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My TBR includes several stars from the Steampunk firmament but I am a little cautious approaching them due to my aversion to Victoriana.

This book is set in an imagined historical era loosely based on gold-rush California. Without relying on swathes of descriptive prose the author was able to evoke the drab Blight-infested atmosphere and I was soon part of her believable Steampunk world and at first I felt quite claustrophobic struggling through a hostile city with my air intake restricted by a mask.
As Briar and her son made their separate way towards a common goal there was palpable tension and a sense of threat.
Briar is a strong admirable protagonist and Zeke is credible teenager who, while not being a total idiot, still manages to find himself in tricky situations.
The storyline felt quite similar to several post-apocalyptic films: an appealing group of characters struggling through a hostile environment and encountering certain action-packed 'obstacles' on their way to their ultimate, if vaguely defined, goal.

To be honest this book was a quite a contradiction for me.
I like to make an emotional connection with characters, a well defined villain and a strong, even if open-ended, conclusion.
Boneshaker gave me none of these.
I liked and admired the characters but felt little emotional attachment to them, I thought the villain had great potential but turned out pretty standard (I had a much more 'avant-garde' proposition in mind) and the conclusion was quite soft though not disappointing.
But despite all this I liked the book, I didn't get bored with all the traipsing through tunnels on the run from Rotters and I felt satisfied that the back story would see more development as the series continues.

And it was more than good enough to encourage me to try some more Steampunk.