to these characters. My home consists of me, my wife, our daughter AND our daughter's father. We share a bond that is unprecedented and to see something similar reflected in the pages of a young adult novel makes me all warm and tingly inside.

Aside from the relationship these characters maintain, the imagery and world building that Cornwell created in Venturess are just as stunning as the first novel. While I wish that there were even more steampunk themes addressed here, I know that many of Cornwell's readers begged for the Faerie side to be more predominant and in that, she delivered.

I love seeing what Nicolette has in her repertoire when it comes to her inventions including the modifications to Jules which is revealed simply by looking at the phenomenal cover of the book. I also loved the quick sneak peak into the premise of Cornwell's next book, The Forest Queen. I can only hope to get my hands on it ASAP.

Venturess is truly a one of a kind story and I implore you to pick it up.

Xx
LenaMay

Want to see more bookish things from me? Check out my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfer...

*I was sent a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for my honest review*

VIDEO REVIEW: https://youtu.be/kjOdBBziVmo

4.5 Stars

Such a great sequel! The friendship between Nicolette, Caro and Fin was even better than the previous book. The storytelling was more vibrant and action packed and I loved the new setting of Fairie! There were a lot of twists and turns I didn't see coming which I really enjoyed!

Between a 3.5 and a 4.

These books always hit me with at least one big thing where I’m like “you did NOT set that up enough to do this and get away with it,” but i did still like the book, so maybe it did get away with it.

If you haven't read the first book, Mechanica, you should definitely read that first. Mechanica is a Cinderella retelling, but "Cinderella", or in this case Mechanica, is a mechanic and all she wants to do is go the technological exposition in order to escape the clutches of her step-family. Venturess is about what happens after Nick starts up a very successful business.

This story has many unexpected twists which kept me on my toes when reading this! I loved learning about Faerie and all the inhabitants when Nick, Fin, and Caro venture there to possibly negotiate a peace treaty with the fae. I loved this story even more than the first because it continued the story of "Cinderella" whereas most Cinderella retellings stop after Happily Ever After.

Highly recommend this story to anyone who likes fairy tale retellings!