Etiquette and Espionage

Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger is the first book in the Finishing School series.  This book follows fourteen year old Sophronia who has been sent off to finishing school by her parents to learn to be more ladylike.  She soon figures out that this is not an ordinary finishing school.  After being attacked by flywaymen (highway men who fly) on her way to her school who are looking for a mysterious prototype she finally gets to the school which is a giant airship and the teachers aren't just there to teach them how to be fine young ladies but they're teaching them how to be spies and assassins. 

This is an interesting novel which fans of steampunk lit will love.  The descriptions of the ship and steam creatures are fantastic to read and I loved the descriptions of the day to day activities on the ship.  There were some things that felt under developed however.  The first is the world is a bit underdeveloped.  There are vampires and werewolves whose existence doesn't seem to add to the story one bit.  The names of the characters are all so strange and so long that it really took away from the story for me.  All in all it's an entertaining story.

Appropriateness:  There is no adult content in this book.  The main character is fourteen but seems a bit older.  There isn't more than a touch of romance.  I would reccomend this book to readers 12+