Review of Etiquette and Espionage (Finishing School Book 1)

I finished reading Etiquette and Espionage: Number 1 in series (Finishing School) by Gail Carriger.📚

Fourteen-year-old Sophronia does not want to be a lady, and after another combination of events at home – which ended in a destroyed dumbwaiter – her mother sends her off to boarding school. But soon, she realizes that this is not your usual finishing school.

Opinion

Please note that from here on out, the text can contain spoilers of the book.

I like how the author interpreted finishing school literally and found an exciting concept for a boarding school. The book is the perfect combination of tropes for me—boarding school on top of an airship. I have not seen magic so far, but we have supernaturals — so magic seems to exist.

I liked how the main character develops during the story and how Sophronia finds friends quickly at school and in the airship crew – not that she is supposed to. Getting to know the crew is a side effect of her exploring the airship and going places she is not supposed to be – I love it!

This first book does not explain much how the world works, the author places the reader into the middle of a word, and with each page, you find out some more about it. I liked this very much, as this creates a bit of mystery and makes the world more believable. I love that the author does not feel the need to justify everything going on in this world. So I’m hungry to learn more about how the world works and how these supernaturals and the robot staff fit into the story.

I loved this book; it’s a solid start for a new series. I very much liked the strong main character who is very capable of solving her problems. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.

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