Man, I'm still salty how they sidelined Deryn after the first book. The central duo is obviously Alek, the Austro-Hungarian prince on the run after his parents are assassinated, and Deryn Sharp, a Scottish girl disguised as a boy to serve in the British Air Service. Their roles are pretty straightforward but play off each other brilliantly: Alek is the reluctant heir navigating old-world politics and war, while Deryn is the brilliant commoner thriving in the Darwinist beastie-filled world of the 'Leviathan'. They're both outsiders, just from opposite ends of the social spectrum.
Dr. Nora Barlow is the other key player, the boffin scientist who becomes Deryn's mentor and kinda the moral compass of the Darwinist side. She's sharp, she's visionary, and she sees right through Deryn's disguise from the jump. Over on the Clanker side, you've got Count Volger, Alek's stern but fiercely loyal fencing master and guardian. He's the pragmatist trying to keep the idealistic prince alive. The beast itself, the Leviathan, is practically a character too—a living British airship whale ecosystem that Deryn loves and Alek is terrified of. Their dynamic, this clash of bio-engineered vs. mechanical worlds meeting through these two kids, is the whole heart of the series for me.
2026-08-12 20:20:46
2
Wyatt
Book Guide
UX Designer
I always found Alek a bit tiresome at the start—so whiny and entitled—but that's sort of the point. His role is to grow up. He starts as this coddled prince in a giant mech, and by the end, he's making hard choices for a cause bigger than his throne. Deryn, on the other hand, is consistently awesome. Her role isn't about growth so much as about maintaining her incredible competence under the constant threat of exposure. The tension between her skill and her secret is the engine for a lot of the plot. The supporting cast like Volger, with his dry sarcasm and hidden loyalty, and the eccentric Tesla, who shakes up the tech conflict, give the world its depth. It's really an ensemble piece about found family on a living airship.
2026-08-12 22:14:13
3
Mason
Book Scout
Receptionist
Alek and Deryn are the hearts of the story. One's a Clanker prince, the other a Darwinist airman. Their roles force them to bridge two worlds at war. Volger and Dr. Barlow round out the core group, each a guardian and ideologue. The Leviathan, the living ship, is home and a character in itself.
2026-08-13 23:30:09
3
Kai
Bookworm
Police Officer
The main characters are Prince Alek and Midshipman Dylan Sharp (who is really Deryn). Alek's role is to be a fugitive carrying a secret that could change the war, and his journey is about shedding privilege and understanding the new world. Deryn's role is to prove herself in a man's world while keeping her secret, and she's the action-hero, the one who climbs rigging and fights with beasties. They meet when Alek's walker rescues the crashed Leviathan, and their alliance forces both to question everything they were raised to believe. Volger and Dr. Barlow act as older, guiding figures for each, representing the entrenched ideologies the kids have to navigate or reject.
2026-08-14 22:18:01
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The Omega and The Arrogant Alpha
Kylie
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When you have status in a wolf pack then your life is set. You have privilege, you have pretty much everything you can ask for. I used to have that. Until my father, the head warrior, died protecting the Alpha and then all of a sudden we were nothing to the top pack leaders.
That was 5 years ago now. I still wonder how my mother managed to live through the death of her mate.
She’s the strongest woman I know. Especially after having our house taken off of us, our car, our entire life taken away.
When I got to school, I was pretty soaked from the rain and I went inside and went straight to my locker.
I could hear a bunch of kids coming down the hallway towards me, and I turned my head slightly to look at them. They were friends that I used to have, and friends that I always refused to have because they were spoiled assholes.
One of the guys that was closest to me elbowed me and shoved me into the locker and the rest of his friends started laughing.
“Dickhead.” I yelled. And they all stopped. But he slowly turned around to look at me.
“What did you just say, trash?” He asked.
“You heard me.” I said, turning to face him head on.
“I outrank you bitch. You don’t walk away from me. Never forget that.” He yelled.
“Fine.” I said, without changing my facial expression at all.
So he relaxed a little and pulled back away from me to look at his friends. But then one of his friends yelled at him to look out and when he turned back around to look at me, I punched him straight in the nose.
I met evil when I was a teenager. It never left me after that, hovered over me like a dark cloud, followed me everywhere.
When I least expected, he barged into my life like he owned it.
Kidnapped and vulnerable, I am trapped on a stranded island with no way out. There's nowhere I can hide.
I am afraid. I fear his gentleness more than his cruelity. I don't know if I can survive this but I do know that one of us will be ruined by the time this ends.
Every princess dreams about meeting a prince charming. I don't get the prince, I get the King who wants to rule over everything.
He's a Beast but I am no Belle.
The Beauty changed the beast. The Beast fell in love with her. A beautiful fairytale it was.
The Beast doesn't love me, I can't tame him.
This isn't a love story. It's a story of obsession.
18+. Not your traditional Mafia Romance. Proceed with Caution.
She can see the chains on his soul. He can't see the knife in her hand.
Seraphina Luca has spent her whole life watching powerful men wear invisible chains they don't know exist—contracts written in shadow, binding their souls to an ancient debt. She never asked for this gift. It's only made her isolated and alone.
Then Dante Romano stole her father's soul to burn his own contract. He's the most feared name in the underworld—cold, ruthless, and utterly convinced the ends justify the means. Seraphina should want him dead. God, she wants him dead. She also can't stop watching the way he flinches when someone calls him a monster. Like some small, starving part of him agrees.
When she's pulled into his world, the attraction is immediate and electric. He sees her as leverage. She sees him as the man who destroyed her family. They circle each other, testing and taunting, until the wall between hatred and hunger crumbles. She falls into bed with the man who orphaned her—and hates herself for wanting to stay.
But the clock is ticking. The ancient god who holds their contracts is dying. Someone is planning a massacre that will shatter the system forever. Seraphina has one choice: help Dante burn it all down, or watch everything she loves disappear.
She can't have vengeance and love. She can't save the world and save herself. She has to pick one.
When the most ruthless Alpha in history marks his fated mate, he expects to end the threat immediately. Instead, Aziel Nightbane finds himself bound to the one soul prophesied to destroy him. Lior Vale, a forgotten omega with a hidden monstrous power, should have died in Aziel’s grasp. He didn’t. Now the mate bond that was meant to be a death sentence becomes a dangerous weapon that grows stronger with every act of violence. As rival packs, witches, and traitors close in, Aziel must break or control the omega who could kill him. But the closer they get, the more the lines between hatred, survival, and twisted desire blur. In this brutal game of power and fate, only one question remains: who will break first, and who will rise as something far worse?
For nearly five centuries, no child has drawn a first breath.
The Creator sealed the womb of the world, and humanity learned to live without its future. But in the depths of Triune, another kind of genesis rose.
From the Middle comes a child with power and lineage to rival the Creator.
Not born, but woven.
Not raised, but awakened.
Bodies shaped by design. Souls coaxed from silence.
Each one a crafted echo of what humanity once was.
Those who survive their emergence ascend to the Upper.
Those who falter are reclaimed by the dark.
On the night meant to mark their passage into adulthood, five friends stumble upon a truth older than scripture and sharper than prophecy:
The first humans were not what they were told.
The gods were not who they claimed to be.
And the Children of Triune were never meant to ask why.
Some truths don't set you free, they come for you.
Humanity died, and she was the last of them.
Zarah Winters was on the verge of death after killing the sixth prince of hell. The seventh prince, a cunning and deceitful individual, did not want her to die because it would deprive him of his source of entertainment — her. Verphegor, as the demon introduced himself, offered her a deal. He would send her back to the past, where she could keep all her memories of this time and use them to change the future.
Zarah comes from a line of hunters. Hunters have a variety of abilities that aid them in combating demons. Zarah had no idea she had a talent in her past, which caused her to drop out of the academy. During the apocalypse, however, she discovers that she is a siphon, a person who steals the strength and abilities of demons in exchange for killing them.
With that kind of power laying dormant and with growing potential, she agreed to gamble on the demon’s offer. But with Verphegor being a prince of Hell, can she really trust the prince? Moreover, upon learning of her powers at an early stage, can she use them for humanity’s advantage?
Leviathan' by Scott Westerfeld is one of those books that sticks with you because of its vivid characters. The protagonist is Deryn Sharp, a brilliant and daring girl disguised as a boy to serve in the British Air Service—her wit and courage make her unforgettable. Then there’s Alek, the Austro-Hungarian prince on the run after his parents' assassination, carrying this mix of privilege and vulnerability that makes his arc so compelling. The story’s a wild ride of clashing worldviews, with Deryn’s Darwinist upbringing and Alek’s staunch Mechanist beliefs. And let’s not forget Dr. Barlow, the enigmatic scientist with her thylacine companion—she’s the kind of character who steals every scene she’s in. The way their paths collide against the backdrop of an alternate WWI is just chef’s kiss.
What I love most is how Westerfeld doesn’t just pit them against each other but forces them to grow together. Deryn’s struggle with her identity and Alek’s coming-of-age under pressure add layers to the adventure. Even side characters like Count Volger and Newkirk have their moments to shine. It’s one of those rare steampunk tales where the cast feels as dynamic as the worldbuilding.
I've read 'Leviathan' a few times now, and honestly, the main plot is a lot to unpack. It's set in an alternate 1914 where the world is split between the 'Clankers,' who use massive walker machines, and the 'Darwinists,' who have fabricated living creatures as weapons. The story follows two teenagers: Alek, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne on the run after his parents are assassinated, and Deryn, a girl disguised as a boy serving on the British airship Leviathan, which is a giant living whale-beast. Their paths collide when the Leviathan crashes in the Swiss Alps, forcing them into an uneasy alliance to survive.
For me, the key themes are the obvious ones—the clash between technology and nature, but also identity and duty. Alek's whole life is about living up to a legacy he didn't choose, while Deryn constantly has to hide who she is to pursue her dreams. There's also this undercurrent about the absurdity of war, shown through the lens of this bizarre, biologically engineered world. It's not just a steampunk adventure; it makes you think about how we define progress and what we're willing to sacrifice for it.
I always come back to the friendship that develops between Alek and Deryn. It's the heart of the book, navigating all that mistrust from their opposing worlds.