Etiquette and Espionage, by Gail Carriger (Finishing School #1)

Years before Alexia Tarabotti started getting in the middle of supernatural disasters, 14-year-old Sophronia Temminick broke a dumbwaiter. Sophronia is not quite the young lady her mother wishes she was. Sophronia spends her days taking things apart, putting them back together, and breaking dumbwaiters. Sophronia is a fun name to type and is apparently a real name because it isn't being underlined, so I shall be repeating it as many times as I can without sounding like an idiot. Anyway, when Madame Geraldine, from Madame Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality, offers to whisk Sophronia away, Mrs. Temminick couldn't be more relieved. What Mrs. Temminick doesn't know, is that the finishing taught here is not restricted to dance, dress, etiquette and the like, but also includes the fine arts of death, espionage, and being a lady in the most...interesting...of situations.

Set 25 years prior to the Parasol Protectorate, Etiquette and Espionage is the teen version of Gail Carriger's wonderful approach to steampunk, werewolves and vampires. This book was absolutely adorable, and I definitely recommend it to any fans of the adult series. This book is a fantastic start to the parallel series, and was connected perfectly so that it doesn't matter which series was started first. While there were several overlapping supporting characters, the main characters were completely separate from The Parasol Protectorate, so though I knew the fates of the overlaps, I did not know how the series would end.

Of all the things I could have taken away from this book, the one thing I chose to focus on upon completion was how young Sidheag must be in Parasol Protectorate. From her description I was convinced she was in her 50's or 60's, but if this book is only 25 years prior then she can be under 40! Of course, it is entirely possible that I missed one very important word revealing her age in The PP series, in which case I apologize for this rant.

One last thing: I love Madame Lefoux. She was awesome, even as a kid.

4.8 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 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.