![]() I also liked that this book follows a different structure from the two earlier ones and focuses on a smaller cast of characters. (No spoilers, but let’s just say these two things-the emotive climax and the resolution of the love triangle-might be related…) And there’s a satisfying and emotional climax, rather than one that feels rushed and confused. The complaints I had about Curtsies & Conspiracies no longer apply: Sophronia has finally realized that she is in an Archetypal YA Love Triangle™, which leads to fun flirting, angsty yearning, and a resolution of a kind. I zipped through Waistcoats & Weaponry with the speed of a steam engine. Was she trying to keep it under a certain page count or something? During the last few chapters, it feels like Carriger is telling, not showing-she’ll write things like, “He began to harangue the vampires, accusing them of all manner of dastardly deeds,” instead of fully spelling out the dialogue and action. However, this is the second book in a row where I wish the climax were a little more exciting. This series could even serve as a handbook for smart, socially awkward girls: small talk and parties are more fun if you treat them like a spy! (Observe everybody carefully, try to tease out hidden motives, play your cards close to your chest, etc.) Still, would I appreciate the romance more if I were the age of the target audience? As a teen, I swooned over books that told me that boys could find a brainy, introverted girl attractive-that they wouldn’t always go for the bubbly extroverts.Īnd I do appreciate the focus on Sophronia’s brains, poise, and confidence. And I kind of missed the majority-female atmosphere of the first book. But it can feel really contrived, especially when the boys are so instantly devoted, and the girl is so oblivious, as is the situation here. I gather that it’s de rigueur in YA fiction these days to have the heroine torn between two very different but very charming young men (this wasn’t the case when I was a teen/tween). I don’t know how I feel about this book’s love triangle, though. She’s risen to the top of her class, she’s better at planning and scheming, she experiences some moral dilemmas and tests of loyalty, and romance enters the picture! Though only a few months have elapsed since Etiquette & Espionage, Sophronia seems much more sophisticated in Curtsies & Conspiracies. But someone should have told Carriger that his initial appearance creates the wrong impression. Crow, though everyone calls me Soap, because I needs it more than most.”) Fortunately, as the book goes on and Soap becomes an important character, his speech sounds much less caricatured. I also cringed when the first line of dialogue from the book’s only Black character sounded like something out of a minstrel show. And I do hope that the subsequent books explore some of the thornier dilemmas faced by intelligence agents: Sophronia’s physical and mental skills are frequently put to the test here, but not so much her morals or emotions. I read on because I enjoyed living in Sophronia’s world, not necessarily because I cared about the mystery. ![]() True, the atmosphere here is stronger than the plot, which is fueled by the hunt for a blatant MacGuffin (an object referred to only as “the prototype,” whose purpose is unclear). I’m not even a dog person, but I fell in love with Sophronia’s clockwork dachshund, whose tail wags like a metronome. What teenage girl wouldn’t want to go to a school that keeps “London hours”: rise at noon, tea at five, lessons from a friendly vampire after sunset? Or practice passing secret messages while dancing the quadrille? Then, the steampunk trappings lend an extra layer of charm. ![]() But I’m almost more tempted by Mademoiselle Geraldine’s course offerings than Hogwarts’. It offers many of the pleasures of early Harry Potter: whimsical humor, silly names (“Lord Dingleproops”), and lots of sneaking around a magical boarding school after lights-out. Etiquette & Espionage is the story of an adventurous 14-year-old girl in a fantasy/steampunk version of 1850s Britain who gets recruited to study at a school for lady spies and assassins.
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