Review: Waistcoats and Weaponry

Waistcoats and Weaponry (Finishing School #3)
by Gail Carriger
YA Fantasy
Amazon  /  Goodreads

Plot Summary:

Sophronia continues her second year at finishing school in style—with a steel-bladed fan secreted in the folds of her ball gown, of course. Such a fashionable choice of weapon comes in handy when Sophronia, her best friend Dimity, sweet sootie Soap, and the charming Lord Felix Mersey stowaway on a train to return their classmate Sidheag to her werewolf pack in Scotland.

No one suspected what—or who—they would find aboard that suspiciously empty train. Sophronia uncovers a plot that threatens to throw all of London into chaos and she must decide where her loyalties lie, once and for all.

Review:

The Finishing School series is just good fun, and the third book carries on with that.  Sophronia's adventures are a mixture of daring, luck, and cleverness and it's always a joy to read how she can get out of a situation.

The actual plot of this book seemed a bit lighter than usual though.  There is a mystery brewing and Sophornia manages to get mixed up in it all, but it seemed like a side issue, or something that would have a lot more bearing in the next book.  I was surprised by how little actually happened in this one.  But I was also surprised that Sophronia's feelings for Soap and Lord Felix is finally really dealt with.  Things are definitely wrapping up!  I'm glad that there is more of a definitive answer in this book on that point, because I am eager to get to the uncovering of the whole grand plot for the last book, and it would have been too much of a distraction for Sophronia to worry over her romantic attachments.

Even though this book felt light on plot, there were plenty of entertaining scenarios and exchanges that kept me interested, as well as the mystery of the train.  This book seemed like an important set-up to the last book in the series, and I am looking forward to finding out how Sophronia's adventures will conclude!