Review
Etiquette & Espionage
by Gail Carriger
First
sentences:
Sophronia
intended to pull the dumbwaiter up from the kitchen outside the front parlour
on the ground floor, where Mrs. Barnaclegoose was taking tea.
Summary:
It's
one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It's quite another to learn to curtsy
and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to Finishing School.
Sophronia Temminnick at 14 is a great trial more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper manners and the family can only hope that company never sees her atrocious curtsy. Her poor mother, desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady, enrolls the lively tomboy in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.
But young ladies learn to finish...everything. Certainly, they learn the fine arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but they also learn to deal out death, diversion, and espionage in the politest possible ways, of course. Sophronia and her friends are in for a rousing first year's education.
Sophronia Temminnick at 14 is a great trial more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper manners and the family can only hope that company never sees her atrocious curtsy. Her poor mother, desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady, enrolls the lively tomboy in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.
But young ladies learn to finish...everything. Certainly, they learn the fine arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but they also learn to deal out death, diversion, and espionage in the politest possible ways, of course. Sophronia and her friends are in for a rousing first year's education.
source:
Goodreads
My opinion:
With
Etiquette & Espionage Gail Carriger created another wonderful and highly
addicting series for Steampunk lovers and those who are looking for a soft
entry into this genre.
Sophronia’s
story is set before the one of Alexia Tarabotti but we meet some already well
known characters on our journey.
Sophronia
is a clever and witty 14 year old who is eager to learn how things work, which
leads to really funny situations. She is not your typical lady, waiting to get
married but she is rebellious and interested in the world around her and
waiting for her chance to prove to the people around her that she can be more
than a typical girl of that time (which she really isn’t!).
When she
gets the chance to go to Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy
for Young Ladies of Quality she is in for an adventure. The school is clearly
not a regular finishing school but something way cooler and Sophronia will
learn so much more than proper behavior.
Dimity, who
quickly becomes Sophronia’s friend and roommate, is a wonderful character. She
always tries to be a proper lady but with a friend like Sophronia it sometimes
is hard to behave and solve mysteries.
The story
is unique and I would say typically Gail Carriger. I enjoyed the ideas and wit
that are present through the whole novel and she really pays attention to those
little things, like introducing characters that fans of the Parasol
Protectorate Series will know already. The setting, Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy, is described in such great detail
that the whole story felt like a film to me and it was extremely hard to stop
reading (I usually read while on public transport and yes, I missed my stop
more than once.).
I am so
looking forward to the next books in this wonderful series and until then I
will dream of joining Finishing school too.
The books
in the Finishing School series are:
- Etiquette & Espionage
- Curtsies & Conspiracies (expected publication: November 5th, 2013)
- Waistcoats & Weaponry (expected publication: 2014)
Etiquette & Espionage sounds AWESOME! A school where girls learn which spoon to use first and how to kick someone's butt with a parasol, how great is that. Lovely review Karin, I can't wait to read this (:
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