Review: Waistcoats & Weaponry

Info:
Title: Waistcoats & Weaponry
Author: Gail Carriger
Series: Finishing School #3
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: November 4, 2014
Source: I received an eARC in exchange for a honest review.

Synopsis:
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. 


Gather your poison, steel tipped quill, and the rest of your school supplies and join Mademoiselle Geraldine's proper young killing machines in the third rousing installment in the New York Times bestselling Finishing School Series by steampunk author, Gail Carriger.

Review:
I am honestly so in love with this series. Gail Carriger is basically a steampunk genius. What I love is that despite the air-ships and vampires and werewolves and mysterious devices, it's still very Victorian, which I love. There's manners and bustles and the need for everything to be very proper, lest it start a scandal.

Sophronia is just such a likable character. She is loyal and resourceful and tons of fun. Plus I love her classmates Sidheag and Dimity (the only two really present in most of the book). And of course, Soap is my favourite. Lord Felix is also along for the ride and honestly, he gave me sleazy vibes the whole time.

And that's where this book dropped from 5 stars to only 4. It just got too love triangle-ish. I don't have a ton of patience for love triangles generally, but when the right decision is so obvious, that makes them even worse.

These characters go on a serious train adventure. There is scandal and intrigue and werewolf drama. Yep, it's pretty awesome. I'll be straight with you though, this book did make me cry. I don't want to give any spoilers, but man, it was rough on me. 

I absolutely can't wait for the next (and final I think) book in this series. But the good news is that I have the box set of Gail Carriger's adult series on my shelf that I can't wait to find the time to dive into!

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Review: Curtsies and Conspiracies

Info:

Title: Curtsies and Conspiracies
Author: Gail Carriger
Series: Finishing School #2
Publisher: Little, Brown Books fro Young Readers
Publication Date: November 5, 2013

Synopsis:

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 this sequel to bestselling author Gail Carriger's YA debut Etiquette & Espionage, class is back in session with more petticoats and poison, tea trays and treason. Gail's distinctive voice, signature humor, and lush steampunk setting are sure to be the height of fashion this season.

Review:

I absolutely love the world Gail Carriger has created. The mixture of Victorian manners with paranormal creatures, not to mention a dash of steampunk, completely sucked me in.

In Curtsies and Conspiracies, we reunite with Sophronia, who I fell in love with in Etiquette and Espionage. The secondary characters are also awesome, especially Soap, who I'm a little bit totally in love with. We get a new secondary character (well we met him briefly in book one) in Lord Felix Mercer. While I can't say I'm a fan of Felix, I do like the inclusion of him as a character and I'm excited to see what happens in the next book. That said, there is a hint of a love triangle starting, so I really hope that is handled in a way I can enjoy.

The characters and the world building are really where this series shines. The only negative thing I can say about this book is that there was a lot going on. Sometimes it was a bit hard to keep track of all the different factions involved and their motives. Or perhaps my intelligencer skills are lacking and I should have attended Madame Geraldine's myself! I would love to be a lady of quali-tay.

Overall, I'm still completely in love with this series and I also can't wait to start Gail Carriger's adult series set in the same world.

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