Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School, #1) in What's the Name of That Book???

Oct 31, 2013 Nadine in NY Jones rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy-and-sci-fi, audio, tween, young-adult, era-victorian, spies, paranormal, steam-punk, vampires, werewolves

“But I have advanced eyelash fluttering to practice, and a mathematics problem concerning how to order strychnine and a lamb dinner on a limited budget, and three chapters on court etiquette to read, and my handkerchief to starch, and the quadrille to memorize!”

“No one said learning etiquette and espionage would be easy, my dear.”

This is such a FUN book!! Completely appropriate for the tween and early teen set (older teens are often too busy being deeply cynical to enjoy a silly romp like t

“But I have advanced eyelash fluttering to practice, and a mathematics problem concerning how to order strychnine and a lamb dinner on a limited budget, and three chapters on court etiquette to read, and my handkerchief to starch, and the quadrille to memorize!”

“No one said learning etiquette and espionage would be easy, my dear.”

This is such a FUN book!! Completely appropriate for the tween and early teen set (older teens are often too busy being deeply cynical to enjoy a silly romp like this), also fun for the 40-50 something set (like me!), although possibly not as appealing to boys.

I went into it knowing nothing (except I had read the first Parasol Protectorate book, Soulless, so I had some idea of the general setting) and maybe that's best, so I'm spoiler-tagging the rest of this review (but there aren't any huge spoilers here). This is over-the-top, wink-wink silliness. Don't expect it to be realistic, or gritty. This book is having fun, and laughing at itself all the way.

(view spoiler)

I listened to the audiobook, and it's possible that I would have enjoyed this more if I'd read the paper version ( that might be the first time I've felt this way!). It was a fun audiobook, but I was annoyed every time Dimity lisped.

ETA: By complete coincidence, I've had a recent run of "misfit girl with specialness gets sent to a special secret boarding school for special girls" books:
* Hex Hall, which is set at a school for witches and other paranormals, modern-day world, lots of magic.
* I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You, which is a school for girls training to be super-spies, modern-day world, no magic involved.
* And this book, which is set at a school for girls training to be super-spies, in a steampunk world with weres and vampires.
If you like one of these, you'll probably like the others. ...more

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Jan 22, 2012 Sara ♥ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal, young-adult, suspense, action-adventure, audiobook, humor, steampunk, victorian, england, 2014

November 2-17, 2017

Okay... that took like TWO WEEKS. I don't know... I guess that without a love story, my motivation to finish is just not as high... But also, I've just been watching a lot of TV lately. I FINALLY got around to starting Arrow! :) The book is really good though. I quite like Sophronia, and seeing the younger versions of many familiar characters from the Parasol Protectorate series!!! :)

For some reason, I never finished this series... and it's been over 6 months since I read this November 2-17, 2017

Okay... that took like TWO WEEKS. I don't know... I guess that without a love story, my motivation to finish is just not as high... But also, I've just been watching a lot of TV lately. I FINALLY got around to starting Arrow! :) The book is really good though. I quite like Sophronia, and seeing the younger versions of many familiar characters from the Parasol Protectorate series!!! :)

For some reason, I never finished this series... and it's been over 6 months since I read this book (almost 4 years!), so I don't remember anything about it. Time to listen again!

January 2-6, 2014

Okay, I know this book was missing most of the romance element that I sooo love in the Parasol Protectorate series, but I REALLY liked this book! I thought the tone of the book was exactly the same, though Sophronia and Alexia are obviously different people and thus have different voices. Sophronia is younger and has soul, but she's still logical and kind of conniving... which was fun. I really liked diving more into the world Gail Carriger created!

Okay, I feel like I'm about to get ahead of myself. This book takes place in the same world as the Parasol Protectorate, but about 23ish years earlier. And it stars some of the same characters, thanks to the immortal nature of many of them. (PLEASE forgive my spelling... I listen to the audiobooks and don't actually know how any names are spelled!!!) Beatrice Lefoux is alive and teaching at Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality (MGFAYLQ? Nope. Doesn't spell anything...) Genevieve is a little 9-year-old running around inventing things, already wearing boys clothes. Sidheag Maccon, Lady Kingair as a teenager (13?) just a little while before all that stuff goes down... And then some more obscure characters who I didn't necessarily remember right off the bat. Lord Connall Maccon is mentioned, though not by name, just as being Sidheag's guardian. (view spoiler) ...more

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May 11, 2012 Emma rated it really liked it

Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is used to her mother's disapproval and punishments. Even the idle threats of being sent to live with vampires hold little sway when Sophronia is faced with a situation in which she can attempt something daring instead of being painfully, boringly proper.

What Sophronia could not have guessed is that Mumsy would take matters further by sending Sophronia to a finishing school. Nor could she have anticipated exactly what that will mean when the initial pronouncement is h Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is used to her mother's disapproval and punishments. Even the idle threats of being sent to live with vampires hold little sway when Sophronia is faced with a situation in which she can attempt something daring instead of being painfully, boringly proper.

What Sophronia could not have guessed is that Mumsy would take matters further by sending Sophronia to a finishing school. Nor could she have anticipated exactly what that will mean when the initial pronouncement is handed down.

Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality is unlike any finishing school Sophronia could have imagined. While she can't be certain, Sophronia is fairly certain Mumsy didn't have this kind of finishing in mind when she sent Sophronia away.

But then who is Sophronia to argue when there are friends to be made with fledgling evil geniuses, inventors with which to collaborate and all manners of conspiracies to investigate. Manners and dress will certainly be in the curriculum. But so will diversion and deceit in Etiquette & Espionage (2013) by Gail Carringer.

Etiquette & Espionage is the first in Carringer's YA Finishing School series. It is set in the same world as her bestselling Parasol Protectorate series for adults.*

Carringer has already mastered the skills required to write a supernatural, steampunk, historical fantasy. Her alternate history with elements of steampunk and fantasy tropes blend together exceptionally well with the Austen-like tone of her narration.

The world is well-realized and fascinating although often under explained. It's impossible to say for sure but it seems likely some shorthand was used in world building (or at least world explaining) since so much groundwork has been laid in the earlier Parasol Protectorate books.

With virtually zero romantic entanglements and numerous high-action sequences Etiquette & Espionage is ideal for readers of any age. The story handles several topics (race and class divisions, friendship, wealth and status) very well adding a nice dimension to the plot. At the same time, unfortunately, the pacing often felt off with an immense amount of setup in the first half of the novel only to lead to a plot resolution that feels rushed in the final pages.

Etiquette & Espionage is a fine start to a series with a cast of characters that are appealing in every sense even if their world might take a bit too long to come fully into focus.

*Etiquette & Espionage functions as a standalone but readers of both series will likely recognize characters in both.

Possible Pairings: I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter, The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani, Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare, Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist: Flight of the Phoenix by R. L. LaFevers with illustrations by Kelly Murphy, Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, Paranormalcy by Kiersten White, Sorcery and Cecelia by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevemer ...more

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Aug 15, 2013 Hannah added it · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, magic-realism-spec-fic, historical-fiction, audio

This was the perfect thing to experience as an audiobook. Moira Quirk was the perfect narrator, with great accents and inflections without sounding like she was thinking very highly of her talent for doing it. And the story is a lot of fun, with plenty of ridiculous things and evocative steampunky descriptions. This being only my second foray into steampunk, I can't really speak for the originality of it all, but I liked it.

Definitely you can tell that Carriger is not the greatest literary writ ...more

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Oct 18, 2012 Melissa Rochelle rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, steampunk, read-2013

Sophronia is sent away to finishing school because her mother can't seem to tame her. She's far more interested in machines and adventures than fashion and accessories. But the school isn't quite normal and we learn about it along with Sophronia. We also get to meet the younger versions of characters we know from the Parasol Protecorate!

Gail Carriger's books are so much fun to read. This one is lighter on the werewolves & vampires than her Parasol Protectorate series, but still heavy on the awes ...more

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