Button Fox

SUMMARY
Nina Swift -- intelligent, beautiful, and the brand new captain of the Shonti Bloom, an old airship barely held together by rusted metal and wishful thinking. Nina’s mother, the former mayor of their city, was an ace airship pilot, and a beloved and respected member of the community… or a cold, merciless tyrant. She, and her airship suddenly disappeared one day when Nina was just six, leaving her an orphan. What type of person her mother really was is a mystery to Nina, but not the only one. Ever since her mother vanished, Nina has been plagued with questions. Where was her mother headed? Why did she take off so suddenly? And what happened to her?

With her mother’s journal in hand, she and her ragtag team of friends take to the skies in search of the truth. Immediately, she finds herself being tailed by the young Officer Jack McGraw and the cruel Lieutenant Borker. What starts off as a simple charge of piloting an unlicensed airship quickly devolves into evading arrest, arson, and murder. If the police weren’t enough, Nina and her crew have to outmaneuver eco-terrorists, secret assassin cults, and government conspiracies… and try not to accidently start an all out inter-state war in the process.

MY THOUGHTS
This book is written in first person present tense. So few books are written that way that it felt a little unnatural to read at first. After a few chapters, however, I was used to it, and by a third of the way through I couldn't imagine the book being written in another way. Nina really comes alive as a character, and the world is so beautiful and bustling that it feels real and alive. I definitely recommend taking the time to check out Gaia's Brood, especially if you are a fan of steampunk or dystopian novels.