Author: Gail Carriger
Rating: 4/5
Genre: Steampunk, historical-fiction
Recommend To: fans of Leviathan, Airborn
This is book was totally unexpected. Definitely in a good way. I was expecting more of a focus on the Victorian Era rules for girls and the schooling for assassins but instead I got a LOT more steampunk than I had bargained for. If you don't really like technology or industrial oddity, then this book isn't really for you. The romance was also very low-key to nonexistent. BUT it was adventurous and exciting.
Sophronia is a precocious 14 year old girl with a penchant for trouble. To Sophronia's horror, her mother decides to ship her off to a fancy finishing school....where they learn a different sort of finishing altogether. Honestly, I thought it would be more of a boarding school type book, rather than...strange floating machinery in the air, with vampires and werewolves. I also thought there would be more of a focus on Sophronia getting her unusual education, but instead there was the strange mystery of an odd little secret package.
The focus wasn't on what I was expecting, and certain things got smudgy and confusing...but the points of the novel that were supposed to be good were REALLY good. For one, Sophronia was hilarious, outgoing, courageous, and fair. She was an enjoyable main character. The third person threw me off for a bit because I've gotten so used to first person but it flowed well and was descriptive. The way history and technology mesh in steampunk always fascinates me because authors always do it so differently!
Overall, it lacked in some elements, but it was original and funny. It mixed a lot of genres and wasn't a long, tedious read. It isn't the regular espionage spy-book/romance genre but it sure was fun!
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