Kate Elliott's Cold Magic

I am a fan of alternate history, so when I saw Kate Elliott's Cold Magic I picked it up.  I wanted to like it, really I did.  As Jia says at Dear Author

an Afro-Celtic post-Roman icepunk Regency novel with airships, Phoenician spies, and the intelligent descendants of troodons.

what's not to like?  The world-building was very believable.

But the novel never hooked me.  I lost interest in the protagonist's problems and couldn't keep the characters straight.

Despite my lack of interest, I'm passing it on to a newly twelve-year-old ardent reader.  I'll be interested in hearing what she thinks.