Etiquette & Espionage

Gail Carriger

Feb 2013 · Sold by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

About this ebook

This steampunk series debut set in the same world as the New York Times bestselling Parasol Protectorate is filled with all the saucy adventure and droll humor Gail Carriger's legions of fans have come to adore.

Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is a great trial to her poor mother. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than in 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.

Ratings and reviews

I read a preview chapter of this book on IO9, and was enraptured. I downloaded the preview from Google Play and couldn't wait for the book to be released. The story was every bit as quirky and fun as the previews had led me to believe. The characters were well developed and endearing, and the adventurous hijinks had me riveted to the action and laughing along with, and caring about the cast. Unfortunately the novel then ended quite abruptly. Climax then conclusion, no denouement whatsoever. Questions brought up earlier in the story went unanswered, mysteries alluded to were never illuminated; and though I know this is the beginning of a series, the ending felt woefully undone, rushed, and disappointing. There was so much care obviously put into the first portion of the novel, that the unsatisfactory ending was just that much more jarring. I still recommend people read this piece, in spite of the flaws, the story was still incredibly fun and the characters lovingly memorable.

So much fun. I love Carriger's take on a girl's school, where the students learn really useful skills like how to kill someone with their fan!

I have not read this book, but by the title, I think it will be a good book. My mom has read it and said that it is a good book for kids my age or older.

About the author

New York Times bestselling author Gail Carriger writes to cope with being raised in obscurity by an expatriate Brit and an incurable curmudgeon. She escaped small town life and inadvertently acquired several degrees in Higher Learning. Ms. Carriger then traveled the historic cities of Europe, subsisting entirely on biscuits secreted in her handbag. She resides in the Colonies, surrounded by fantastic shoes, where she insists on tea imported from London.