The Perfect Series by Helena Duggan

As always my reviews follow the format of CAWPILE

Characters

Atmosphere

Writing

Pile

Intrigue

Logic

Enjoyment

Series Rating 4 Stars⭐⭐⭐⭐

Characters

The interesting thing about these characters is their curiosity, if something doesn't feel right then it usually isn't. Violet is naturally inquisitive of her new home when the "rose tinted spectacles" are almost immediately fixed to her parents view of the place. She vows to discover how no-one can see what she deems as its many faults. Throughout the series she also discovers some of the most interesting and intriguing parts of Perfect in her battle to save a home that she eventually comes to love.

The naivety of her characteristics, to begin with I found quite annoying. Her whinny nature began to grate on me very early on, however as time passed and the story progressed particularly in book 1 I realised that she needed to grow and mature as her adventure did the same. The introduction of a new best friend in Boy was a very clever move, it gave Violet someone to bounce her ideas and predictions of events, and how she felt about the situations off of which in turn I believe gave me the reader time to form my own opinions. Did I agree with her? or was I forming my own conclusions? Boy also at times acted as Violet's voice of reason which was helpful to keep the plot grounded. She seemed happy to be able to share the responsibility of their decisions and actions, which meant that they stayed sensible for children of their age. I particularly liked how the never tried to reach beyond their years with their plans, realising that there were of course going to be aspects of their adventure that required help from adults and they never shied away from that. The adults were also portrayed well, the removal of their presence particularly in book 1 meant that we were able to see exactly what the children were capable of as they discovered the same about themselves.

In that respect I do think that my favourite character in these books as a whole series was Boy, maybe that's because I am an adult reading a children's book but his level-headed approach to all that they faced in the course of the three books was something I both admired and appreciated as a reader. I can recognise however that as a 9-12 year old child you would see the appeal in Violet as a favourite, she is of course the heroine of the story.

Atmosphere

The atmosphere of these books did have its peaks and troughs, during the high intensity moments and events the descriptions of both the characters thoughts and feelings and also their surroundings added a richness to the atmosphere that I really enjoyed. It at times became quite immersive, however there were unfortunately times when it lost that feeling as well. The prolonged expectation that the reader would know where and why things were happening was taken for granted a little too much for me. I think it should have been reinforced a little more with the addition of a few descriptive sentences amongst the action to ensure the reader's interpretation of the surroundings in relation to the events were taking place. Especially considering the age group this series is written for.

Writing

I have to say in credit to this book the writing remained consistent, The style was easy to read with no overly complex language when considering the target audience. It was age appropriate. It has offered an easy approachable series which may have otherwise been intimidating to children of this age seem perfectly accessible. The descriptive language used was effective although in my opinion not used enough to the advantage of the situations the characters found themselves in.

Plot

Although I enjoyed the overall plot of the trilogy, I do think it could have successfully been reduced to a duology. The third book felt as if it was being fleshed out too much, it peaked and troughed a little to much for one book, there were in my opinion too many instances were our characters stopped to "take stock" of their situation. The action never seemed to last long enough, the stoppages happened a little too frequently and the solutions seemed a little too predictable, for a series that is pitched as mysterious adventures. That in no way means that I didn't enjoy what was written, merely that for me it didn't reach its full potential for me to give it a full 5 stars.

Intrigue

Following on from the points of the plot, the intrigue seemed to loose momentum for me in the last book. The series as a whole has a lot of potential to hold the mysterious element, because we the reader are discovering as much as the characters are at the same rate, yet I found that almost every prediction I made throughout the story as a whole, turned out to be correct, this for some readers adds to the excitement but for me (and I realise I am probably part of a minority) I like to be proven wrong and to be taken in a new direction to what I was expecting. So although I am able to see how the aspects that did not reach my expectations may be perfectly acceptable and enjoyable to most for me it unfortunately fell a little short.

Logic

I am glad to say that none of the books in this series felt entirely illogical, I was expecting some whimsy and fantastical engineering and so in no way felt that the plot or building of the world became too much to accept as feasible.

Enjoyment

So to conclude this review, for my first experience of a steampunk, mysterious adventure series I enjoyed the books. There seemed to be plenty of scope for improvement if the author ever chooses to revisit this world and/or its characters. For its target audience though I believe it is a successful adventure that many will find exciting.