Waistcoats & Weaponry

Waistcoats and Weaponry is the 3rd book in The Finishing School series by Gail Carriger, and picks up directly where Curtsies and Conspiracies left off. Unlike the previous 2 books in the series, this book mostly takes place outside of the finishing school. There is a dramatic event that takes place and affects Sidheag’s werewolf family, so Sophronia and the rest of her gang take it upon themselves to try and get Sidheag back to her pack in Scotland. Along the way, they find themselves again in the middle of a plot with all of the usual players - vampires, flywaymen, and the dreaded Picklemen.

For a large portion of this book, I was slightly annoyed with a lot of Sophronia’s actions, especially when it came to the two main men in her life - Soap and Felix. With both of them, she seems to play with their emotions and tries to manipulate them into doing what she wants, and being who she wants them to be. Some of the manipulation is unintentional, but some of it is. In the beginning of the book there is a lesson on the art of seduction, and Sophronia does at times purposely try to use her feminine wiles to get what she wants from the boys. As in the previous book, Sophronia also continues to insert herself into situations that do not have anything to do with her. Thankfully, at one point in the story someone does confront her about what the point is, and by the end of this book I did finally feel that she may not have any choice left but to continue to involve herself. Up until now a lot of plot was happening around Sophronia, but now it seems that things are happening “to” her.

Another big topic in this book was what Sophronia and her friends were going to do once they finish with their schooling. As young ladies there aren’t many options available to them - get married, or get patronage. Sophronia struggles with trying to decide what she even wants. She doesn’t want to get married to the wrong man, and she doesn’t want to be indentured to a patron who’s world views she does not agree with. At one point in the book she makes the point that all parties are “bloody handed”, and no one is really that much better than the other. At the end of the book Sophronia is forced to make a choice, but out of necessity. There is still one book left in this series, so I am very much looking forward to seeing how Sophronia’s choices will affect her life going forward. Once again, Carriger has written an exciting and engaging story that has left me wanting more!