Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Originality- 19/20

Characters- 17/20

Remembrance- 8/10

Quote-ability- 7/10

Entertainment- 17/20

Ending- 8/10

Recommend to read- 7/10

TOTAL- 83/100

Grade- B

It is the cusp of World War I, and all the European powers are arming up. The Austro-Hungarians and Germans have their Clankers, steam-driven iron machines loaded with guns and ammunition. The British Darwinists employ fabricated animals as their weaponry. Their Leviathan is a whale airship, and the most masterful beast in the British fleet.

Aleksandar Ferdinand, prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battle-torn Stormwalker and a loyal crew of men.

Deryn Sharp is a commoner, a girl 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 the Great War brewing, Alek's and Deryn's paths cross in the most unexpected way...taking them both aboard the Leviathan on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure. One that will change both their lives forever.

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I asked my friend if she could let me borrow one of her books and this is the one she chose for me. To be honest I wasn't too excited about reading it. It just really didn't seem like my kind of book. It took me a lot of time to even get into it.

Eventually though, it started to lure me in. The two main characters and both of their adventures became more and more captivating for me. I really liked Alek. Of course I felt sorry for him, but I also admired his courage. Alek and Deryn were amazing main characters. I was always worried for their safety. When one was doing okay the other was struggling. There were times when I was annoyed at Deryn. She put the Service before everything.

I was very impressed by the pictures as well. Without them I couldn't really imagine the different animals, ships, and machines that the characters saw and talked about. They still left room for my imagination but I could get a good idea about how they looked.

The entire novel was really creative. It made me look at history a whole new way. The whole idea of the Clankers and Darwinists is fantastic. I really liked seeing it brought to life in my mind. I seem to be getting more interested in historical fiction novels.

Overall I would say that Leviathan was a very creative novel that kept me interested and my mind conjuring up pictures of the one of a kind creatures. I would recommend this to both boys and girls that are interested in a different kind of history.

-Amanda