Review: Defy or Defend by Gail Carriger

Rating: 2.5 hoots out of 5 hoots

Published: May 3 2020

Number of pages: 240

Format: electronic advanced reading copy

Publisher: Gail Carriger LLC

Genre: espionage, romantic comedy, supernatural

Audience: adult

Get it at: Chapters Indigo

Shelve it at: Goodreads

Summary:

A vampire hive descending into madness. A beautiful spy with a sparkly plan. A handsome bodyguard who must keep both vampires and the spy from killing each other. A charming story of espionage, love, and makeovers set in the Parasol Protectorate universe.

My Review:

An electronic advanced reading copy was received from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Minor spoilers below!

I just want to say a big thank you to Gail Carriger for reaching out to me about her next new book in the Delightfully Deadly series. This series is the spin off from the Finishing School books and follows after Poison or Protect.

Dimity Plumleigh-Teignmott is back! For those who don’t know or haven’t read The Finishing Schools series, Dimity is Sophronia’s best friend and sidekick with a love for all things sparkly, hence her codename Sparkles in this story. After graduating, Dimity has earned her place in the Honey Bee where she takes on espionage missions for the War Office. A fitting position for a Finishing School graduate who has a knack for flirting while gaining many marriage proposals from her unsuspecting targets, and keeping dangerous yet, fashionable weapons hidden in her purse. 

Review: Poison or Protect: A Delightfully Deadly Novella by Gail Carriger

Published: June 21 2016

Format: ebook

Genre: steampunk, supernatural, paranormal, romance, comedy manners, Victorian

Audience: adult fiction

Rating: 4/5 owl hoots

Find it on Goodreads | Chapters Indigo | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

 

 

 

 

Summary:

Lady Preshea Villentia, the Mourning Star, has four dead husbands and a nasty reputation. Fortunately for her, she looks fabulous in black. But what society doesn’t know is that all of her husbands were marked to death by her employer, and Preshea has one last assignment.

It was suppose to be an easy assignment, attend a house party with less bloodshed but Preshea didn’t anticipate Captain Gavin Ruthven, a massive, irresistible Scot working for the enemy. In a battle of wits, Preshea may risk her own heart, a terrifying prospect as she never knew she had one.

I was given an e-arc from the author in exchange for an honest review. Editing and copying my content is strictly prohibited. Stealing is rude! 

My Review:

I should back up a bit and provide a little backstory here. For anyone who hasn’t read her books yet, Preshea appears in the Etiquette and Espionage universe as a young student at Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality, where they teach young ladies to finish…everything. Including learning the fine art of dance and etiquette as well as death, diversion, and espionage. She isn’t one of Sophronia’s closest friend so she doesn’t appear as often, except as her adversary. Because we don’t see her frequently inside and outside the school, I always found Preshea as a mysterious character.

Review: Manners and Mutiny by Gail Carriger

Published: November 3 2015

Number of pages: 326

Format: hardcover

Publisher: Little Brown Books

Genre: fantasy, romance, supernatural, steampunk

Audience: YA

Rating: 3/5 owl hoots

Find it on Goodreads | Chapters Indigo

 

 

Summary: 

Lessons in Mademoiselle Geraldine’s School for Ladies of Quality have become tedious for Sophronia especially without her sweet sootie Soap. She rather use her espionage skills to thwart the Picklemen and yet nobody seems to take heed of her suspicions about their wicked intentions. What does the dewan and Lord Akeldama know? With no one to turn to except with her friends, Sophronia must save her school and London from disaster after uncovering a horrible plot that is about to come to fruition.

 

My Review: 

I can’t believe this is the end! The ending to one of my beloved series that I’ve been following since the day my friend recommended Etiquette and Espionage. That felt like years ago and after following the series, it has now come to a conclusion to Sophronia’s education in espionage training. It’s no doubt that I love this steampunk series and Miss Geraldine’s floating dirigible school. When Manners and Mutiny came out, I was anticipating an epic ending to Sophronia’s training with a touch of romance!

Review: Prudence by Gail Carriger

Published: March 17 2015

Number of pages: 357

Format: hardcover

Publisher: Orbit

Genre: fantasy, steampunk, romance, supernatural

Audience: older adults

Rating: 2.5/5 owl hoots

Find it on Goodreads | Chapters Indigo 

Summary:

After Prudence Alessandra Maccon Akeldama is given a dirigible, she does what any sensible woman would do, christen it the Spotted Custard and float off to India with her companions. During her journey, Prudence (Rue) encounters a plot involving a kidnapped brigadier’s wife, a familiar pack of Scottish werewolves, and a dire crisis with an embarrassing lack of bloomers! Rue must then rely on her metanatural abilities to get to the bottom of it all.

Review:

Since the day my friend introduced me to the Parasol Protectorate series, I became a huge fan of Gail Carriger’s books. I’ve read both the Parasol and Finishing School series, so when I learned that Gail was starting a new spin off I was jumping for joy! It took two months until I finally received my copy of Prudence from my local indie store because it was coming all the way from a UK publisher. I was waiting patiently and when I finally had it in my hands, I immediately read it! I just couldn’t wait any longer because I was just so excited! But then something dreadful happened… in the end I was…disappointed.

If I were to summarize my review in one sentence, it would be this: the characters were interesting but the story was not. First we are introduced to Prudence, the metanatural daughter of Lady Alexia and Lord Maccon. If you don’t know what a metanatural is, then I strongly recommend that you read the Parasol series first, although you might have to anyways if you haven’t read the books yet. The reason for this is because a lot of the characters from Parasol return in Prudence. Most of the time they make a brief appearance but their profiles aren’t explained in detail, probably because Gail expects you to know who they are already. So with that said, read Parasol first before you begin reading this book!

Prudence is a spoiled, rich girl of high society given a dirigible from Lord Akeldama, and names it after her favorite dessert, the Spotted Custard. After gathering up her friends they venture to India for a mission involving very expensive and very good exotic tea. Prudence has some of her mother and father’s traits, but she is very close to Lord Akeldama. I was amused to see how much Prudence reminds me of her mother, but my only minor problem with her is that she doesn’t change very much during the story. I didn’t see any development with her character but for a young girl of her age, she can be very diplomatic when protecting a supernatural race. I still wasn’t very impressed with Prudence nor was I convinced of her romance. To summarize her romance, her first kiss seemed awkward and I didn’t sense any real chemistry between Prudence and her love interest (although he is a very attractive Frenchman).

And as for the story…argh! The story took so long to develop! After reading 100 pages I was getting really bored because nothing happens. Their adventure begins after a fashion faux pas and then she and her friends journey off to India where they encounter a series of unfortunate events together. I felt like my patience was tested because it wasn’t until the end did something finally interesting happen but before that, I was already unimpressed with the story already. Although I found it fascinating how we learn of a new supernatural race, the story was still a little flat but at least the characters were far more interesting. In fact the cast of quirky characters was the only thing that kept me from not DNFing this book.

Overall not my favorite book. It’s a hybrid of Parasol and Finishing School, and like I said before: READ PARASOL FIRST! This will help you make sense of the returning characters. Now after learning that this is a series, the questions remains: will I be reading the sequel? Since Gail is one of my favorite authors, I do want to give her new series a chance so I think I will read Imprudence (just not with high expectations).

Cover Reveal: Manners & Mutiny by Gail Carriger

Let’s take a moment here and adore the beautiful cover of Gail’s fourth book in the Finishing School series: Manners & Mutiny!

Have you been following the series like I have? Then you’re twice as excited as I am with the cover revealing! After the startling cliffhanger in Waistcoats & Weaponry involving that drastic crisis with the picklemen, Sophronia will finish what she started in the upcoming fourth book of the series (with quality of course).

After the last book came out last year, I noticed that the cover designs are clever not just in art but they also reveal some hints to the next story. In the cover of Waistcoats & Weaponry Sophronia was carrying her first weapon of choice: a steep tip fan that has proven to be a fashionable accessory and a lethal weapon. She was also wearing the same dress to her coming out ball that was both functional and practical as Sophronia was escaping from picklemen while commandeering a train.

Now she carries a huge crossbow! Personally I prefer the fan as it’s both stylish and dangerous, and I can’t imagine how you could fit a huge crossbow in the dress of your corset. There’s also that large orb dangling around her neck, which appears suspicious for some reason. Is it some key to a secret weapon that will play a large role in the next plot or just a fashionable accessory? I guess we won’t find out in the conclusion of Gail’s bestselling steampunk series for YA in November 3! Picklemen beware…Sophronia is coming!

Review: Waistcoats & Weaponry by Gail Carriger

Published: November 4, 2014

Number of pages: 298

Format: hardcover

Publisher: Little Brown

Genre: mystery, supernatural, romance, paranormal, steampunk, adventure

Audience: YA

Rating: 4/5 owl hoots

Summary:

Class is back in session in this third installment to the Finishing School series! Sophronia and her friends continue their education but Sophronia is in for a treat as she chooses a fashionably steel-bladed fan that a lady can stitch to her corset. But things change when Sidheag receives startling news from Scotland and is summoned to return to her pack at once. So Sophronia and her friends accompany her including her admirers Soap and Lord Mersay. But when everyone is in mortal danger Sophronia must make the toughest choice that will cost her freedom.

My Review:

The whole gang is here and ready for another adventure! But not in Miss Geraldine’s floating school dirigible, this time Sophronia and her girls are traveling into Scotland! For the first time, we get to see Sophronia outside her environment and into foreign territory aided with a steel bladed fan that she can tuck into her corset (even ladies know how to arm themselves in style).

Review: Timeless by Gail Carriger

 

Published: March 1, 2012

Number of pages: 386

Format: paperback

Publisher: Orbit Books

Genre: steampunk, dark fantasy, romance, adventure, supernatural, paranormal

Audience: older adults

Rating: 2.5 owl hoots out of 5

 

 

 

 

 

Summary:

Alexia Tarabotti, Lady Maccon is in domestic bliss. But nothings ever the same when there’s a God Breaker Plague on the loose and her precocious daughter is turning the supernatural all willy-nilly. The Maccons travel to Egypt for answers after they’re invited to see an ancient vampire queen, but they’re maybe more mysteries than answers. Speaking of mysteries, how on Earth has Ivy become a popular actress? My oh my!

My Review:

I am so glad that I finally finished this series as it took me almost a year to complete. Yes you heard that right. I loved reading the adventures of Alexia Tarrabotti as she travels around Europe and Egypt investigating secrets and mysteries with danger following her everywhere. Poor Alexia. Sometimes I wonder why she can’t have a break but I guess as a preternatural, one has to learn to think and act quickly even in the most dire of situations, especially when there’s vampires, werewolves, and mechanical creatures causing havoc in London. I was really excited to read this because I wanted to see how the series was going to end. But to my surprise, it didn’t end in a way I expected.

Top Tuesday: Top Authors I’ve Only Read One Book from But Need to Read More

Top Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, and today’s topic is authors I need to read more books from. This is an easy topic for me as there’s plenty of books I need to read more from an author, but there’s also books by authors who I haven’t read yet so I’m going to combine the two into one list.

As I’ve noted from previous blog posts authors I haven’t read yet or need to read more from, I decided to come up with only my top 8 without being too repetitive.