Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger

Etiquette and 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.

Reviewed by Joséphine on

3 of 5 stars

Share
Initial thoughts: For the most part, I enjoyed Etiquette & Espionage. It was a fun and creative read. It makes you crave for more in the form of a series to bing read. I might've done exactly that when I was 13 — read one book after the other in this 4-part series. That being said, the pacing felt a little off at times and the characterisation fell flat for me. It was the setting and the action that propelled this book forward, so it wasn't as rounded a book as I might've liked.

Since I already own the sequel, I'm sure I'll continue but beyond that, maybe I'll turn to my library if I feel inclined to read the rest.

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 18 December, 2017: Finished reading
  • 18 December, 2017: Reviewed