Review: Waistcoats & Weaponry (Finishing School #3) by Gail Carriger

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Published: November 4, 2014
Pages: 304
Source: For Review From Publisher
Rating: 4 Stars

Class is back in session...

Sophronia continues her second year at finishing school in style--with a steel-bladed fan secreted in the folds of her ball gown, of course. Such a fashionable choice of weapon comes in handy when Sophronia, her best friend Dimity, sweet sootie Soap, and the charming Lord Felix Mersey stowaway on a train to return their classmate Sidheag to her werewolf pack in Scotland. No one suspected what--or who--they would find aboard that suspiciously empty train. Sophronia uncovers a plot that threatens to throw all of London into chaos and she must decide where her loyalties lie, once and for all. 

In short: Waistcoats & Weaponry delivers on all the whimsy, cleverness, and rollicking good fun that is expected from a Gail Carriger read.

Gail Carriger's books always make for a good pick-me-up between slower or more serious reads. She just has SUCH a great talent for quirky humour and breezy plots that leave you smiling and cheered. I had great fun with the first two books in her Finishing School Series, Etiquette & Espionage and Curtsies & Conspiracies, and I couldn't wait to dive back into the steampunk-paranormal world with Waistcoats & Weaponry to get me out of the reading slump I was experiencing at the time.

Sophronia is now a bit older and a bit more experienced as an intelligencer, and just as resourceful and bright as ever. In between learning how to master the art of battling with bladed fans and bestowing seductive looks to unsuspecting gentlemen at Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality, Sophronia - along with her ragtag group of friends - of course manage to get themselves involved in yet another conspiracy from which a romping good adventure results, as well as a little romance along the way.

Looking for a rollicking good read filled with quirky characters, clever humour, and dastardly plots? Then look no further than the Finishing School Series by Gail Carriger! Gail Carriger's special whimsical brand of humour is practically guaranteed to put you in a good mood and draw you out of a slump. Next up: Manners & Mutiny, coming this November 2015.

Previously, my reviews review for Etiquette & Espionage and Curtsies & Conspiracies.

Other Reviews:
Alice Marvels
Megan Likes Books
The Nocturnal Library

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Review: Curtsies & Conspiracies (Finishing School #2) by Gail Carriger

Publisher: Little, Brown Books For Young Readers
Published: November 5, 2013
Pages: 320
Source: For Review from Hachette Book Group Canada
Rating: 4 Stars

Does one need four fully grown foxgloves for decorating a dinner table for six guests? Or is it six foxgloves to kill four fully grown guests?
Sophronia's first year at Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality has certainly been rousing! For one thing, finishing school is training her to be a spy (won't Mumsy be surprised?). Furthermore, Sophronia got mixed up in an intrigue over a stolen device and had a cheese pie thrown at her in a most horrid display of poor manners.
Now, as she sneaks around the dirigible school, eavesdropping on the teachers' quarters and making clandestine climbs to the ship's boiler room, she learns that there may be more to a school trip to London than is apparent at first. A conspiracy is afoot--one with dire implications for both supernaturals and humans. Sophronia must rely on her training to discover who is behind the dangerous plot-and survive the London Season with a full dance card.

In short: Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger is a strong and inventive sequel to a brilliantly quirky series.

When I read Etiquette & Espionage earlier this year, I was instantly smitten. And how could I not be? With hilariously clever writing, memorably vibrant characters, and a refreshingly whimsical tone, Etiquette & Espionage was simply a joy to read! I was so impressed at Gail Carriger's talent for humorous scenes and fast paced entertaining plots that I couldn't wait to return to Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality to read more about Sophronia and her adventures with her ragtag group of friends in Curtsies & Conspiracies.

And thankfully, the fun continues in Curtsies & Conspiracies! The stakes are raised a bit as well as Sophronia becomes entangled in numerous conspiracies and gets to practice her ever-broadening intelligencer skills. Gail Carriger somehow manages to weave these multiple storylines into one tightly paced and expertly plotted book that culminates in a chaotic climax. The cast of characters - both main and supporting - are as vibrant and fun as ever. A bit of a love triangle is introduced in Curtsies & Conspiracies and while I remain firmly Team Soap, neither gentleman is a viable option for a lady of Sophronia's position so I'm curious how that will play out.

Curtsies & Conspiracies is capital entertainment. It is perhaps a bit fluffy, but I welcomed it. Gail Carriger combines the paranormal and steampunk genres to create a fresh and inventive plot in a hilariously exaggerated Victorian setting. Curtsies & Conspiracies is a strong sequel to a brilliantly quirky series. Highly recommended.

Previously, my review of Etiquette & Espionage.

Other Reviews:
Megan Likes Books
The Nocturnal Library

Author Links:
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Blog
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Review: Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School #1) by Gail Carriger

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: February 5, 2013
Pages: 320
Source: For Review from Hachette Book Group Canada
Rating: 5 Stars

It's one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It's quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to finishing school.
Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is the bane of her mother's existence. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper etiquette at tea--and god forbid anyone see her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. She enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.
But little do Sophronia or her mother know that this is a school where ingenious young girls learn to finish, all right--but it's a different kind of finishing. Mademoiselle Geraldine's certainly trains young ladies in the finer arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but also in the other kinds of finishing: the fine arts of death, diversion, deceit, espionage, and the modern weaponries. Sophronia and her friends are going to have a rousing first year at school.

In short: Etiquette & Espionage gets the plot, characters, and whimsical tone just right and I am now smitten with Gail Carriger.

So, I may have a new author crush. Gail Carriger is best known for her Parasol Protectorate series and while I always hear amazing things about it, I am, as always, wary when it comes to adult books. When I heard she would be writing a new YA series - set in the same universe as her Parasol Protectorate series - and when I saw the absolutely STUNNING cover for Etiquette & Espionage, I knew I needed to read it. And that's when I found out that Gail Carriger is a brilliant and clever author with a talent for humourous writing, vibrant characters, and fast-paced entertaining plots. And I was smitten.

Etiquette & Espionage is like a parody of a Victorian Era novel, complete with over exaggerated ideals of strict morality, restrained sexuality, and refined sensibilities. When Sophronia, a young lady of fourteen years, is picked to attend Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality, what she doesn't know is that it is no ordinary finishing school. She is to learn to be an intelligencer - Victorian Lady-style.

It is beyond me how hours upon hours of class time could be spent just to master the art of fainting gracefully, fluttering eyelashes seductively, and blushing prettily on command, but that makes up the bulk of Sophronia's schooling, along with history classes with her vampire professor and fighting classes with her werewolf professor. Hilarious. I feel like it takes serious skill to get whimsy right as an author. Because anyone can do weird and silly, but whimsy takes a certain amount of cleverness and Gail Carriger got it just right.

As you might imagine by the humourous tone of the plot, the characters are similarly quirky and cartoonish and all together brilliant. They have names like Mrs. Barnaclegoose, Lord Dingleproops, and Mr. Shrimpdittle (snort). I seriously LOVED every single one of them. Sophronia is a bold and sensible protagonist who is well suited to a career as an intelligencer due to her curious and adventurous tendencies. All secondary characters that make up her ragtag group of friends are similarly loveable and memorable. There is the barest hint of a playful romance blossoming in Etiquette & Espionage that is sure to develop over the course of the series, involving Sophronia and a guy nicknamed Soap who is - GASP - black. And a lower class sootie to boot! Scandal.

It is possible that had I been in a more critical mood, I might have found some fault with Etiquette & Espionage. But I was in the exact mood for it and honestly, Etiquette & Espionage isn't a book that takes itself seriously so the reader shouldn't either. I admit some bias in my love for Etiquette & Espionage because it had a vague semblance to Harry Potter - a quirky boarding school, fun and cartoonish characters, a general whimsical atmosphere. Sounds good, right? You should read it!

Other Reviews:
Cozy Up With A Good Read
Megan Likes Books
Reading In Winter

Authors Links:
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