Full review at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books 
 Sometimes a book has all my catnip but it doesn't gel into a cohesive, engaging story. Breath of Earth is one of those books. The language is descriptive, the setting intriguing, and the characters are diverse. Even the cover art is lovely. But I never got a feel for what was happening or why I should care. 
 The biggest strength of this book is the diversity of the characters, which resonates with both the alternate history of the book and the actual history of San Francisco, a city that has always been diverse in a variety of ways. The main character knows that her mother was White, but all she knows about her father is that he must have had dark skin and curly black hair, like her. Her appearance means that she has to deal with racism as well as sexism. Other main characters are Chinese, Japanese, and Hawaiian. There's also a transgender character. 
 Unfortunately, none of these characters come fully to life with the exception of the transgender character. They basically careen around from disaster to disaster, with little chance to show their personalities. I didn't care what happened to them. I had the same problem with the book's alternate history idea - it's a neat idea that allows for steampunk elements and a ton of intrigue, but I never got a good feel for the world, or the politics, or why I should care about either. The story elements seem thrown together at random. 
 If you read this book under less stress than I was under, and you liked it, please tell us! I wanted to like it. It had all my catnip - inclusive characters, steampunk elements, 1906 San Francisco, science nerds, magic, and a heroine of color - but it never came together for me as a coherent story with a solid sense of character and place. 
 - Carrie S.