Curtsies and Conspiracies

Sophronia Temminick gets the highest grades in the class on her six-month exam, and all her friends ostracize her. How is she supposed to uncover the purpose of the mysterious prototype and solve any new mysteries that might arise without her diverse and most capable friends? And to cap it all off, there are BOYS from Bunson and Lacroix’s Boys Polytechnique School on the dirigible! And one of them is determined to court Sophronia! Oh, the scandal!

Let me tell you a little something about the things I love in this world: well-written YA, boarding school stories, Regency/Georgian/Victorian historical fiction, steampunk, dirigibles, British humor, bad-ass ladies, complete and utter weirdness, mechanical wiener dogs, and Gail Carriger. I show more could tell I loved this book because when Sophronia made a face, I made a face, and I spent the last 50 pages alternating between squealing with delight and laughing until my sides hurt. I loved this one even more than the first. I especially love seeing the evolving politics and how they might influence the events of the original series, and how the characters grow between the two series. show less

Gail Carriger has done it again. Curtsies & Conspiracies, the second book in the Finishing School series, is an absolute delight. I enjoyed this one even more than the first. The story opens with the girls returning to Madame Geraldine's just in time for the strangest mid-term exam ever, which Sophronia passes with flying colors. Making top marks isn't all it's cracked up to be as Sophronia's friends turn against her in apparent jealousy. Or is it? Is everything at this school a test? Before they know it, the School is heading to London for the season... and for a covert mission that has implications the supernatural and humans alike. With boys!

Hanging out with Sophronia and friends at Madame Geraldine's School is so much fun! show more Carriger's signature wit and clever dialogue are on full display, reminding me of my favorite parts of Parasol Protectorate though aimed at the YA crowd. With this trip to London Carriger is able to work in even more cameos by Parasol characters. Lord Akeldama is at his outrageous best and does not disappoint.

Life is definitely difficult for Sophronia with everyone, even Dimity, turned against her. She has finally realized the full value of her friendships. That doesn't stop Sophronia in the slightest from being up to her usual tricks and intelligencer activities. While I wasn't crazy about the start of a possible love triangle, parts of it are relevant to both Sophronia's training and the plot so it doesn't detract from the story too much. I love that even Bumbersnoot has an important role to play. I wish I could have my own Bumbersnoot.

Speaking of plot, there is one! It leans towards the political side and it's great to gain insight into Vampire society and hierarchy. There is a lot for Sophronia to figure out, all of which leads up to one of the best endings I could have hoped for. It's a good thing Countess Nadasdy is already (un)dead or the extreme excitement in her Hive might have been fatal due to the bad manners of it all. And best of all, Monique won't be returning to the school. Which does make me wonder who the new antagonist will be. I'm looking forward to seeing how Sophronia's education continues in the third book. show less

Sophronia Temminnick and her fellow students at Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality are at it again. When Sophronia gets the highest marks ever awarded on her 6 month assessment, Sophronia faces the challenge of being ostracized by her fellow students in the midst of an exciting trip to view a dirigible test. As usual, there is more than meets the eye, and Sophronia discovers that various factions are vying to control the airways. Can Sophronia stop the various plots afoot?

I love Gail Carriger's work. I only wish there was more of it! You can't help but laugh as Sophronia brandishes her Depraved Lens of Crispy Magnification (I so want one!) or tries to cast aspersions upon Professor Shrimpdittle. I show more will say, though, that this second installment in the series wasn't as funny, or perhaps more accurately, as lighthearted, as the first one. I think that was purposeful, to show that Sophronia has grown and matured a bit. She has to deal with increasingly complicated issues and comes to understand that there are quite serious consequences to her actions. For fans of her adult Parasol Protectorate series, Lord Akeldama makes a delightful appearance here with some hints that Sophronia hasn't seen the last of him. I look forward to Book the Third! show less

Just as great as Etiquette and Espionage, which blows me away! I think I love this series even more than the Parasol Protectorate, and I didn't think such a thing was possible. Sophronia is a heroine for the ages -- full of intelligence, pluck, and sheer unadulterated courage without being full of herself. In every way a worthy companion to Terry Pratchett's books -- funny, whip-smart, and full of adventure that keeps me begging for more.

This book is utter, unpretentious fun. For someone who likes things light and steampunk-y in times of stress, it's a perfect read for distracted, dispiriting times (like, say, near the end-crunch of a bad semester): good-hearted but not over-earnest, zippy plot and narrative drive without anything disturbing or scary, loads of appealing characters, and ... Soap, who's just a really neat character, especially for a novel like this one. Plus there's the game-like quality of encountering characters from the Parasol Protectorate series if you read those too. Good times!

Description: Sophronia's first year at Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality has certainly been rousing! For one thing, finishing school is training her to be a spy (won't Mumsy be surprised?). Furthermore, Sophronia got mixed up in an intrigue over a stolen device and had a cheese pie thrown at her in a most horrid display of poor manners.

Now, as she sneaks around the dirigible school, eavesdropping on the teachers' quarters and making clandestine climbs to the ship's boiler room, she learns that there may be more to a field trip to London than is apparent at first. A conspiracy is afoot--one with dire implications for both supernaturals and humans. Sophronia must rely on her training to discover who is show more behind the dangerous plot-and survive the London Season with a full dance card.

In this bestselling sequel to New York Times bestselling Etiquette & Espionage, class is back in session with more petticoats and poison, tea trays and treason. Gail's distinctive voice, signature humor, and lush steampunk setting are sure to be the height of fashion this season.

Thoughts: Much as with the first in this series, Etiquette & Espionage, there is just something a tad off for me about Curtsies & Conspiracies. I like the characters and the setting and the concept and the prose. I rather enjoy the world that Carriger has created between this series and the Parasol Protectorate. But something about this YA series just doesn't work for me.

I think it's that's there is almost zero page space given to anything that isn't directly related to the plot. Yes, Carriger may spend some time on fashion and manners and social graces, but only because they are pieces in the game she's casting. Those things being part of the plot aren't bad things, they are actually rather lovely touches in a time when heroines are getting more and more masculine and serious, but it would be nice if Carriger would step back just a tad and let her fabulous girls breath a little. Can't we see them in lessons that aren't perfectly foreshadowing events to come? Can't they take an adventurous detour that actually develops their skills and tests their friendships that doesn't actually fit into some overarching adult conspiracy? Couldn't there be a single enemy who was just an enemy because of something more simplistic than vampire or werewolf or Pickleman and government supremacy? Just a little?!?!

I want to love these. And I'm nitpicking because I know they could be really spectacular. They just seem too brief and rushed. And Sophronia and friends deserve better.

Rating: 3.4

Liked: 3.5
Plot: 3
Characterization: 3.5
Writing: 3.5

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Sophronia is back and up to more mischief than ever. Granted, it is not really mischief when the main purpose of her education at Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality is to teach young ladies how to become spies. In fact, one could argue she is just putting into practice what her professors teach her. So, in this second round of the Finishing School series, Sophronia not only faces greater tests of her abilities, both innate and learned, but she must also face the added hazard of boys.

Moira Quick returns as the narrator for this quirky series, and she is delightful. She has an adorable way of modulating the volume of her voice to fit the sneakiness of a scene. Also, she delivers the most satiric show more sentences with an innocence worthy of an award. She capitalizes on the spirit of the novel to create a performance that breathes even more life into Ms. Carriger’s eclectic world.

As always, Ms. Carriger’s balance between satire and earnestness is laugh-out-loud funny. She utilizes the extremely intricate rules of the Victorian era high society to great effect. In a world where zeppelins are school grounds and werewolves and vampires have a place on the Queen’s private counsel, it makes perfect sense to have a finishing school teach espionage and a boys’ academy training future evil geniuses. Sophronia is deliciously innocent and yet hyper-observant; those moments when she catches on to the joke are particularly entertaining. Curtsies and Conspiracies and the whole series is essential Ms. Carriger – quirky, sarcastic, and just plain fun. show less