YA Fantasy - K.A. Wiggins

Perfect for fans of steampunk-flavoured girl-power adventures, The Friday Society is an alternate history mystery with SFF elements featuring three girls learning and wielding different kinds of power. Assistants to an inventor, a stage magician, and a combat and self-defense instructor, the three teens navigate independence, relationships, their place and contribution in a man's world and a high-stakes mystery involving murder, magic and massive explosives. For historical fiction fans, be warned; this leans more toward SFF than historical, with significant anachronisms in speech and worldbuilding, including in the somewhat lacking depiction of a Japanese character in London. The priority is put on pushing forward a fun, fast-paced story that bounces between perspectives and subplots for a cinematic feel. The author's previous writing credits are in middle grade fiction, and that tone comes through strongly, with a fairly light, almost silly feel. Good light read for fans of steampunk adventures with a very strong girl-power bent, not entirely predictable twists and a series set up.