Prudence by Gail Carriger

Prudence (Custard Protocol, #1)

by Gail Carriger

ON BEHALF OF QUEEN, COUNTRY . . . AND THE PERFECT POT OF TEA

When Prudence Alessandra Maccon Akeldama (Rue to her friends) is given an unexpected dirigible, she does what any sensible female would under similar circumstances - names it the Spotted Crumpet and floats to India in pursuit of the perfect cup of tea.

But India has more than just tea on offer. Rue stumbles upon a plot involving local dissidents, a kidnapped brigadier's wife and some awfully familiar Scottish werewolves. Faced with a dire crisis and an embarrassing lack of bloomers, what else is a young lady of good breeding to do but turn metanatural and find out everyone's secrets, even thousand-year-old fuzzy ones?

Reviewed by MurderByDeath on

3 of 5 stars

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In that way that two strong, bold personalities often have children that have wispy, paler personalities than themselves, Prudence is a pale imitation of Connel and Alexia Maccon in Soulless.   It's not for lack of trying, but Carriger's attempts at giving Prudence (Rue) her own eccentric personality just falls flat for me.  What felt like effortless eccentricity and resulting hilarity in Alexis feels forced in Rue.  What felt natural in Soulless feels affected in Prudence.   Still, it wasn't a bad read; if I hadn't read The Parasol Protectorate and The Finishing School series first, I'd likely have enjoyed this a lot more.  But even though we get to see the beloved cast of characters from TPP return, it's sadly just not the same.  It just never really came together for me.  It was o.k., but it was never fun.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 19 May, 2017: Finished reading
  • 19 May, 2017: Reviewed