If you are familiar with Gail Carriger, then Etiquette & Espionage will be a familiar romp into the same world. This book and series take place in a time before events in some of her other books. You do not have to have read any of Carriger’s other books before starting this series. In fact, this is actually a great jumping off point to dive into this world.

The story centers around a young girl named Sophronia, who doesn’t quite fit in with her family, or with “polite” society. When her family tries to send her to a finishing school, she actually ends up in a “Spy” school. The school itself floats, which is a really unusual idea. It allows the story to take place in a confined space, so we don’t have to spend too much time exploring and explaining different people places and things.

The supporting cast of characters - the teachers and other students at the school - are very surface level. The book is short, and the story moves quickly, so there is not a lot of room to learn more personal information about a lot of the secondary characters. We only see them through Sophronia’s eyes, so if she doesn’t learn more about her classmates, then neither will we.

There are some questions that were left unanswered at the end of the book, items in the plot that are not fully explained. Clearly this is setting up a sequel, but I do wish some things were a little more wrapped up before the end. Either way, I am definitely looking forward to the next installment in this series.