Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School)
By Gail CarrigerThis is the start of a new series which takes place in the same universe as the The Parasol Protectorate Series, but this series is different in that it's a YA series. The main character, Sophronia, is fourteen years old and quite the challenge for her mother. She does such scandalous things as wonder how automatons work and gets things dirty. Needless to say Sophronia's mother cannot help but jump at the opportunity to send Sophronia to a finishing school. Especially since it's not just any finishing school that has come calling, it's Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality! That school has quite the reputation for being a school that accepts only the best of the best. Sophronia is not thrilled -- until, wait... On the trip to the school it becomes clear that something is a little off and upon arriving it really really becomes clear - this school is not just a finishing school but a finishing school *wink wink nod nod* Okay, so Sophronia still has to figure out exactly what is going on, but she'll have some help as she made a friend on her trip to the school and she'll acquire one or two at the school itself.
Not that I want to spoil anything for you, but truth is there is not much to spoil here, even if I did want to. The book feels awfully short on "stuff happening". I'm not sure if that's because the couple of actual action scenes were too drawn out so the rest of the book ends up feeling too short or what but somehow I don't feel like our characters did much. In certain types of stories that works, in this it's weird. Classroom scenes and the like should be, at least in the start of the series, some of the series. I know we're getting the hands on action stuff, but it feels like these girls are just thrown into it and with only a few action scenes, they're just magically know-it-alls, especially with as much sneaking around, skipping / disrupting classes they're doing. An opportunity to really have fun with the classes seems to have been messed here.
Still, there is somehow a lot of character development. I do feel like I know all of our main characters and many of the minor ones well enough to know if I like them or don't, I have a feel for who they are, I know if I want to see more of them or not.
There is a bit of world development missing. As a stand-alone YA novel, I am not sure that it totally works -- yet. There is really only one vampire character, one werewolf, we really only get to know one mechanical being... The fact that all of this is just sort of how this world is, isn't really quite put together 100% here for younger readers who might not have read the adult series. It's still a really good start with as much potential as The Parasol Protectorate Series (which I am still reading). Generally I would prefer a YA series for something like this but in this case I'd probably go with The Parasol Protectorate Series over Etiquette & Espionage, only because it's established and more developed. If you have a younger reader though, or have already read all of those, this is a charming start of a series, it just feels like we'll need to read on for it to really get going.
Overall, despite some issues, I did like it -- a lot. I'm curious about where it goes - it has potential to go really right or really wrong, we shall see.
