Etiquette & Espionage and Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger

Book: Ettiquette & Espionage and Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger
Genre: Steam punk YA fantasy
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date: 2013

Source: purchased as e-books

Summary: Sophronia Temminnick hates the idea of going to a finishing school, but her mother is at the end of her rope about what to do with her tomboy daughter. Fortunately for Sophronia, Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality is not the finishing school her mother expected. With steampunk technology, Mademoiselle Geraldine’s school floats above Dartmoor teaching the young ladies a variety of skills from the correct curtsy to the perfect poison.

Thoughts: I enjoyed Etiquette & Espionage so much that I immediately downloaded the second book in the series, Curtsies & Conspiracies. Reading them back to back, the experience was more like one long book of spying adventure, crafty steampunk machine, and witty world-building.

The fantasy aspects build on all the romance of Victorian England with afternoon teas, dance lessons, and debutante presentation balls. The twist is that the girls at Mademoiselle Geraldine’s are learning how to use their feminine charms in the service of hidden aims. What was restrictive in Victorian England gets turned on its head as Sophronia and her friends learn how to turn every situation to their advantage.

Appeal: This is Young Adult literature that will appeal to readers of all ages who love steampunk, magic schools, or alternate histories with vampires and werewolves.

Challenges: Etiquette & Espionage and Curtsies & Conspiracies are my first books for Once Upon a Time VIII at Stainless Steel Droppings. I’ll also link this review to the second-week of British Isles Friday. Join us here tomorrow!

Reviews: There were lots of reviews of these two books when they were published and everyone seems to gush! Lark at The Bookwyrm’s Hoard pointed out that some of the politics of the world may confuse young readers, but she encourages them to hang in there for the adventure. Most reviewers, like FyreFly of Fyrefly’s Book Blog and Karin of Life of Karin, recommend that you read Etiquette & Espionage before Curtsies & Conspiracies — I agree.

Have you read this series? What did you think?

Comments

Etiquette & Espionage and Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger — Book Reviews — 15 Comments

April @ The Steadfast Reader on April 10, 2014 at 11:26 am said:

That’s quite a broad, yet also weirdly defined genre… but it looks good!

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Priya on April 10, 2014 at 11:11 pm said:

I love alternate histories and steam-punk, and these sound awesome. But I’m always a little nervous to pick up series though, especially YA series which tend to go on forever. So are these the only books in the series and do they end on cliffhangers!?

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- Joy Weese Moll on April 11, 2014 at 9:21 am said:
  
  There are more books to come in the series. A wider story arc, having to do with the politics of the world, looks like it’s going to go through the whole series, but the books have reasonably satisfying endings themselves. I sometimes wait until a series is complete before picking up the first book. Carriger has a complete series for adults called the Parasol Protectorate. I’m going to try that next.
  
  Reply ↓
Kailana on April 11, 2014 at 11:44 am said:

I definitely want to read these at some point. I just haven’t got to them yet!

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Lynn on April 13, 2014 at 5:33 pm said:

I did read Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate (although I still have one left to conclude). I think I will probably pick this one up also as I do like GC’s writing style and her sense of humour.
Lynn 😀

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- Deb Atwood on June 11, 2014 at 7:43 pm said:
  
  Lynn,
  
  I read the first Parasol book and had such fun with it. I read some disturbing reviews of books two and three, however, and so decided to go to Heartless. Were you turned off by the second and third books? Sounds like the fourth book is back to the premise of the first, and, of course, anything with ghosts entices me.
  
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  - Joy Weese Moll on June 14, 2014 at 9:59 am said:
    
    I got a kick out of the first one because it was a kind of parody of romance novels, while still being satisfying as a romance novel. The others are less fun in that regard because we still keep Alexia as the heroine and the novels are more like adventure stories. Once I got over that disappointment, though, I am finding them a lot of fun. We went to Scotland in Book 2 and we’re off to Italy in Book 3.
    
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Jackie on April 16, 2014 at 7:52 am said:

Will have to check this out.

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