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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
Nice. YA, but very Y versus A. Think steampunk Nancy Drew with vampires and werewolves. That's pretty much what's going on. Would have eaten this up as a kid.
Steampunk takes on high society with Sophronia at its gear-grinding center. With raw mannerisms and little knowledge of Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality, our main character quickly charms sooties and werewolves alike. Quick wit and unladylike climbing tendancies prove useful for a lady of espionage, particularly when searching out mysterious prototypes and sidestepping household automatons. With much to learn and more adventures to have, Sophronia will, not doubt, find herself finished with flair.
Beautifully crafted with a story full of potential! I expected nothing less from an author I have only heard good things of, and was not disappointed.
Beautifully crafted with a story full of potential! I expected nothing less from an author I have only heard good things of, and was not disappointed.
This 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.
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.
So. Fun. Love this series. It’s Little Women meets La Femme Nikita.
Funny, clever, and so fun to read! Fans of Harry Potter will love this book.
After reading an article about YA books that adult feminists should read, I borrowed the book from my local library. Hmmm... Maybe I am a touch too old for YA fiction because I had a rough time of it with this book. The characters seemed flat, and there was just a tad too much silliness with the character names. Is that an earmark of steampunk? The inclusion of werewolves and vampires felt a bit forced (5lbs of obvious plot lines jammed into a 2lb novel), and I wonder why bother when the supernaturals didn't figure much in this book.
I do think that this could be developed for the (big or small) screen because the steampunk element would be so visually delightful.
As an audio book, this one is lacking. I can't understand why some audio publishers don't bother to include the disk number and an end-of-disk marker in the narration. It drives me bonkers! This annoyance didn't factor into my rating.
I do think that this could be developed for the (big or small) screen because the steampunk element would be so visually delightful.
As an audio book, this one is lacking. I can't understand why some audio publishers don't bother to include the disk number and an end-of-disk marker in the narration. It drives me bonkers! This annoyance didn't factor into my rating.
Finally a book that has caught my attention! Love me some Gail Carriger so I have high expectations.
DNF... Tried twice but I just couldn't get into it.
DNF... Tried twice but I just couldn't get into it.
It started out so promising but by the middle I had totally lost interest. Nothing really was happening so I skipped to the end.
My reading challenge included a steampunk novel. After searching for something for people who don't like steampunk, I found this on Good Reads. Best of all, it had a good review from one of the So So Many Damned Books guys. It's cute, and I enjoyed it.