Etiquette and Espionage (Finishing School, #1)

by Gail Carriger

[Berls]

This review appeared first at Fantasy is More Fun.

Sometimes a book's description and cover really fail in preparing you for the mood of the book. That's what happened to me with Etiquette & Espionage. While the subject was exactly as described, it was far more ridiculous than I expected. Ultimately I enjoyed it, but it took me some time to adjust my expectations and embrace the ridiculous.

When Etiquette & Espionage first started I really enjoyed Safronia's mishap with the dumb waiter that landed food all over a visitor and expedited her way off to finishing school. And it was a quality I continued to enjoy in Safronia the whole book. She is into mischief and struggles with being lady-like.

What threw me was both the adults and the scenarios. I can't think of any better way to describe them than ridiculous. I expected a realm of believability, but you've got lessons in things like fainting and attack maneuvers involving fans and perfume to make a werewolf sneeze. Even more ridiculous was when the maneuvers worked. I think, though, that the ridiculous elements were well done and if you're the sort of person that enjoys movies like Dumb and Dumber or something equally ridiculous, you would probably get a good laugh from Etiquette & Espionage. I, as a rule, am not - so I did lots of eye rolling.

But my eye rolling was tempered by some really great moments - Safronia's friends are lovable, as is her mechanical dog, Bumbersnoot (the names fit with the ridiculous). If you like steam punk for its clothing and mechanical aspects, which I guess I do, Etiquette & Espionage has loads of that to enjoy. And there's even vampires, werewolves and flyway men - although those all kind of ended up appealing more to fans of the ridiculous than the paranormal lovers, in my opinion.

I do highly recommend the audio version of Etiquette & Espionage if you decide this sounds like one for you, since Moira Quirk was quite good. I enjoyed her voices and she clearly understood the ridiculous, somehow making those bits more enjoyable.

I haven't decided if I'll continue with this series or not. I liked the mystery and characters, so I'm tempted to continue. I'd just have to get myself into the right mood before picking up another.