Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger Series: Finishing School #1
Published by Hachette Audio, Little Brown Books for Young Readers on February 5, 2013
Genres: Steampunk, Young Adult
Pages: 307
Source: Purchased
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My Reviews in this series: Curtsies & Conspiracies, Waistcoats & Weaponry
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.
Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is a great trial to her poor mother. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper manners--and the family can only hope that company never sees her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. So she enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.
But Sophronia soon realizes the school is not quite what her mother might have hoped. At Mademoiselle Geraldine's, young ladies learn to finish...everything. Certainly, they learn the fine arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but the 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.
Where young girls are trained to be even more devious
Etiquette & Espionage was quite a bit of fun in a very similar way that the Parasol Protectorate books were. They share the same universe, a few characters but mostly the style of storytelling is peppered with the same type of mad dashes of action between the slower paced yet often comical scenes of the book. Young Sophronia, our heroine is a 14 year old trouble maker who for her time I would guess could be considered quite a to boy. She likes to read, explore and take things a part and put them back together. She is covertly recruited to attend the elite Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality that unbeknownst to her teaches finishing in a whole different way.
On the younger end of the YA spectrum
I must admit I had made assumptions based on the cover that this would be on the more mature end of the young adult genre but found it was actually closer to the middle grade fiction end, as the heroine is only 14. I assume this was done so that each book can see the heroine grow up by another year. If I am right then. I am definitely looking forward to that.
A few things that stood out to me
– it featured exactly what the title implied, a Finishing school on Etiquette & Espionage which taking place in Victorian London gave it plenty of comedic value
– the main character Sophronia greatly resembled in character/personality traits Alexia from the Parasol Protectorate
– at least two characters appear in this book that readers will likely recognize from the Parasol Protectorate books
– there is way more of a focus on steampunk gadgetry in this series so far then there was in the adult series. dirigibles, automatons all over the place, more inventions and even pets to name a few things
– for some reason the steampunk technology seems to be more advanced in this book and time period even tho these books supposedly take place I am thinking at least 30 years BEFORE the Parasol Protectorate books
– I found it funny to try to count how many times decolletage (you know a lady’s bosom) was mentioned
– a decided lack of romance or any romantic relationships period which was very surprising for a young adult novel
– an enjoyable mix of the classes and lovely to see that only one each of the vampire and werewolf species are represented here.
Why of course I’ll need more schooling mumsy
While I did find the plot to be a tad thin and leaning closer to the middle grade fiction side in Etiquette & Espionage, it was still oodles of fun and I look forward to continuing the trilogy to see what other madcap adventures Sophronia has in store for her.
Tabitha (Pabkins)
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Melliane
Ah this book… I confess that I was a bit disappointed by it. It was nice but I wasn’t that attracted you know… So in the end I haven’t read the others, maybe one day but for now I don’t feel the urge.
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Lynn
I don’t know why but for some reason I was expecting these books to be set after The Parasol Protectorate – clearly I don’t pay enough attention!
I still have the last of the Alexia books to finish so maybe I will take a look at this after I finish that series. Not keen to start a whole new series if I don’t finish the first one!
I do quite like the idea of the main character growing up as you read the books.
Lynn 😀
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Tammy @ Books, Bones and Buffy
I thought these books were about zombies. I have a copy of this but now that I know they are a bit “young” I may skip it.
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Tammy @ Books, Bones and Buffy
Oh wait. I’m thinking of Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Denard. The covers look the same!
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blodeuedd
I sadly did not like this one :/
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[email protected]
Even though I enjoy Carriger’s writing a great deal, I was uncertain about this series because of the YA theme (I’m way too old to properly enjoy that!), but your review encouraged me to at least try one, because it looks as if it would be a fun read nonetheless. And fun is good…. 🙂
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Nikki
I found this book fun, too, but part of the humour of Soulless was in the sexual innuendo, so this felt thinner, you know?
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Brandi Breathes Books
decolletage is also a word that mary kay consultants use a lot. LOL. I have seen this one around but the relative lack of romance might turn me off on a subgenre I am iffy about.
Lisa (@TenaciousReader)
I have now learned my new word for the day! Now, my challenge is to casually sneak décolletage into a sentence 🙂 I’ve been curious about these, have wondered if I would like them more or less than Parasol Protectorate.
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Samantha @ Fabulous Fabris
I agree, I was surprised by how young it felt. I though she actually felt younger than 14, but it was a really fun book, as was the second.
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Micheline @ Lunar Rainbows Reviews
I’ve heard tons of wonderful things about this series and the Parasol Protectorate series but I have yet to read either. The humor and action appeal to me quite a bit though so I know I’ll be reading both hopefully in the near future. From what I’ve read on the sequels to this book^^ the characters do grow and mature with each new book so the MC will be maturing as the story progresses 😀 I can’t wait to see how you do with the rest of the series! Awesome review!
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Claudia {Sparrowhawk}
This Young Sophronia sounds like someone I would hang out with ha ha! I’m always up for some daring adventure 😛 I love the cover art too!
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