Hardcover
English language
Published Nov. 3, 2013 by Little, Brown.
In an alternate England of 1851, spirited fourteen-year-old Sophronia is enrolled in a finishing school where, she is suprised to learn, lessons include not only the fine arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but also diversion, deceit, and espionage.
Bloody fabulous in every regard.
As usual with Gail Carriger's books this was a delight to read. The choice of words in which she manages to describe situations and people are wonderful; I always walk among the happenings and the characters.
Sophronia's life is taking an interesting turn when she enrolls in a Finishing School. Before I read this book it had already become clear what kind of school it was but that didn't make the joy of reading this book any less.
I'm going to save up for an airdinghie.
A wonderful coming of age romp with all sorts of girls... a laconic fighter, a bauble-obsessed babbler, an insecure shy girl, and the main character, a mechanical tactician. They band together to survive a Victorian era finishing school, and help each other along the way. Their adventures are exciting and fun and perfect for the not-so-girly girl in your life. I'm definitely looking forward to the next installment!
I really liked this and I'm sad at how long I'll have to wait for the next one since I read this in about 2 days. The one thing that confused me was I didn't realize this was a prequel of sorts to Alexia's books so I found it very confusing when Lady Kingair showed up and she wasn't a werewolf.
I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this book. I can't help but feel that it reminds me STRONGLY of the Gallagher Girls series but with steampunk. That alone isn't enough to turn me away though, after all there's what, like twelve original plots and everything else is variation on the theme?
What was tough is some of the writing. The dialogue especially at times seems very awkward and forced, as though they author is hitting us over the head with a bat reminding us that the story takes place in a Victorian-esque England.
Two of my favorite characters, Soap and Vieve, did not even appear in the climax and resolution to my dismay. They felt more like token characters, inserted willy-nilly so the author could say, "look the cast isn't all white and hey I'm breaking gender rules!". I don't know, it just felt like there should have …
I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this book. I can't help but feel that it reminds me STRONGLY of the Gallagher Girls series but with steampunk. That alone isn't enough to turn me away though, after all there's what, like twelve original plots and everything else is variation on the theme?
What was tough is some of the writing. The dialogue especially at times seems very awkward and forced, as though they author is hitting us over the head with a bat reminding us that the story takes place in a Victorian-esque England.
Two of my favorite characters, Soap and Vieve, did not even appear in the climax and resolution to my dismay. They felt more like token characters, inserted willy-nilly so the author could say, "look the cast isn't all white and hey I'm breaking gender rules!". I don't know, it just felt like there should have been more.
All in all the book feels sort of unfinished. Even the ending only really wraps up one plot-line. There were so many more interesting tidbits of the world that sort of fell flat and never got explored.
As dour as my review may seem, I enjoyed the book enough to really hope there will be more in this series and soon. With any luck future books will flesh out more of the world that Carriger has created and give Soap and Vieve a bit more to do!
