4.5 stars

Lumiere follows Eyelet and Ulrick as they try and figure out how to use the Illuminator and keep it out of the hands of people who will use it for evil.

Overall I really liked and enjoy this book. It had mystery, and intrigue and kept me on my toes guessing what was going to happen next. All the inventions that Ulrick had were fascinating and some of them were really helpful as well when trying to keep information out of bad peoples hands.

This is an exciting and fun steam punk YA novel.

The cliffhanger at the end of this one has me needing to read the next one immediately!

Read a finished copy.

I love steampunk! There isn't enough steampunk. And steampunk with dystopian mixed in.

This is YA. Eyelet Elsworth (what a name!) is living in darkness. So she's on the move to find her late father's invention, the Illuminator. Eyelet has been on her own, living with a secret that would be dangerous if found out.

She finds it, but sees someone steal it so she goes after him. Its told in different POVs and theres plenty of bad guys.

The premise was soooooooooo good! Unfortunately, the execution of said premise felt a bit like it was being held up by duct tape and bubble gum in places.

A decent first book in this fantasy series. Characters and setting were very interesting to read about. Pretty good read, but I want to see more growth in the next book.

Fun ride! This book has imaginative world-building, and a great nemesis. I'm not in love with the name schemes (Smrt, really?) but the names did not distract from an otherwise epic and loveable cast.

Good first book in this fantasy series. Characters and setting were very interesting to read about. Pretty good read.

This book was so good! So good in fact that I went on to read all three books in the trilogy. I could not put this book down and I am just incredibly sorry that I haven't read this book before now.

First off the main character, Eyelet.....*long deep sigh* I don't know who thought that name was a great idea but I'm just going to pretend they got dusted during Thanos snap and thats it.

Moving on..

This cover art is beautiful and dare I say the best thing about this book by a long shot. This was a steampunk-esque YA book that just screamed MESSAGE on every page. Ok we get it the Eyelet is "strong" thank you moving on, except she isn't. She's a vapid teenager that honest;y would lose her head if it weren't screwed on correctly, and the plot just followed her right down the rabbit hole. Its all over the place and doesn't really know where it wants to go or how the hell to get there.

I couldn't finish this book and don't feel like I've missed anything.

This story has such an interesting premise and I was quite let down by the execution. The story follows a girl with an interesting and rather odd name, Eyelet, who is just like her name, interesting and odd. I definitely found her a little bit immature and I hoped it would change throughout the story, but my expectations were not met.

The story was also all over the place and I got lost at some places, I got confused a lot and I thought it had a lot of plot holes. It also felt like the author put everything on a golden platter in front of the reader and it got boring because there was nothing for me to discover, everything was said by the author. Most of the scenes didn't even make sense, like for example, how they almost got killed by the vapours but they managed to survive even though I'm pretty sure she only killed like three of them?

So yeah, this was a no for me, I feel like a lot of the book could have been taken out and I wouldn't even notice it. The writing style wasn't great and there were places where I was really bored.

I did like the steampunk aspect of the story. It was probably my favorite thing in the entire book. At first the world building seemed so interesting and promising but it never fully developed.
The characters also felt very banal and flat and underdeveloped and had the potential for more but rested on simple.
I guess I had expected more of this book. The story wasn't bad but I just never connected and that made me not care. Overall, I kind of wanted more from Lumière.

Intriguing adventures, colorful, fun characters, lots of action and plot twists, sweet romance, creative steampunk elements

So I can't say I loved this one but I did enjoy it. It took until at least half way for the story to really hook me. At first, I was confused by the Steampunk items like the birds and the cycle thing but eventually I was able to roll with it. Too many things weren't explained at all but hopefully more will be revealed in book 2.

I did like Ulrick and he was ultimately the saving of the story although I thought the pantry scene was a bit gross. Eyelet's name is just annoying but otherwise, her stubborn will and inability to actually listen to Ulrick was frustrating but I was glad once they both started to trust each other.

It was an interesting story and I'll read Book 2 just to see where it goes with the story.

Just not for me. I couldn't get into the story. May try again at a later date.

No longer interested in reading this. Clearing out old galleys.

Unfortunately, this book just did not hold my interest. I tried to read it multiple times, and have restarted it as well. Each time I continue to find myself not enjoying it. It has a great premise, but just did not interest me enough to continue reading to the end. This one just wasn’t for me.

This first book in the series is a science fiction/fantasy/stream punk novel that will leave you wanting to read the next book immediately!

A mystical YA is always either a bomb or a tomb as a reading experience. After reading the summary, I thought it's going to be fantastic but the heroine really annoyed me. And that's never good if I can't like the main character. The plot itself bored me. I expected more.

Skyscape and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of Lumiere. This is my honest opinion of the book.

Young Eyelet Elsworth is at the Carnival with her mother, when she sees her father's invention, the Great Illuminator, being used by a stranger. Her father had invented the machine to use on Eyelet, in order to stop her seizures. In their society, it is dangerous to be afflicted by any kind of madness. Wickedry, or magic, is also prohibited, with severe penalties for either issue.

It has been 9 years since the overloaded machine knocked the City of Brethren into eternal darkness. When her mother is accused of being a Valkyrie, making Eyelet a suspect as well, Eyelet must run for her life. Given an hourglass vial that her father gave her mother for safekeeping, Eyelet needs to protect the mysterious pendant while using her father's secret mechanical devices to escape. Can she rely on the kindness of a stranger and his housemates for her safety? Will the questions of the past ever be answered?

The combination of old world attitudes and the mechanical gadgets reminds me of Steampunk. The magical element adds a different dimension, in both a good and a bad way. Lumiere was all over the place, as though the author wanted to be certain to educate the reader about absolutely everything in this invented world. With some editing to streamline the story, Lumiere would be a better book. The sinister characters were too wise and the heroine, along with her protector, too naïve. Considering the lack of devices for instant communication, the characters seemed to have an easy time tracking each other down. Lumiere has promise, as the world created is interesting. This is the first Steampunk novel that I have read and it definitely piqued my interest in the genre.

I am really awed at the concept of this book as not a single scene bored me. It was well written and full of high stakes and a twist I did not see coming!

Eyelet has seizures. In this time period and in this world, people don't understand seizures, so she has to hide her condition away, feeling like a freak, because people would lock her up in a mental institution if she ever found out. Her father, in an attempt to cure her, creates something called the Illuminator to see inside her head. Dad loses this device as a result of bad guy, Eyelet discovers it years later just as someone else is stealing it. She jumps onto the back of this person's carriage then demands to be housed by him.

I think this book had a very interesting premise and a beautiful cover but I couldn't really connect to the protagonist.