Review: Waistcoats and Weaponry by Gail Carriger

37) Waistcoats and Weaponry by Gail Carriger

Book three of the Finishing School series finds Sophronia preparing for a ball before her brother's wedding. However, nothing with this young spy is as easy as dressing up and going to a party. Sophronia uncovers a plot involving domesticated household devices that could throw all of London into a panic. Sophronia and friends Dimity, Soap, and Lord Felix Mersey chase fellow finishing school mate Sidheag to Scotland, where she has returned home to her werewolf pack in a dirigible. Like the first two books in the series, Carriger throws the fantasy and steampunk genres together to create a thrilling mix of fun and laughs amidst the chaos of an alternate 1851 English backdrop. The end of this proves a near cliff-hanger, with a central character teetering on the edge of death. A resolution to that threat offers readers a surprise, as well as the hope of many additional volumes to the series. Recommended for grades 7 and up.