Book Review- Leviathan

(From Goodreads) On the eve of World War I, conflicts in Europe are coming to a bloody boil. On every side, governments are frantically arming themselves with new weaponry and sorting out likely friends and foes. On the whole continent, perhaps the oddest pairing of all is the makeshift alliance bred in danger between Aleksandar Ferdinand, fugitive prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Deryn Sharp, a daring British airwoman disguised as a boy. Both have secrets that they must conceal and now face dangers of literally global proportions. A steampunk series by the author of the Uglies and the Midnighters series.


I thought that this book was really good. Scott Westerfeld is one of my favorite authors so I was hoping that the book would be good. I have recently fallen in love with steampunk and this steampunk/alternate history is very good. 

I thought that all the characters were very good although I didn't really like Alek in the beginning. But he turned out to be a good guy in the end. I love Deryn and how she pretends to be a boy just to be in the air force. Go girls! All the rest of the characters were good too, although I don't really like the count. I can see him turning out bad in the end. I wasn't really all that sure what to think of about the scientist lady. Even though I don't agree with the Darwinists in the story, they were my favorite characters. I didn't like the Clankers all that much. 

The plot was good and interesting. I love how it is an alternate history. I haven't seen many of this genre, but I love them. Mostly because they get you to think. Anyways, I thought it was sad that Alek's parent's died and I thought that Scott Westerfeld did a good job at portraying Alek's sadness. The only thing was that Alek seemed to forget about them later on in the story. If I was him, I would have been thinking about my parents all the time. 


I love the cover and the way the book looks. The only part I didn't like was the fact that the Allies are Darwinists. While the besties (I love that term) are cool, I hate the evolution crap in it. Evolution is just plain crap. So that was the only thing I didn't like about the book, was the evolution nonsense in it.

On a side note, its been a while, no a long time, since I've read any book with pictures. While I'm not positive if this book it meant for pre-teens, I will say that I think the pictures added to the story. Not only are they amazing but, they help show us what everything looks like. And adds to my imagination although it takes away from my brain a little.


Anyways, I really enjoyed the book and I can't wait to read the next one! (which is sitting in my bookcase as I type.)


On Goodreads: Leviathan
Author's Website: Scott Westerfeld

So, have you read any alternate history books? What was different in the books from real history?

Sincerely,
Peony