Gail Carriger: Imprudence (2016, Orbit)
352 pages
English language
Published Oct. 29, 2016 by Orbit.
Rue and the Spotted Custard shake the foundations of England's scientific community with revelations from their trip to India, a situation that is complicated by supernatural restlessness and her own family's growing fears.
Oh, heck yes. Every bit of fun fluff I expect from Carriger, with a lighthearted romp in the seriousness of all manner of things. Beautifully done.
Oh, heck yes. Every bit of fun fluff I expect from Carriger, with a lighthearted romp in the seriousness of all manner of things. Beautifully done.
I truly didnt care about the love affair between Rue and Quesnel as much as the author did, so the fact that it took up more than half of the somewhat thin story here, didn't appeal to me. I also may be showing my age, but the fact that the "mystery" element of the story could have been resolved if any number of Rue's parents had just told her what was going on, was frustrating. On the one hand, I was kind of like, "oh Rue, such a millennial, assuming your parents don't know how to solve a problem" but by the end, I was like "if they had just had a conversation with her when she turned 21, there'd be no need for a book. I think there are more books in this series, it certainly didn't feel like a series ender, but assuming there are more books coming, …
I truly didnt care about the love affair between Rue and Quesnel as much as the author did, so the fact that it took up more than half of the somewhat thin story here, didn't appeal to me. I also may be showing my age, but the fact that the "mystery" element of the story could have been resolved if any number of Rue's parents had just told her what was going on, was frustrating. On the one hand, I was kind of like, "oh Rue, such a millennial, assuming your parents don't know how to solve a problem" but by the end, I was like "if they had just had a conversation with her when she turned 21, there'd be no need for a book. I think there are more books in this series, it certainly didn't feel like a series ender, but assuming there are more books coming, this one was more of a waystation before more plot in forthcoming books.
I guess my point here, is this was ok, but not her best work. In fact, I'd only put it above that short story, that was basically just a deleted scene. [b:The Curious Case|22611728|The Curious Case (parasol protectorate, #0.5)|Gail Carriger|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1404235394s/22611728.jpg|42102609]
Q+A with Gail: www.curiositykilledthebookworm.net/2016/07/qa-with-gail-carriger.html
Whilst it took a while to get into the first Custard Protocol book, I fell straight into Imprudence and I warmed so much more to the characters. As the cover suggests, this time Rue is off to Egypt, although unfortunately not on a site seeing trip. She must transport her father to the one place he can grow old gracefully, even if that means saying goodbye. Of course, this means her mother must come with them on the journey, much to Rue’s annoyance.
Rue has reached her majority, in other words become an adult in the eyes of society. She’s not quite sure what happens now, but she’s very interested in learning some scandalous “French” off Quesnal whilst on their trip. Rue’s adamant she doesn’t care about the Frenchman and it’s all just casual but I think the lady doth protest too much.
There’s …
Q+A with Gail: www.curiositykilledthebookworm.net/2016/07/qa-with-gail-carriger.html
Whilst it took a while to get into the first Custard Protocol book, I fell straight into Imprudence and I warmed so much more to the characters. As the cover suggests, this time Rue is off to Egypt, although unfortunately not on a site seeing trip. She must transport her father to the one place he can grow old gracefully, even if that means saying goodbye. Of course, this means her mother must come with them on the journey, much to Rue’s annoyance.
Rue has reached her majority, in other words become an adult in the eyes of society. She’s not quite sure what happens now, but she’s very interested in learning some scandalous “French” off Quesnal whilst on their trip. Rue’s adamant she doesn’t care about the Frenchman and it’s all just casual but I think the lady doth protest too much.
There’s a lot more development around the lioness Sekhmet, who is rather flirty with Primrose. Primrose on the other hand keeps getting engaged to unsuitable men. Percy has caused quite a fuss with his latest scientific paper and Quesnal is keeping something strange below decks. Not to mention Rue can’t command the respect of certain members of her crew. It’s going to be quite the journey.
There’s plenty of action and silliness, and again it touches on the British Empire’s habit of sticking its oar in where it’s not wanted.
Review copy provided by publisher.
