Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School, #1)

by Gail Carriger

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 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.

• ISBN10: 031619008X
• ISBN13: 9780316190084
• Publish Date: 5 February 2013 (first published 1 January 2013)
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Little, Brown & Company
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[Sam@WLABB]

Let me start by saying that I am a HUGE fan of Gail Carriger. I like her writing style, I love her characters and I appreciate that she gives us so many strong females in her books. This book is no exception.

Sophronia, the youngest daughter of a large family, is thought to be quite un-lady like and in dire need of refinement. So, she is shipped off to finishing school (Etiquette). Little does she know, this is not your average finishing school (Espionage). In fact, this is the sort of place which will nurture Sophronia's naturally curiosity and develop more of her intellectual skills.

What I liked

The characters - They are so colorful and odd and whimsical and intriguing. I found them well developed and thought I developed the appropriate feelings the author expected for each character. The females are strong without apology. Some of them exert their prowess from within the social confines, while other do so on their own terms. One thing for sure, she has no wimpy main characters. I also enjoyed glimpsing some of the characters from Parasol Protectorate when they were younger. It was fun looking for all the nods to that series within E&E.

Sophronia's "World" - Carriger does a great job describing Sophronia's surroundings and each event that occurs. I have no problem "seeing" what is going on.

The humor - I found myself laughing aloud quite frequently. Her characters are often witty, whip-smart and sardonic. I love them!

[tellemonstar]

This was really good.

[bookishzelda]

fum book I like the audio version

I don't know what I expected from this book, but it wasn't this! When you start this book, you're simply thrown into it. No introduction whatsoever. Werewolves? Normal. Vampires? Everyday stuff. Picklemen? Sure. Why not? And, though it was a bit off-putting, in the end I ended up loving it. Sophronia, with her spunky nature and dry wit, easily won me over. Her curiosity led to many, many interesting adventures. Even though you're just kind of drop-kicked into this fantasy world, it's well worth it. Fun adventures await!

Full review coming soon!

[MurderByDeath]

A fabulous adventure! The names of the characters in this book alone are worth the read!

Ms. Carriger has a beautiful way of immediately putting you into the book - it was so easy to 'see' the story as I read the pages of the book - even the incredibly complicated layout of the school was visible to some degree in my minds eye. The Parasol Protectorate character crossovers made getting to know this new world easier and more entertaining as well. I'm very intrigued by Mr. Niall too.

Just a wonderful, fantastical adventure of a read all around. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys some paranormal steampunk.