Review - Curtsies and Conspiracies (Finishing School #2) by Gail Carriger

Title: Curtsies and Conspiracies

Author: Gail Carriger

Series: 2nd (Etiquette and Espionage)

Pages: 320

Published: November 5th 2013 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

ISBN: 9780316190114

Source: Publisher via Edelweiss

Description: Sophronia's first year at Mademoiselle Geraldines Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality has certainly been rousing. For one thing, finishing school is training her to be a spy. Now, as she sneaks around the dirigible school, eavesdropping on the teachers quarters and making clandestine climbs to the ships boiler room, she learns that there may be more to a school trip to London than is at first apparent. A conspiracy is afootone with dire implications for both supernaturals and humans. Sophronia must rely on her training to discover who is behind the dangerous plot and survive the London Season with a full dance card.

I Give This ...

I know I can sometimes have issues when it comes to steampunk.  But at the same I have a hard time saying no to any of it.  So, I didn''t say no when I noticed this up for review.  I'm glad I didn't.

I still love the idea of a spy finishing school.  I really enjoy what we get of the school this time around.  There's a test the girls take to show their placement in the program that I particularly enjoyed.  I feel it showed just exactly why Sophronia should be at the school.   I hated when the other girls ostracized Sophronia, but I understood the reasoning behind it.   Most of these girls know who to stand up for when it really counts.  The others just make the story more interesting.

I liked the storyline more this time.  Sometimes my issues with steampunk involves the gadgets that seem so out of place in the time period.   I was a little afraid of it because this series tends to be heavy on those aspects.  But this time around, I actually found it very intriguing.  There's a lot of implications that go far beyond what's happening in the school.  The government has just at much at stake as the supernaturals.  

I think one of things that I found most interesting was the explanation of vampires, their hives, queens, and roves.  The idea of tethers and a vampires ability to travel within the range of that was something new and a little fascinating.  Especially in light of what happens when that tether is broken.

I'm really interested in where this story is going now.  So, I'm sure I will be reading the next one!