Combined with the youthful voice and matter of fact way of telling the story, it makes this book what it is. In fact, the finishing school has a vampire and a werewolf teaching. And while some may not be fond of them, they aren’t the persecuted minority either. Vampires, werewolves, and flywaymen are brought up like you would in passing conversation. I like how the world building is done so in such a matter of fact manner. She almost reminds of a young Anne of Green Gables, except that Sophronia often breaks the rules intentionally while Anne doesn’t mean to do wrong. Sophronia is a delight, and she’s constantly getting into mishaps. It was surprising, but I did grow to love Sophronia’s youthful mannerisms as much as I love her as a person. However, her way of talking and behavior reminds me of those of characters in middle-grade books that I’ve read. She uses large words and is very observant of the world. Given that Sophronia is fourteen years old and living in a historical world, I expected her to be more mature.

The narrative style was rather youthful, younger than I expected given the cover and the age of the narrator.

Enter Sopronia’s covert recruitment into the academy, and she is drawn into a world of deceit and finery where she must learn how to conduct operations while practicing good etiquette at the same time, and so begin her misadventures. Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality (wow, what a mouthful!) also teaches them how to gather intelligence and assinate someone should they choose. Not all finishing schools release their graduates merely to ornate London society. ◆ A copy was provided by Little Brown for review ◆

Etiquette and espionage