Reviews - Etiketa & špionáž

2.08k reviews for:

I can't believe it took me 10 years to re-read this. I loved the book as much, maybe even more, than the first reading. Gail Carriger has such a way with writing. Her writing is both awe inspiring, and an absolute riot. She writes tongue-in-cheek without being too excessive, all while painting a thorough entertaining and gorgeous picture of steampunk England. I will say that I am a sucker for steampunk and sarcasm.

The story is about one Sophronia Temminnick and her foray into "Finishing" School. Within the first chapter it's clear that no ordinary Finishing School will be able to help Sophronia. Only a very special one of quali-tay would do. Good thing that she was recommended to and enrolled in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.

The main character, Sophronia, was so enjoyable. She was resourceful, intelligent, and respectable, but no Mary-Sue here. Sophronia's mistakes really taught her lessons that she took to heart and used. You could see her character grow throughout the book.

All of the main characters really made big growths. Personally, there really wasn't a character that didn't feel so real. Even the side characters had personality. I'm not going to lie, I love Pillover. He's so adorkable. I also loved Bumbersnoot. Soap and Vieve were also very charming and entertaining. I'm hoping we get to see more of all of the side characters.

The ending of the book was absolutely thrilling and frankly, hysterical. It was also rather fitting. Things were tied up nicely, but there was still enough loose ends that another book wouldn't seem too odd or forced. I can't wait to read the next book in the series!

drnerdem's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

whimsicalmeerkat's review against another edition

3.0

fun with some funny moments

bookph1le's review against another edition

3.0

I really enjoyed this book. It's witty and the writing is very funny, but there are several portions where the book devolves into a summary of events. I think this did it a real disservice, particularly when it came to the summarizing of Sophronia's lessons. I really wanted to see what they looked like. Hopefully this tendency to summarize will disappear as the series progresses.