Steampunk YA Review: Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School #1) by Gail Carriger

Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School #1)
by Gail Carriger

Description:
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 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.


My Review:
This story is a delight. Sophronia, a tomboy, finds herself shuffled off to finishing school, only to discover that it isn’t quite the normal kind.

I simply adore this book, especially as an audiobook. The characters are delightful and varied, the steampunk paranormal mix is intriguing and feels natural in the world the author has created.

Overall, strongly recommended to folks who enjoy YA with a twist. Nothing like a bit of etiquette mixed with a bit of bladework!

I borrowed this audiobook from the library. I was, and am, delighted that all four of the Finishing School books were at my library in audio. Of course, I devoured them as soon as they each came off hold.


About the Author:



Photo by Vanessa Applegate

Gail Carriger writes comedies of manners mixed with paranormal romance (and the sexy San Andreas Shifter series as G L Carriger). Her books include the Parasol Protectorate, Custard Protocol, and Supernatural Society series for adults, and the Finishing School series for young adults. She is published in many languages and has over a dozen NYT bestsellers. She was once an archaeologist and is fond of shoes, octopuses, and tea.

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