Review: The Finishing School Saga by Gail Carriger

Quick Summary

Type: Series

Genre: Historical fiction, young adult fiction

Books:

• Etiquette & Espionage: "Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is a 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. Temminnick 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." Read Time: 1 day Rating: 4 stars

• Curtsies & Conspiracies: "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 (and 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 field 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." Read Time: 2 days Rating: 4 stars

• Waistcoats & Weaponry: "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 hijack a suspiciously empty train to return their chum Sidheag to her werewolf pack in Scotland. But when Sophronia discovers they are being trailed by a dirigible of Picklemen and flywaymen, she unearths a plot that threatens to throw all of London into chaos. With her friends in mortal danger, Sophronia must sacrifice what she holds most dear - her freedom." Read Time: 2 days Rating: 4 stars

• Manners & Mutiny: "Lessons in the art of espionage aboard Mademoiselle Geraldine's floating dirigible have become quite tedious without Sophronia's sweet sootie Soap nearby. She would much rather be using her skills to thwart the dastardly Picklemen, but her concerns about their wicked intentions are ignored, and now she's not sure who to trust. What does the brusque werewolf dewan know? On whose side is the ever-stylish vampire Lord Akeldama? Only one thing is certain: a large-scale plot is under way, and when it comes to fruition, Sophronia must be ready to save her friends, her school, and all of London from disaster - in decidedly dramatic fashion, of course." Read Time: 2 days Rating: 4 stars

Review

The first book was a wonderful introduction into the world. The care with which the author built the world - without clubbing readers over the head with elements - paid off. I felt very immersed in the world, and was thus willing to suspend disbelief for some things (a person good at climbing trees and rocks might still have trouble climbing and swinging on a dirigible).

Although the plot sometimes fades into the background, I didn't mind too much because the descriptions of the classes and the intrigue were so interesting. I was also happy that Sophronia's intelligence and prowess as a spy were not just told, but demonstrated over many occasions. Too often, authors (and I've fallen into this trap myself) fall into the trap of saying something so many times that they assume it should be accepted as truth only for readers not to get the same impression. I did not get that with Sophronia. The way she acts and thinks lends itself to the idea that she is a natural-born intelligencer.

This feeling continued into the second book, although right off the bat we are practically told that Sophronia is one of the best (their marks come in and an emphasis is placed on the fact that Sophronia has the best marks ever for any debut). Although her prowess continues to be demonstrated, this felt a bit on the nose - especially when, after she has discovered the ostracization plot, it's confirmed that there was no exaggeration of her marks.

In the second book, I also felt like Sophronia lost a bit of her personality from the first book. She still loves and relies on gadgets, but in the first book she liked taking machines apart and learning how they work. In this book, she does that once near the beginning, but then doesn't pay as much mind to how gadgets work (the exception being Bumbersnoot).

What I did like about this book is that it was the first opportunity for Sophronia to deal with real consequences of intelligencing. The ball at the end of the first book still felt like a game (as did the ball at the end of the second book). But the character assassination campaign against Professor Shrimpdittle forced Sophronia to confront the consequences of her actions, both good and bad.

The third book strays from the school, but is still fun in its own way. The inciting incident is an urgent letter to Sidheag, followed by Sidheag's sudden disappearance from the school with Captain Niall. Then Sophronia, Dimity, Pillover, Soap, and Felix go to the Temminick estate for Sophronia's brother's engagement party. The party goes pretty well, and then suddenly Sidheag shows up with two werewolves - Captain Niall and the most important werewolf in England. Why did they take Sidheag there? Not clear. But after the werewolves leave, Sophronia, Dimity, Soap, and Felix decide to help Sidheag to England to find her (disgraced) pack. This part was the only part that bugged me. The entire train journey was very fun to read, and it was a good way to bring Monique back into the story after Monique left the school. The book also ended extremely well, with an exciting climax and satisfying conclusion.

Finally, the final book made for a very satisfying end to the series. It started slowly, but as soon as the school was stolen by Picklemen, the plot picked up considerably, and the majority of the rest of the story was incredibly fun to read. Again, the way Sophronia's friends (and frenemies) come to help is cleverly written. I was a little disappointed that this meant the school itself - and the idea behind it - was destroyed, but it does make sense. The twists that came also make a lot of sense in hindsight, and the way the Pickleman plot is revealed is very satisfying.

That being said, I don't think the Afterword was necessary, and it was a little disappointing (Sophronia's next mission is to play nanny? Not satisfying at all or a good use of Sophronia's talents). If the Afterword was to be included, I would have liked to know more about what Sophronia's classmates and friends went on to do as well as what the teachers ended up doing.

Otherwise, this was a fun, easy series to read with lots of imaginative worldbuilding.