Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger

My favourite bookshop had an amazing special on some YA books. My amazing book seller knows my planned reads as, in perhaps a bout of  poor judgement, I gave her all four pages of my want-to-read list (typed in size 9 Calibri font). (She has been amazing and has not bankrupted me as yet, so perhaps the judgement was not so poor.) Anyway, I am digressing.

The Finishing School series by Gail Carriger was one I wanted to look at for a possible instalment in the school library. As it was on special (3 books for R99) I decided to pick it up (along with five others - my TBR pile will drown me yet!)

This is no ordinary finishing school. While learning the complete art of being a lady, one learns to spy and assassinate threats. Interested?

The premise did have me interested. I love spy stories. In fact, I have perhaps a greater love of the Alex Rider series than anyone nearing 40 should! But I found this so disappointing.

(Drumming fingers on the desk, staring at the rain falling. Trying to figure out what to say.)

OK, I am going to be blunt. While it could be read as humorous that a girls priority is to look pretty at all times, the level to which this was taken was ridiculous - and I mean more ridiculous that James Bond getting out of his wet suit only to have a perfect penguin suit on underneath. At least there was purpose for Bond to be dressed as such. But at school, when there is an explosion, priority number friggin one is not to dust off soot, but to make sure no one is dead. Or perhaps I am considered too unladylike. Yes, perhaps I am being harsh, but, that just annoyed me. Throughout the entire book, everything was set on appearance. While looks are the best form of deception, that is just not the sole focus I want to have in any of my reading. I prefer brains over beauty.

Having said that, at least the main character fit into the brains category. I would have stopped reading midway if she had turned out to be a complete ditz. I would have liked to see how her brains could have helped her in class though. Oh wait. Sorry, my bad. Homework was to practise eyelid fluttering. So much for all the Hermiones of the world.

I also found the plot incredibly predictable. No really. Was anyone surprised at where the story went? The storyline wasn't bad though, and I was entertained. But I did feel that the story was more worthy of a middle grade rating than YA.

I know that I am no where near the right demographic for this book. I know I am probably reading far too much into it (Am I? What messages are girls being told through these lines?). But this is just not for me.  So what would I have preferred? I would have preferred actual valuable lessons on spy training. I would have liked to see the girl learn and show improvement in areas such as self-defence and physical prowess. Then I would not have minded lessons on etiquette as they would have been a part of 'disguises' and not the main focus.

I had been wanting to read Soulless by Carriger, after all the great reviews it has received on Book Tube, but now I am doubting it. If Soulless is better, please let me know.

I gave this 3 stars on Goodreads, allowing for the fact that I am far too old to read this. I can think of some kids that I teach who might find this a fun series.

This is the 57th book I have read for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading challenge.