Friday, February 22, 2013

Becky's View: Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger


Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger
♦publisher: Little, Brown BYR
♦release date: February 5th, 2013
♦hardcover, 307 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦series: Finishing School, book 1
♦source: ALA
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.

Review: Etiquette & Espionage was exactly what I went in hoping it would be and even surprised me in a few ways!  Such a fun, incredibly well done steampunk adventure!  You can tell at once that this is what Gail Carriger does, she has taken the skill of creating steampunk worlds and honed it into a perfectly refined artform.   This is my first dip into her fantastic worlds but it absolutely won't be my last---I'll be sticking with this series for as long as it rides out and probably seeking out her adult Steampunk titles as well!

As I did suspect from the description, this one reads fairly young; it almost borderlines between middle grade and young adult. This was fine with me as I love both genres.  While Sophronia is 14, the propriety of Victorian England, her own rambunctious attitude, and her love of adventure and climbing gave her an air of childlike innocence.  As for love, there is more of a hint of shy attraction rather than a full blown romance, but the boy, Soap, is such a charmer---I hope this series sees them into their later teen years to see if anything blossoms between them! All of the characters were such fun to read: the weak-kneed and very girly Dimity, her bookish brother Pillover, the snobby and conniving Monique, small but mighty Vieve, all the wildly interesting teachers at the school, and so many more!

What surprised me the most, because there was no mention of them in the description, was the  vampires and werewolves and other paranormals! It's been a while since I've read any vamps and weres...and even longer since I've enjoyed reading about them so much!  The story itself captures your curiousity from the get-go, full of twists and turns and intrigue as Sophronia races to find out the whereabouts of a mysterious prototype and why exactly everyone is so desperate to get their hands on it.

The curtsy! OH how I wish this would be made into a movie just so I can see Sophronia's horrendous curtsy.  The way every person she curtsied to blanched at the horror of her lack of curtsy skills just made me chuckle every time.  So much great imagery brought this story completely to life, the whimsical floating school, the haughty mechanical servants, the sweet and playful mechanimal that Sophronia adopts, flywaymen and picklemen, and their exciting mid-air attacks.  The girls are just learning the art of "finishing" in this first book, but I can't wait to get more into the intrigue and danger of seeing their skills in action!

I highly recommend this fun and adventurous story!

Find Gail Carriger online: Website  •  Twitter  •  Facebook

Purchase Etiquette & Espionage:  Amazon  •  BN.com  •  BookDepository  •  Indiebound

16 comments :

  1. This wasn't really on my radar because I thought it was geared more at a younger audience but your review has changed my mind! I love fun reads and am definitely in the mood for one now. Great review =)

    Emily @ Falling For YA

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    1. Yup this one definitely straddles the fence between MG and YA, but its OH SO charming and fun. I definitely recommend giving it a try!

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  2. I sooo want this one. i knew I should have got it the last time I went to B&N. Ugh. Awesome review.


    Jenea @ Books Live Forever

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    1. Grab it, definitely! I don't think you'll be disappointed!

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  3. This sounds so good. I love the cover. And I really like that it's steampunk and takes place in Victorian England. Thanks for sharing and great review! :)

    Jennifer @ Dream Reads

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    1. Have you seen the cover for book 2? Equally lovable! I love that it's steampunk, too---I've read a few of this genre recently and have loved most of it!

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  4. This sounds so interesting! I'm definitely going to check this out and I didn't know it came out on my birthday! Now I have to get it haha. I haven't read steampunk before so this would be an awesome start. The characters and the story sound fascinating, I cannot wait to check this out :) Thanks for the great review!

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    1. Happy belated birthday! :D Steampunk is a fun genre, I love them as long as the tech stuff doesn't get TOO technical...if that makes sense. I've seen some books go on and on AND ON with descriptions of the machinery and that just loses me. This one was perfect. I also recommend The Dark Unwinding by Sharon Cameron. :)

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  5. I am glad you enjoyed this book too. I am a fan of Gail Carriger and though I prefer her series for adults, this was fun also.

    You should definitely check out Soulless. I think you'd like it!

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    1. Oh, they are even better? I will definitely have to check her adult series out soon! Thanks, Christina!

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  6. Hey,
    I've just discovered your fabulous blog and I'm now following. I'd love it if you could check out my blog.

    - Sunny @ www.asupersunnyspot.blogspot.com

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  7. I thought this was a cute book too. You are absolutely right - it would make a fantastic movie!

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  8. Yes!! This was my first Gail Carriger book too, but it definitely won't be my last either! The charm, the whimsy, the hilarity, the curtsy - everything! I seriously loved every single part of this book... and I'm looking forward to seeing Sophronia grow up over the course of the series!

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  9. Great review! I was so happy to read your thoughts because for some reason I haven't seen that many reviews on it. I have heard some great things about her adult series and I wondered if her YA would be as strong. I can't wait to check it out now!

    Kristin @ Young Adult Book Haven

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