Karen Memory was just my sort of read! A sassy young heroine, a great cast of dynamic characters, and a steampunk slightly western vibe mixed in with a 19th century Seattle/San Francisco inspired city. What more could you possibly want!? Well diversity of course! - which is just what Elizabeth Bear gives us. All of her character cast is made up of an array of misfit characters that staff or frequent the Hotel Mon Cherie (yes you know the bordello type salons of the old west but this one on the swankier higher standards side). The characters are all so different and yet they all fit together so perfectly. So a bit hat tip to the author because I really loved each of them! 
 Of seamstresses, steampunk, serial killers and ...mind control!? 
 This book was just so much fun and managed that in a sometimes dark way. Even with some of the harsher themes the main character Karen's spunk really kept everything lighter then I think it would have otherwise. Since the main setting was a 19th century bordello house and there were all sorts of neat steampunk inventions that would crop up all over the place, along with dead bodies of girls that had been whipped to death and all that talk of slavery - you'd think things would be rather depressing. But they just weren't! I have to mention the steampunk contraptions peppered through this book were amazing! From many knived surgery machines, tracking devices to a crazy fancy sewing machine that was like an entire body rig that the person would have to fit themselves into to use, an electrocution glove, an airship AND a submersible and a mind control device - this was a literal smorgasboard of cool gadgets that delighted me! So really now you can't tell me all of that doesn't sound cool? Often in steampunk you'll see these types of things thrown in but they aren't nearly so fascinating to see in action nor so seamlessly woven in with the story. 
 Ah yes, perhaps you want to know about the story!? It stars Karen Memery, a young "seamstress" (a polite euphemism for prostitute) who works for Madame Damnable in Hotel Mon Cherie, one of the better salon houses in Rapid City. (Meaning the girls aren't treated like trash and seem to have pretty good lives aside from the fact that they make their livings on their backs.) All told from Karen's perspective there is a dust up with this nasty man Bantle who runs some dockside whorehouses (that are the treat em like slaves, beat and torment the girls kind) when one of his girls and her rescuer escapes to Madame's house. So along with that there is the mystery of prostitutes turning up dumped around the city having been flogged (whipped) to death and that killer is being chased by a U.S. Marshall and his Comanche posse-man all across the country. Now mix in some romance - because young Karen is pining away in love with the whisp of a girl that escaped from that nasty brute Bantle. There is must more going on that I can't speak of because that would spoil plot for you. But suffice to say you won't get bored with this book! 
 Speech with a specific flavor to it, like corncakes and molasses, nom nom 
 Be prepared to luxuriate in the dialect and slang of the main character Karen. She has a very particular prose that felt very old world western. While this might be hard for some readers, this wasn't a problem for me because it really served to put me in the mood and place of the book's setting making the whole experience more real for me. Pretty much all of the cool turns of phrase were easy to pick up from context. I absolutely LOVED this character's voice so much that while reading it I felt like I was watching a movie in my head where you get to a part and there is a letter and the voice reading it is the character's, except the whole book felt that way. As if I was listening to the most excellently narrated audio book, but reading it instead. Anyways all I'm saying is I loved Karen, her personality, the way her voice stood out from so many of the books/chracters I've ever read and most definitely how the entire book was written. So if you think you'll have an issue with the reading of it - perhaps try the audio I don't know if there is one yet, but I hope it ends up with one because this was just too much muchy muchness to miss! One thing is for sure they better get an excellent narrator to pull off this young miss's voice and do her the justice she deserves! 
 You ever hear somebody blithely say something so amazingly plastered over with bullshit it just makes your eyes bug? pg 198 
 It weren't raining, for a mystery. But the day felt pretty dark to all of us just then, notwithstanding. pg 104 
 We've all got our issues! 
 This tale had a whole lot of everything going on - and all without making it feel like too much. You know what I'm talking about! - those books that try to jam pack so many themes and 'issues' into them that you can hardly see straight when you're reading? Instead Karen Memory seamlessly integrates all of these things into one great story but with lots of pizzazz. I personally have an issue with books that include "issues" just for the sake of covering those issues, or making issues, or being controversial. I just don't know how to adequately describe what I mean but that but I hope you guys are catching my drift because ultimately I don't want to read a book about issues just because someone wants to write a book about issues. I like a great tale and if some strong issues are inherent therein - well all the better and they have to fit and not overwhelm me. That is exactly what I got and I loved it! It touched on women's equality as well as those for people of color, slavery, political and legal dirty dealings. 
 Smart enough to get herself into plenty of trouble. Pg 209 
 That is exactly why you should read Karen Memory. Because that line right there describes Karen and this book perfectly. Its mischievous and fun with just the right dose of dark reality mixed in that will make you still take it seriously. I highly recommend it!