A review by terriml50
Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger

I ended up REALLY enjoying this book, even though I actually got it for my 14 year old daughter. It felt like a Terry Pratchett book in tone-you know, social commentary and all that, with clever humour and winks to the audience. The main character is a young girl (Sophronia) from a family with good social standing and money, who is just too interested in climbing and running and machinery and not interested enough in clothes and gems and polite society. She gets recruited to go to Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality. But this is no regular finishing school. Here, one learns the gentle art of espionage, assassination and information collection, as well as the use of fans, bags and gloves as weapons. oh yeah, and how to curtsy and flutter one's eyelashes.

The book has hints of the paranormal (vampires and werewolves exist, but are just some of the background characters, part of normal society), and hints of steampunk (clockwork machines acting as servants, dirigible-driving highwaymen, Victorian sensibilities in both dress and behaviour).

I have read a lot of teen books in recent years to make sure they are ok for Morgan. Now that she is older and I trust her judgment in appropriate books, I still give many teen books a chance, because they seem fun, but usually don't go past the first in a series. This is one series I will continue to read-very enjoyable and much smarter than one would think given the cover and location in the bookstore.