LEVIATHAN by Scott Westerfeld Book Review
Series: Leviathan, #1
Published: October 6th 2009 by Simon Pulse
Rating: 
I read LEVIATHAN by Scott Westerfeld a while back, and I seriously thought I posted it. Apparently, I only shared this review on GoodReads. This version of the review is slightly expanded than the version up on GoodReads.
Book Summary: Prince Aleksander, would-be heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battletorn war machine and a loyal crew of men.
Deryn Sharp is a commoner, disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She’s a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.
With World War I brewing, Alek and Deryn’s paths cross in the most unexpected way…taking them on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure that will change both their lives forever.
As the first in the series, there was definitely a lot of development done in order to get LEVIATHAN by Scott Westerfeld moving along. Overall, I thought that the writing was too slow and I had a hard time getting into it. I’m rusty on my history, and I thought that it would have helped me a lot to understand what was going on.
However, I do believe that LEVIATHAN by Scott Westerfeld has a lot of potential. I was fascinated by the “beasties” in the story and how they worked against the clankers’ machines. The descriptions were vivid, and I was able to get a good sense of these futuristic objects, though the beautiful illustrations did a lot of help to paint the picture. Speaking of the illustrations, they were absolutely beautiful! I love the cover and the endpapers of the book – definitely one of the best I’ve seen.
Though I am disappointed with LEVIATHAN by Scott Westerfeld, the first book of the series, I will continue to read the series and see where it leads to.
Edit: Looking back at my review months later, I feel like I was very critical and too harsh of the book. It is not that I do not recommend this book – I definitely would, but I feel like this book just did not live up to my expectations. I was hoping for a fast-paced, action-packed book and it was not what I got. I am really looking forward to reading BEHEMOTH and it is my sincere hope that I enjoy it, now that development is out of the way.
Other Book Reviews:
Karissa’s Reading Review
See Scott Read
Writer, Reader, Dreamer
Thanks for linking to my review!
I totally forgot to mention the illustrations in mine, oops. I LOVED them.