Thank you to NetGalley and Norton Young Readers for sending me a free ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Brightstorm is a middle grade steampunk adventure with delightful potential that ultimately didn’t pull through for me. Although, with hints of A Series of Unfortunate Events and The Golden Compass, I do know some young readers who would enjoy this adventure.

In my opinion, the strongest part of this story is the steampunk world-building and its strong female role models. Felicity (the cook) and Harriet (skyship captain and one of the female explorers) were two of my favorites. I also really enjoyed the animal characters and the varying roles they played. The twins, Maudie and Arthur, also showed promise: Maudie is an engineer and invented a prosthetic limb for her brother while Arthur, born with only one arm, is more of a daydreamer and thinker. Arthur also has an egg allergy, and I wish there had been more time spent integrating it into the main story.

However, I found Brightstorm to be quite slow and not the fast-paced adventure it was promised to be. I also despised the beginning of the novel; I’m not a fan of humiliating situations simply for the characters to hit rock bottom. It’s also super clear which characters are the good characters in this story and which are the bad - there’s little to no gray area and so your first predictions as a reader usually come true. For some readers, such as young or reluctant readers, this might be the perfect fit for them, but it didn’t work for me.

In all, this is a cute steampunk adventure with themes of family, friendship, animal rights, and a touch of environmental consciousness. Thank you again to NetGalley and Norton Young Readers for the privilege of reviewing an ARC.