Title: Curtsies & Conspiracies

Author: Gail Carriger

 

Series: Finishing School, #2

My rating: 5 of 5

(Book read on September 9th, 2014.)

Summary:

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 school has certainly been rousing. First, her finishing school is training her to be a spy (won't Mumsy be surprised!). Secondly, she gets mixed up in an intrigue over a stolen device and has a cheese pie thrown at her. Now, as Sophronia 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 at first appears...

  
Vampires, werewolves, and humans are all after the prototype Sophronia recovered in Etiquette & Espionage, which has the potential to alter human and supernatural travel. Sophronia must try to uncover who is behind a dangerous plot to control the prototype ... as well as survive the London season with a full dance card. 

 

 

My Thoughts on the Book:

First of all, I adore the Parasol Protectorate series, and I really enjoyed the first book in this prequel spin-off series Etiquette & Espionage. But, this second book, managed to surprise & amaze me by the fact how awesome it was, and how much I fell in love with all the characters & the story itself.

The story was really interesting & highly entertaining, but what I loved most were the characters, of course. I adore Sophronia. She's like what Alexia Tarabotti would've been like as a young girl, if she wasn't a supernatural. I can totally imagine them being alike. I can probably gush a lot about the reasons why I love her, but I'll stop myself, you'll just have to read it for yourself & see why. But, she would be one awesome & maybe even terrifying spy when she finishes ;)

I also adored the rest of the characters: Dimity, Vieve, Soap, Felix, Sidheag, Pillover, Niall, etc. I can only imagine, what they'll get into in the next book. I'm laughing now just thinking about everything that happened in this book. Believe me, you won't be bored even one second while reading this book. You'll just keep turning the pages, and when it will be over, you'll be left eager for more.

I adored all the banter & interactions between all the characters, no matter if it was just friendly teasing, flirting, or just plotting & scheming. It was fun, charming, interesting, and I had a smile plastered on my face for most of the time while reading this book. Also, Lord Akeldama - that was precious. And that ending - hilarious, but full of awesomeness! I still can't believe what they did & where they did it, and that they actually got away with it - loved it so much!!!

If you enjoy books that will make you laugh, or steampunk books, or historical books, or banter-filled books, or just books full of curious characters & situations, or even better - everything I just mentioned - then Curtsies & Conspiracies and the Finishing School series are the books for you, and I can't recommend them enough!!!

 

 

 

Challenges: 

 

September is for Sequels Challenge

Summer Bookish Bingo

2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge

Title: Etiquette & Espionage

Author: Gail Carriger

Series: Finishing School #1 

My rating: 4.5 of 5

(Book read from April 12-17, 2013, for a read-along.)

Summary:

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 a great trial to her poor mother. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper manners - and the family can only hope that company never sees her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. So she enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.

But Sophronia soon realizes the school is not quite what her mother might have hoped. At Mademoiselle Geraldine's, young ladies learn to finish...everything. Certainly, they learn the fine arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but they also learn to deal out death, diversion, and espionage - in the politest possible ways, of course. Sophronia and her friends are in for a rousing first year's education.

Set in the same world as the Parasol Protectorate, this YA series debut is filled with all the saucy adventure and droll humor Gail Carriger's legions of fans have come to adore.

My Thoughts on the Book:

Etiquette & Espionage is the first book in the Finishing School series - a prequel series of Gail Carriger's adult series - the Parasol Protectorate - series that I loved. Because of that I think I might be a bit biased when it comes to this book and the world in it, as well as Gail's writing style. To be honest, I didn't expect that to influence me in any way, although I was hoping to meet a character or two I already know, but surprisingly it did, but in a good way. I was surprised by the secondary characters from the Parasol Protectorate in this book, I so didn't expect to see them, but I loved it, and of course a number of things in this book that I probably wouldn't have known I guessed quite early, but only because I already know Gail's steampunk world in the future, but all of that didn't diminish my enjoyment at all. Actually, it makes me even more excited about the 2nd book, because I know what Curtsies & Conspiracies will be about, and I'm so excited to see how all of that will play out :) So, if you're a fan of the Parasol Protectorate series, give this one a shot, I'm pretty sure you will enjoy it. But, back to Etiquette & Espionage.

In Etiquette & Espionage we meet Sophronia. From the moment she shows up, I started to like her a lot, and she made me laugh again & again through the book. She's fun, witty, smart, curious, spontaneous & quick-on-her-feet, and I absolutely loved her as character.

The other characters were great, too. I loved Dimity & Pillover, they were hilarious & lots of fun. I also loved Vieve, it was really interesting to see her as a 9-year old girl, as well as Sidheag - I definitely wasn't expecting her, but I'm glad she's here. Soap was a fun character, too, and a sweetie (in a non-crushing sense).

Monique was another interesting addition to this book, as well as all the professors, and all the other characters in the book. And of course not to forget Bumbersnoot - so adorable :)

As for the story, it starts when Sophronia is enrolled in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality against her will. On the way there she meets Dimity & her brother Pillover who's starting Bunson and Lacroix’s Boys’ Polytechnique - a school for evil geniuses. She thinks her school is just a regular finishing school, but soon realizes it's much more, and yeah, she loves it. Who wouldn't want to go to school on a floating dirigible?

The pacing of the story was perfect, the characters were well-developed, plenty of action, and the ending was great. Such a fun book!

As for the world, I absolutely loved it. Although I know a lot about the future of this world & its supernatural society, it was so great to see it in the past. I loved everything about it: the schools, the flywaymen, the Pistons, the Picklemen, the steampunk technology, everything. And I can't wait to learn more about the past.

As for the writing style, as always, it was great & I absolutely loved it. Gail Carriger has such a fun way of writing, so her books are always lots of fun and full of humour, as well as quirky characters & situations. And her books are addictive, so beware ;) And the names in this book - hilarious! So, yeah, she has done it again, only this time for the YA audience, and I can't wait to read more!

Etiquette & Espionage is a great YA debut that I can't recommend enough. It will take you on quite a fun ride through a different kind of London, and it will make you laugh, smile & root for Sophronia & her friends & their adventure, and it will leave you eager for more of these characters & their world.

Challenges:

  

 2013 Read-along Challenge

2013 Books-In-A-Series Reading Challenge

Title: Timeless

Author: Gail Carriger

 

Series: Parasol Protectorate #5

My rating: 5 of 5

(Book read from my own copy from March 5th to March 6th, 2013)

Summary:

Alexia Tarabotti, Lady Maccon, has settled into domestic bliss. Of course, being Alexia, such bliss involves integrating werewolves into London High society, living in a vampire's second best closet, and coping with a precocious toddler who is prone to turning supernatural willy-nilly. Even Ivy Tunstell's acting troupe's latest play, disastrous to say the least, cannot put a damper on Alexia's enjoyment of her new London lifestyle.

Until, that is, she receives a summons from Alexandria that cannot be ignored. With husband, child, and Tunstells in tow, Alexia boards a steamer to cross the Mediterranean. But Egypt may hold more mysteries than even the indomitable Lady Maccon can handle. What does the vampire Queen of the Alexandria Hive really want from her? Why is the God-Breaker Plague suddenly expanding? And how has Ivy Tunstell suddenly become the most popular actress in all the British Empire?

 

My Thoughts on the Book:

When I picked up Soulless in 2010, I had no idea what I'm in for! Yeah, I've seen it around, and steampunk was my new found love at the time, so I had to read it, and I was totally surprised by it. It was highly entertaining, laugh-out-loud funny, with lovely characters, fun romance, good mystery & even suspenseful, but in a fun way ;) After that although I read books 2-4, and although I enjoyed them, (after all they're all quite entertaining), I didn't realise actually how much I love all of those characters until I re-read Soulless last year :) Because although not perfect, they all got themselves a special place in my heart  :) And after all the ups & downs in books 2-4, Timeless was everything I could've wished for & more, and I absolutely loved it :) Along with Soulless, Timeless is my most favorite Parasol Protectorate book! 

So, Timeless continues a few years after the events in Heartless. Prudence now it's up & about, and she's everything we could've expect a child of Lady & Lord Maccon to be, that's also raised by Lord Akeldama :) I absolutely loved her! She was fun & sweet & cute, and quite the troublemaker :D I'm absolutely dying to see what she'll be up to in her spin-off series (at least I'm almost sure the Parasol Protectorate Abroad will be about her, after all the 1st book title should be Prudence). And dear old Lord Akeldama, as always he was such a delight to be read about, it was lovely seeing him in a role of a "father" - lovely & highly entertaining & laugh-out-loud funny! Next - the amazing & lovable Biffy! Through the series Biffy became one of my most fav secondary characters in the series. I definitely didn't expect that at the beginning of the series, but in the previous books I both laughed & cried with him, and I was hoping for something about him in this book, I was actually expecting it, and yay I got it, and he got it, and I was really happy for him. But, I have to admit there was one thing I didn't quite expect near the end, so that was a pleasant surprise, but everything worked out for the best! Of course there's Professor Lyall, another of the characters I love, I was both sad & happy for him, too. Also, there's Ivy & Tunstell, as always they're hilarious & highly entertaining, and I totally didn't expect that ending for them, but it was actually perfect, big surprise, but perfect HEA for them ;) Of course the one character I never got a liking for was back - Madame Lefoux. I don't know why, I can't quite put my finger on what it is, but I just never could connect to her, care about her or like her. Yeah, we can't like all of them but I guess I find it really surprising, because all of the other characters in the series, both main & secondary, I found them all quite lovable, but not Madame Lefoux.   

And now a little bit about Conall & Alexia. I absolutely love these two as a couple. They're just so sweet & lovable & charming together, and there was plenty of romance between them in Timeless, something that lacked a little in the previous books, and I was really happy with this. I mean, as always, they made me laugh & smile, but they even made me cry. Yeah, I'll admit it, I bawled my eyes out for the first time in the series at one point in this book. It's just that what happened was so sad & heartbreaking, and I couldn't believe it that the author will do that to us & end the series in that way (she really got one over me, I can't believe it) and so I was crying & crying, but I continued reading, and then other things kept happening, and I was both laughing at what was happening at the moment & crying because of what happened before, so that was definitely a first - laugh & cry at the same time :) So, great job, Gail! I was just so wrapped up in the story & the characters, and everything was so entertaining, and I couldn't stop reading, and yeah, I loved every second of it!

 

As for the story and everything that happened, some things I expected (and hoped for), some things were surprises, but overall it was pretty good, and it wrapped up the series in a lovely way & perfectly, and the only way they all could've get a HEA. So, yeah, I was quite happy with the outcome, and if you've enjoyed the previous books in the series, I know you won't be disappointed.   

If you love fun & entertaining historical romances or/& if you love fun & entertaining paranormal romances, then I highly recommend the Parasol Protectorate series, because I think you would enjoy it. And of course if you love steampunk, too, I recommend to give the series a try, because it's quite entertaining. As for me, I have the Finishing School series to look forward to for now, and then the Parasol Protectorate Abroad, because I will be definitely reading Gail Carriger again, because her writing style & her characters are one of the most entertaining, and of course I want more!

Challenges:

Don't Let It End Reading Challenge

2013 TBR Pile Challenge

2013 Books-In-A-Series Reading Challenge

Take Control of Your TBR Pile Challenge March 2013

Summary:

Alexia Tarabotti, the Lady Woolsey, awakens in the wee hours of the mid-afternoon to find her husband, who should be decently asleep like any normal werewolf, yelling at the top of his lungs. Then he disappears - leaving her to deal with a regiment of supernatural soldiers encamped on her doorstep, a plethora of exorcised ghosts, and an angry Queen Victoria.

But Alexia is armed with her trusty parasol, the latest fashions, and an arsenal of biting civility. Even when her investigations take her to Scotland, the backwater of ugly waistcoats, she is prepared: upending werewolf pack dynamics as only the soulless can.

She might even find time to track down her wayward husband, if she feels like it.

My rating: 4/5

My thoughts on the book:

I enjoyed it a lot! It's really good sequel of Soulless! It was really fun & the things that Ivy usually did or said were hilarious! The ending that sets up the story for the next book was great & now I'm looking forward to Blameless! If you still haven't tried the series, you should :)

Challenges: 

• 100+ Reading Challenge
• Summer Reading Challenge 2010
• The 2nd Reading Challenge 2010 
• The Four Month Challenge, Part 4!   
• Speculative Fiction Reading Challenge 2010
• The Hogwarts Reading Challenge 2010 (Transfiguration)

Summary:

Alexia Tarabotti is laboring under a great many social tribulations. First, she has no soul. Second, she's a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette.
Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire -- and then the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate.
With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London's high society? Will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing? Finally, who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart?

My thoughts on the book:

I loved it! It was really fun, humorous, fast-paced & I couldn't put it down & I just loved the characters! Definitely one of my favorite reads so far! I'm looking forward to reading Changeless. I highly recommend it!

My rating: 5/5

Finished: 8 May 2010

Challenges:

• Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2010
• 100+ Reading Challenge 2010
• 1st in a Series Challenge 2010
• New Authors Challenge 2010
• The Hogwarts Reading Challenge 2010 (Care of Magical Creatures)