Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger

Publisher’s summary: It's one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It's quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to Finishing School.

Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is a great trial to her poor mother. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper manners--and the family can only hope that company never sees her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. So she enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.

But Sophronia soon realizes the school is not quite what her mother might have hoped. At Mademoiselle Geraldine's, young ladies learn to finish...everything. Certainly, they learn the fine arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but the also learn to deal out death, diversion, and espionage--in the politest possible ways, of course. Sophronia and her friends are in for a rousing first year's education.

Set in the same world as the Parasol Protectorate, this YA series debut is filled with all the saucy adventure and droll humor Gail's legions of fans have come to adore.

My take: Etiquette & Espionage was a lot of fun to read. Apparently this is a spin-off from Gail Carrieger’s popular adult series, The Parasol Protectorate. Etiquette & Espionage is definitely young adult.

In the beginning of the story there is a really funny scene that had me realize these books are intended to be a fun and funny story. I mean, really, the girls are learning etiquette and espionage on a floating school and it takes a really fast, high jumping werewolf that wears a hat (even when he shifts) to herd them all onto the platform to get them to enter the school? That should tell you!

The characters are all really different. The main character, Sophronia, always seems really concerned about learning how to truly act properly, but she’s so distracted elsewhere that it almost seems like it’s too much of an inconvenience for her to actually learn how to be a lady…even though it’s not like she didn’t really want to learn. This isn’t the case for all of the characters. There’s another girl who I would really like to be consider as the “mean girl;” a girl who really only wants to be a lady and go to a proper etiquette school. And then there’s a girl who seems like she has no intention of being a lady at all. My favorite is Sophronia’s little clockwork dog. So cute! Oh…and the boy that is introduced is cute too.

There is this whole detective thing going on throughout the story, and it all unfolds in the end in a very fun way. I’m really looking forward to reading more from this series.

Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood

Publisher’s summary: A gorgeous, witchy, romantic fantasy by a debut author! Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and the Beautiful Creatures series!

Everybody thinks Cate Cahill and her sisters are eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they're witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it would mean an asylum, a prison ship--or an early grave. Then Cate finds her mother's diary, and uncovers a secret that could spell her family's destruction. Desperate to find alternatives to their fate, Cate starts scouring banned books and questioning rebellious new friends, all while juggling tea parties, shocking marriage proposals, and a forbidden romance with the completely unsuitable Finn Belastra. But if what her mother wrote is true, the Cahill girls aren't safe--not even from each other.

My take: Oh! Crap! Did that ending really just happen? What? Seriously? Now I’m extremely upset that I loaned out my copy of Star Cursed because I really want to read it…like now!

I was a little leery about starting Born Wicked because I’ve heard some pretty mixed opinions about this book. But I’m now extremely happy that I read it! And I’m now thinking that the people who had negative thoughts about this book probably didn’t end up reading the whole book because I loved it! And the ending was absolutely phenomenal! Oh, that crazy, hectic ending for sure has set the tone for the remainder of this series, and I’m thrilled. I’ll have to admit it’s a pretty big cliffhanger, but it still ended perfectly brilliantly.

The characters were all very well developed. While reading Born Wicked, I came to feel really bad for Cate (protagonist) because she was left with the burden of protecting a huge secret and taking care of her sisters at such a young age. In their world, it is very dangerous to have any magical capabilities whatsoever, and Cate and her sisters have serious magical capabilities! They’re all witches! And Cate has to try super hard to keep this fact a secret…even from their very own father!

The world that these girls live in is very disturbing and dark. It, for sure, is not a time era I would envy living in, even if I didn’t have magical capabilities.

There is a little bit of a love triangle in this one but, in my opinion, there really isn’t a competition. So I’d be shocked if Jessica Spotswood played up that love triangle in the following books.

This book was a lot of fun to read. If you like witches in a world of historical fiction, you’ll for sure love this book. And those of you who never finished this book, you need to pick it back up!

Impatiently Waiting! Siege & Storm by Leigh Bardugo

Expected publish date:
June 4, 2013

Goodreads' summary: Darkness never dies.

Hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life with Mal in an unfamiliar land, all while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret. But she can't outrun her past or her destiny for long.

The Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power and a dangerous plan that will test the very boundaries of the natural world. With the help of a notorious privateer, Alina returns to the country she abandoned, determined to fight the forces gathering against Ravka. But as her power grows, Alina slips deeper into the Darkling's game of forbidden magic, and farther away from Mal. Somehow, she will have to choose between her country, her power, and the love she always thought would guide her--or risk losing everything to the oncoming storm.


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Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.