I wanted to love this, given how much I enjoyed Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series. However, the same irreverent writing style wasn't working here for me. Grafted into the mouths of teenagers, that over-the-top, very British, high-handed talk was too much, particularly when the characters' concerns were far more juvenile. The pacing was extremely slow as well. I wanted to be buried in this story, but instead I put it down before long and went elsewhere.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Books for Young Readers for providing me with an egalley of this book to read and give an honest review, The opinions expressed here are my own.
Well what a fun ride this was. I was a little worried it might be too young, since the heroine is 14. But it turned out to really be a great read!
Bring on the steampunk. Some of my favorite books are this genre so it's exciting to jump into this world. Must be why I love the cover so much. Simple but certainly a statement.
Sophronia is not your typical teenage of her time. She wants to tinker and toy while her mother wants her to become a proper lady. She's sent a finishing school for this to happen but the school is nothing like what she expected. Forget curtsies and proper dress and bring on espionage! How fun is that? I really enjoyed how Sophronia was all in for this. Especially since at first she was worried she'd have to learn those things she didn't want to. This school became a perfect fit for her.
I liked the world building. I did learn after reading that it's some kind of companion to another series. I do wish I would have known that. Perhaps having some of the background from those books would have helped round out the world more for me.
The pacing for this book was great, though. I never felt bored. I never felt like I didn't want to see where the action lead. I wanted to know how the story would wrap up.
I can see there will be more trouble for Sophronia to get into in future books and I'm looking forward to seeing what it is!

Etiquette & Espionage was compulsively readable! I had a hard time putting it down! Fact paced, action packed, and hilarious, everything you want in a book about Victorian Teen Spies! I love the premise of having a prim and proper etiquette school also be a way to teach young ladies how to be complete badasses! This book reminds me of a historical, fantasy version of Ally Carter's Gallager Girls is the very best way possible! Sophriona is a fabulous main character, full of wit, charm, and mischief! I can't wait to read more of these books!

I love Gail and promise to read this some day.
I just needed to clear up my shelf in NetGalley.
I am sure I will LOVE this series.
Thank you so much for allowing me to read and review your titles.
I do appreciate it and continue to review books that I get the chance to read.
Thanks again!

I enjoyed the spy story and the steampunk like characters and setting. I think it is an enjoyable mystery for young adults.

It will appeal to readers of Carriger's and to those who like a quirky, offbeat tone in their writing style.

Entertaining. I spent the beginning to middle just trying to get through, but by the end of the book I was no longer irritated by the comedic-steampunk melodrama gag and actually kind of enjoyed the characters. Will probably finish the series to find out if Sophronia (honestly!) ever gets properly finished herself.

I honestly expected more from this book. I read the description and loved the idea, but it just wasn't as good as it could have been. This is definitely written for middle-grade girls. There wasn't much of a plot to speak of. I kept wanting SOMETHING to happen. ANYTHING. But I was left wanting. I could see this being good for a middle schooler, but if you're an older reader that just likes YA, this is not the series for you.

I thought that this book was just okay. This is really a pretty generous 3 stars but I am going to go with it. I have wanted to read Gail Carriger's work for a very long time and I remember being excited when I got my hands on a review copy of this book years ago. Somehow it got lost in my tbr pile but I decided that it was time to give it a go. It really wasn't all that I had hoped it would be but I am glad that I gave it a read and did find many parts of the book quite enjoyable.

This book felt younger than I expected it to feel. I do read quite a bit of YA but I thought that this story had more of a Middle Grade feel. That is not a bad thing - just an observation. My main issue with this story is the fact that I was often rather bored. For some reason, I never felt any connection to the story or the characters and often found my mind wandering.

The story revolves around Sophronia, who is sent off to Finishing School. This isn't like any other Finishing School. While she is taught important things such as how to curtsey properly, she is also trained in the art of espionage. I thought the school was pretty interesting and enjoyed seeing all of the various steampunk elements that present. There were a few more intense scenes that I thought were really well done as well.

I thought that Moira Quirk did a good job with this book. She was able to represent all of the different characters very well with her voice. I thought that the dialogue in the story flowed quite nicely. I found that she read the book at a nice pace and had no issues listening to her narration for long periods of time.

I think that this is a book that other reader might like a bit more than I did. I thought that the book did many things quite well but I was often bored and eager to finish the book so that I could move on to something else. I do hope to read more from Gail Carriger soon but I will probably choose a book from a different series.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Little Brown Books for Young Readers via NetGalley and purchased a copy of the audiobook.

There was nothing stellar about this series but it was just fun! A finishing school for spies! With supernatural creatures! All in an airship!

This first YA entry in Gail Carriger’s Parasolverse is every bit as delightful as her Parasol Protectorate series for adults. Sophronia and her Finishing School friends are welcome additions to the characters who inhabit this world of Victorian England with vampires, werewolves, clockwork pets, and airships. A tale of espionage and mystery told with plenty of humor and an abundance of tea, this series will appeal to fans of fantasy and steampunk.

I made the mistake of reading this without realizing that it was based in a world from another series of books. I'm guessing that I would have enjoyed it more if I had read the other set first. It is funny and frivolous. I found myself wanting more substance. This would make a great read for summer around the pool.

This odd little book wasn't really my cup of tea, but I can see that young readers would enjoy it. Steampunk is very popular right now, as is espionage. The silly names and cookie cutter personality types just didn't appeal to me, though.

I am a huge fan of Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series and was so excited when I first heard about her Finishing School series. Etiquette & Espionage is set in the same Victorian Steam Punk world but this time we follow teenage Sophronia and her friends as she travels to finishing school. I didn't love this one as much as I love Carriger's adult series but it was still a worthwhile and fun read.

I was never able to finish this book, I want to try again later, I just couldn't get into it, which was a huge disappointment because from everything I've seen, this book was amazing.

While I very much thank the publisher for the approval on this title, it was unfortunately not a good fit for me. I did, however, add it to Goodreads, so that others may see it and find it more in line with their tastes.

Oh, how I've wanted to like this series. I've tried it using my netgalley files on my kindle, I've tried in print, and I even tried audiobook in hopes I might get into the series. It's just everything I thought I wanted. I can't even say what didn't make it work for me, I just know it, sadly, did not. :(

Etiquette and Espionage is a fun, well-written book for middle grade and young adults, especially for girls. The author does a very good job blending mid-1800s "historical" high manners style with "steampunk" and I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

3 1/2 Stars. It was a cute book. I liked the characters. It reminded me of Jane Austin a little, but the characters were not nearly as irritating. I'll definitely continue the series.

Sorry, requested book but did not get around to reading it.