Gail Carriger's Finishing School series is a witty and fun steampunk novel. It tells the story of a child in Victorian England who attended Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing School for Young Ladies of Quality. Through this school, the child became a proper young woman and a talented spy. The protagonist is intelligent and curious and the story is full of fun, witty humor. Goodreads gives this series an average of 4.115 stars and this site gives it an average of 4 stars.
Gail Carriger’s Manners & Mutiny is the fourth and final book in the Finishing School series. Several months after her eventful train ride adventure, Sophronia Temminnick is at Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing School for Young Ladies of Quality. She deeply misses her sootie Soap, who is learning how to be a proper werewolf and her friend Sidheag, who is in Scotland with her werewolf pack. As school winds down for the New Year, the Picklemen’s dastardly plot nears completion. In this final installment Sophronia must protect her friends and deal with her tempestuous emotions. Sophronia has matured over the course of this series. While she is remained intelligent, curious, and headstrong throughout the entirety of the series, she is now an accomplished intelligencer. Sophronia overcomes several obstacles due to her remarkable spy talents. In Manners & Mutiny, Sophronia’s characteristics of unswervingly loyal to her friends, tendency to make rash decisions, and inclination keep secrets are emphasized as she partakes in many solo activities. This causes her to wonder her spy training has made her a cold and terrible person. The main cause of internal conflict for Sophronia is Soap. She loves him and he pursues her, but, due to his skin color and race, their marriage is impossible. Manners & Mutiny was a fantastic way to finish up the series. It was fast-paced and exciting. Gail Carriger’s witty and hilarious writing shines in this book making it fun and hilarious as well. The focus of the story has also moved to encompass romance, something that wasn’t a focus in previous installments. It was also disappointing to find out that some characters had smaller or nonexistent roles in this novel. This book focuses heavily on Sophronia as she does a lot of her spying on her own. It is disappointing when she refuses to let her friends help and partakes in solo missions instead of collaborating with her friends. Despite this, it was an enjoyable read. I give this 326 page book 4 stars. Gail Carriger’s Waistcoats & Weaponry, is the third installment in the “Finishing School” series. Sophronia is still attending Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing School for Young Ladies of Quality. Between mastering the bladed fan and attending her seduction classes, Sophronia is notified that something has gone wrong with Sidheag’s pack in Scotland. Teaming with her friends, Dimitry Plumleigh-Teignmott, Lord Felix Mersey, and Soap, she attempts to sneak her friend back to the Kingair Castle. Sophronia Temminnick is still the curious and intelligent young women from previous books, but this time she is stuck in the classic love triangle. Both Soap and Felix are vying for her love and, unlike the previous book, she isn’t repelling their affection. Even though Felix is cute and high ranking, Sophronia disagrees with his Pickleman politics. Despite Soap kindness and understanding, he is a low class sootie, so they have no future together. This book spends much time on Sophronia's romantic dilemma compared to the rest of the series. Of all the books in the series, this one is my favorite. The majority the story is spent away from the school; so much of the school drama is left behind. This change of scenery makes the danger greater, but it can sometimes be hard to feel the increase in stakes. Gail Carriger’s humor comes through in this book making it even more entertaining. For those who dislike love triangles, this isn’t the book for you. Both Soap and Felix are obvious in their affection for Sophronia and Sophronia is slowly falling for both of them. This book also keeps the unique way of naming chapters. Instead of lessons or tests, there are sessions. Sophronia's ideas and antics are both ingenious and amazing to read. She is the master of getting her and her friends both into and out of trouble. I can't wait for Manners & Mutiny to come out in November and I give this 298 page book 4.5 stars. Gail Carriger’s Curtsies & Conspiracies is the second book in the “Finishing School” series. Once again, Sophronia Temminnick narrates the story about the mysteries of Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing School for Young Ladies of Quality. Six months after Sophronia first came aboard the floating finishing school, Mademoiselle Geraldine plans for the school to take a trip to London. On this trip they are accompanied by a few students from Bunson and Lacroix’s Boys Polytechnique School. A thwarted attempt to kidnap Dimity Plumleigh-Teignmotts (thwarted by none other than Sophronia herself), puts Sophronia on edge. It has her sneaking around the school to discover if there is more to the London trip then the students are being told. The Sophronia Temminnick we have come to know and love barely changes over the course of the book. She remains the intelligent, curious and observant young woman we know her as. Her skills in espionage have improved and several of her skills come into play during the story. Dimity seems to be the one who grows the most. She still faints at the sight of blood, but she has become more of an intelligencer. No character has any significant change in his/her traits. Compared to Etiquette & Espionage, the previous book, this book faster paced. Like in the previous book, the answer to the mystery isn’t revealed until the end. Because this book spends less time developing the cast of characters, Sophronia had more time to run around the school spying on her teachers. The series keeps its unique way of naming chapters. Instead of lessons, the chapters are now split by tests. The book still keeps its high school setting and many of the social conflicts in the previous book remain in this book. Some of the high school stereotypes are more obvious thanks to the addition of boys to the cast of characters. This 310 page book receives 4 stars. Gail Carriger’s Etiquette & Espionage is the first in a series called “Finishing School”. It takes place during the Victorian Era, in a world where vampires and werewolves are accepted as members of society. The protagonist, Sophronia Angelina Temminnick, is the youngest of all the Temminnick girls at 14 years old. After preforming an unladylike stunt, involving a dumbwaiter and a flying trifle, Mrs. Temminnick decides that it is time to send Sophronia to finishing school. She enrolls her in Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing School for Young Ladies of Quality. Sophronia soon learns that the school is not just dedicated to correcting the young ladies’ curtsies and manners, but it is also determined teach its students deception, weaponry, and intelligence gathering. Sophronia is an extremely intelligent young lady. When coupled with her boundless curiosity, you have a young lady who is bound to get into trouble and has a habit of sneaking into places where she shouldn’t be. At the beginning of the story, Sophronia has little care for etiquette and prefers to partake in activities deemed, unladylike. As the story progresses, she becomes more of a proper lady. Her curtsies and manners develop, but she remains curious and unafraid of getting her hands dirty to achieve a task. Gail Carriger’s Etiquette & Espionage is a relatively slow paced book. Gail Carriger tends to dwell on the details, especially in the beginning of the story. Although the details are important to understanding the steam punk environment, it can make the book rather dull. The majority of the setting is within a school, so there are average middle school stereotypes and problems. This book has an interesting way of naming its chapters. Each chapter was a different lesson, for example, “Lesson 3: How Not to Make Introductions” (Carriger 32). Almost all the character in this book love spewing witty remarks, although the witty moments can be far and few between. In all, I give this 307 page book 3.5 stars. |
Finishing SchoolGail Carriger's "Finishing School" series takes place in a Victorian Era world, in which vampires and werewolves are accepted as members of society. Sophronia Temminnick is enrolled in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing School for Young Ladies of Quality. Archives
January 2016
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