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Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School, #1)

Gail Carriger

Start date: April 1, 2013

Finish date: April 30, 2013

Discussion: Book of the Month

Why we're reading this: Voted as our "Most Popular Books Published in February 2012" April BOM…more
[close] Voted as our "Most Popular Books Published in February 2012" April BOM

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Book of the Month

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* BOM: Group Read History [2025]
By Steph , Serious series addict · 11 posts · 25 views

last updated Oct 29, 2025 10:24PM

* BOM: Comments & Suggestions
By Steph , Serious series addict · 38 posts · 229 views

last updated Mar 15, 2012 06:15PM

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What Members Thought

Feb 18, 2013 Brandi ;) rated it really liked it

Shelves: i-dont-wanna-grow-up-ya-read-as-ad, fairies-witches-vampires-and-were, paranormal, kindle-kindle-love-my-kindle, steam-punk-fun

I enjoyed this book a lot. I am a HUGE fan of Ms. Carriger's Parasol Series, so it was a no-brainer that I would like this one too. I was a bit skittish because it is young adult, but as soon as I started reading it immediately became clear that the YA stamp didn't matter one bit. Loved getting to know some of the characters from the Parasol Series as youngsters.
I absolutely love the steampunk era world this is based in. But what really works for me is Ms. Carriger's perfect execution of dry hu ...more

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Oct 17, 2012 Melissa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: to-buy, ya, paranormal, victorian, favorite-heroines, library-book, part-of-a-series, steampunk

I have to admit i had check this out from the library about a month ago and was on the verge of returning it unread. I picked it up out of boredom and started reading it. And read almost a 100 pages in my first shot. After that i couldn't go to bed at night before i had read at least two chapters. I finished it last night. Late. Even though i knew i had to get up early to go to work the next day. Merely because i had to see how it ended.
Now i'm admittedly not that familiar with the whole "Ste I have to admit i had check this out from the library about a month ago and was on the verge of returning it unread. I picked it up out of boredom and started reading it. And read almost a 100 pages in my first shot. After that i couldn't go to bed at night before i had read at least two chapters. I finished it last night. Late. Even though i knew i had to get up early to go to work the next day. Merely because i had to see how it ended.
Now i'm admittedly not that familiar with the whole "Steam Punk" genre of things. Therefore it took me a little while to take what i know about the real historical Victorian era with the Steam Punk one. Once i did i was hooked. Gail Carriger brings to life a witty girl that at times i forgot was only thirteen years old. Sophronia Temminnick is a heroine that all young girls should look up to. She's smart,resourceful, brave, and loyal. She's not above being girly and even finds that she starts to enjoy the more feminine side of life. She is not about to become some simpering miss whose only goal in life is to marry and procreate. She is going to make something of herself and you find yourself believing it.
The side characters in the story also makes for an interesting combination. You have Dimity who is very feminine and then you have Vive who is a complete tomboy. Along with a host of extras you find yourself intrigued and captivated by their characterizations as well.
Plot wise, i'll give Gail a break. This is her first foray into the YA genre after writing solely adult books. The plot when too fast and sometimes too slow. There really never were an in between. It was like she had trouble deciding how to venture from one thing to the next. There's editing and then there is too much editing at times. I have to wonder if there was more too the book than what was published Hopefully the next novel in the series will fix this issue and will be more fleshed out.

Overall i fairly enjoyed the book and plan on procuring a copy of my own. It also made me want to try her adult series again. I had tried to read the first book once years ago, but never got through it. I'm going to have to find a copy and try again. ...more

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