Competence
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher!
Accidentally abandoned!
All alone in Singapore, proper Miss Primrose Tunstell must steal helium to save her airship, the Spotted Custard, in a scheme involving a lovesick werecat and a fake fish tail.
When she uncovers rumors of a new kind of vampire, Prim and the Custard crew embark on a mission to Peru. There, they encounter airship pirates and strange atmospheric phenomena, and are mistaken for representatives of the Spanish Inquisition. Forced into extreme subterfuge (and some rather ridiculous outfits) Prim must also answer three of life's most challenging questions:
Can the perfect book club give a man back his soul?
Will her brother ever stop wearing his idiotic velvet fez?
And can the amount of lard in Christmas pudding save an entire species?
I'm 99% sure that when I reviewed the previous book in this series, I was begging for there to be two new books?! Because originally...this was supposed to be a duology but Gail obviously heard my prayers and now we get two more books...and I couldn't be more thrilled! I think this series is my favourite after the original Parasol Protectorate series and I love the crew of the Spotted Custard!
It would seem these next two books focus on Prudence's BFF Primrose rather than Rue herself, which I didn't actually realise. It's been a while since I read the other two and I had to scramble a bit to catch up and remember what the situation was! In an ideal world I'd have been able to have a nice little re-read!
It was nice to get to see Prim front and centre this book and get to know her a bit better, she's Rue's partner in crime. I honestly really, really wanted to shake her throughout this book because she was being so blind and obtuse about Tash and even a bit rude honestly. It says a lot that Percy was the one talking sense, but I did like her journey of self discovery and coming to terms with who she really is as a person, and becoming less concerned with the done thing. I might not love her as much as Rue...I have to say. I did rather miss Rue's narrative voice.
We get both Prim's POV and her brother Percy's, and Percy's was absolutely hilarious. I just found something about his narrative and his thoughts on the other characters completely hilarious. Plus he's relatable in the sense he's a book nerd and doesn't really like being around other people. He has to go to his library to recharge, as it where.
All the characters I loved in the previous book are back, Tasherit the werecat who I really do love, she's such a badass and kind of adorable in her own little way. When she's not ripping people's throats out. I got to see my OTP Rue and Quesnel...I got all excited whenever I got to see a cute moment between the two of them, but it didn't stop me from wishing for more. They're going strong and they're still my favourite ship, but it did make me a bit sad we didn't get Rue's POV and get to see more of them.
We also have Rodrigo. You might remember him from the previous book, he's Rue's cousin...casually tried to kidnap/murder her. He's now joined our gang and everyone is working to reform him via a book club. As you do. He goes from prisoner to finally being included as one of the crew, and it was nice to see that journey for him. He nearly killed Quesnel so I was a bit salty towards him for a while. But I did end up quite liking him. It was nice to see him get closer to Rue, they where quite alike in a few aspects! I also shipped him with Anitra a lot, and we got a lot more insight in to her because of it!
The book is steadily paced as Prim saves the Spotted Custard by stealing some helium before they decipher a mission letter and head off to save a species of vampires that's dying out and is the last of its kind. Fat sucking vampires. That's definitely a new one. I kinda wish they existed.
Gail does us a solid with the LGBTQ rep, we have an F/F romance, and a trans character. This book explores sexuality really well, and we see Prim struggling with her identity and sexuality and it was really well done, especially in this kind of setting. I loved seeing this kind of diversity in the book and Carriger certainly explore it thoroughly. My one issue is that while we got all of this, it seemed to be the main focus of the book, as such this book mostly focused on the romance. I was expecting this combined with the usual adventure, excitement and additional world building. But some of these things seemed to slip as the focus was on the romance.
I really do love how well Carriger merges all of these elements, and like I said...I was excited to see so much diversity and representation in the book...it just seems like other things where lost as a result of it instead of it being in combination with everything else I usually love about the books. I also think it took me a while to warm up to Prim and I still didn't quite love her as much as previous leading ladies in Carriger's books. She also got my back up a bit when she seemingly made a couple of digs at Rue. I usually blitz through her books in one read but it did take me a while to finish this book because a lot of the time there was Prim faffing about being a ninny about things rather than anything actually happening. We spent a lot of time on the journey to Peru, and then everything in Peru was wrapped up rather quickly.
I was excited to se how Peru looked in the world of this book, with the supernaturals, as it's probably the closest I'll ever get to actual Peru, but I was a bit sad we didn't get to see more of it. The setting was vividly described and as usual the historical detail was mind blowing, I can't imagine the kind of odd and random things Gail had to Google/enquire about at the library in order to get everything spot on. I also enjoy reading about how the Spotted Custard works too! I can't imagine keeping all this kind of information in my brain.
The usual sense of adventure does lack a bit, but there are bursts of action, the usual doses of humour, and a heavy amount of romance along with the new ships we get to ship! Carriger excellently explores identity and sexuality and provides plenty of diversity, plus there's a nice little twist at the end that heralds everything coming full circle in the final book and presumably wrapping up! I'm hoping for a return to Rue's narrative, and a return to the usual excellent mix of elements we usually get from Carriger, as the one disappointment was plot being forgotten to focus on romance.
Imprudence
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher, Orbit!
London is in chaos.
Rue and the crew of The Spotted Custard returned from India with revelations that shook the foundations of the scientific community. There is mass political upheaval, the vampires are tetchy, and something is seriously wrong with the local werewolf pack. To top it all off, Rue’s best friend Primrose keeps getting engaged to the most inappropriate military types.
Rue has got personal problems as well. Her vampire father is angry, her werewolf father is crazy, and her obstreperous mother is both. Worst of all, Rue’s beginning to suspect what they all really are… is frightened.
When the Custard is ordered to Egypt, transporting some highly unusual passengers, Rue’s problems go from personal to impossible. Can she get Percy to stop sulking? Will she find the true cause of Primrose’s lovesickness? And what is Quesnel hiding in the boiler room?
Imprudence is one of those books that you fall in to and kind of start to assimilate with the world, so apologies in advance if I sound a bit more...elegant than usual. Shall we say? I am so completely, and utterly in love with Gail Carriger's books. I can't even begin to describe how utterly fantastic they are! A few years ago, I fell in to an obsession with steampunk when I stumbled across a book at the library. That book was Soulless, the first book in the Parasol Protectorate series which is the series that comes before this one! To be fair, you most likely could get away with reading The Custard Protocol without having read PP, but it's much more fun if you do read PP! There's also the Finishing School series which I still need to read and prequels all of them! ANYWAY. I read all of the PP books in like....five days. So like...a book a day. I was bereft when it ended, and went through a fair few steampunk books but as much as I loved some of them...they could never quite match up to the writing in Carriger's book, to the imaginative world that sucks you in.
The book carries on from the last book fairly swiftly, we've now made it back to England and Rue is in a smidgen of trouble with our Queen. Oops? Things are starting to get tricky as plot lines from PP start to come in to play among others! That's the thing I love about these books, the plots are always complex, there's a couple of threads, with lots going on, that all weave together and you always end up being surprised. I don't know what I was expecting in this book, but at the end when the pursuers are revealed? It definitely wasn't the incredibly....creepy gentleman. Carriger takes care to make the two series interweave, when you read PP you're aware of something looming in the future and in this book it finally comes in to place and I feel like two of the PP characters have been brilliantly resolved, although I'm hoping to see them again!
I love getting to see all of the characters I loved from PP, Biffy, Alexia, Lord Maccon, Akeldama, Floote, Quesnel all grown up and so on. We get to see how they're getting on and what's been going on with them and there are mentions of other characters as well, like Ivy and Genevieve! In Quesnel's case it's a chance to see more of him as he's more of a main character than in PP and like I said, he's all grown up now! But as well as the old characters there's a whole host of new characters! Spoo, Virgil, Tasherit, Percy and Primrose being a few. I'm kind of iffy with Aggie! Carriger brings old and new characters together perfectly, giving the old a presence without taking over from the new, and each of her characters is so lively and interesting and brilliantly brought to life with depth and heart and....I just love the characters okay!
I love Rue, I love her general personality, she doesn't back down easily, she'd not afraid to jump right in to things, and she doesn't dwell on her status in the country as a metanatural and the negativity that goes with it, she's daring and courageous and bold. She's basically a hell of a lot of fun to read about as she narrates through all these crazy adventures, I love how she's determined to kill with kindness as it where with Aggie and I adore her friendship with Prim, and the banter the two share. They really are the perfect pair! I live for their scenes together! I find it very intriguing to see the relationship Rue has with all three of her parents, considering how she had to be raised, and while it's true to character, her relationship with Alexia did make me a little sad, but it also made me chuckle.
I also completely love Quesnel! He's completely adorable, although I doubt he'd relish being called that. He's just so laid back and flirty and likes to have fun and then when it comes to Rue he's just....adorable. Protective but still let's her do her own thing...after much shouting and gesticulating. I ship Rue and Quesnel so badly, I can't lie, I did since Prudence and in this book I was waiting for things to develop and I fangirled a lot because I love the two of them together, and there where obstacles in the way, and I wanted to bash their heads together because of all the ridiculous fuss from the two being so blind...but I got such intense warm and fuzzies once or twice, I'm trying to decide if I may or may not love them more than Alexia and Conall!
Imprudence is hugely entertaining, and has plenty of moments that have you chuckling, as well as a few heartbreaking moments like with the pack, and the parasol pledge. It's got a good mix of emotion and ends up being rather like a rollercoaster ride, but then I did read this book mostly in one day, after re-reading Prudence of course because why not?! I love how original the book is, the world Carriger has created, the history and lore to it, the characters and so on. It's incredibly immersive and once you started reading you fall in to the world, everything is so vivid and the author paints a picture with her words. It's an incredibly rich world, one you can't help but wish you could visit.
It's incredibly well researched, the historical bits that is! And it's obvious from the little details thrown in here and there that make the book so authentic, along with the writing style! I love how Carriger writes these books, the authentic writing, amusing narrative, complex twists and turns and research all combined with many other elements to bring you a unique and hugely engrossing read. The descriptions of the devices and gadgets are spot on so you get an idea for how they look and how they function, and they bring your imagination to life. The book is mostly set on a dirigible and there's a great amount of detail to how it works without overloading you with tonnes of information, it creates an authentic setting and has you feeling like you're right there with the characters. Honestly the attention to detail is amazing!
Imprudence is a brilliant continuation of The Custard Protocol and I'm excited to see where our crew are going to head next and what trouble they will get themselves in, especially considering the ending of this book! (The rather unladylike words 'effing Templars' may have been muttered). I'm intrigued to see what's going to happen with certain characters and their relationships, Prim for one, Rue another! I'm hoping the wait won't be too long because I'm always sad to leave this world! Plus I have a burning desire to know more about things that a character knows, that even we don't know from the PP books! There's just so much more of this world left to be explored, more of the characters to get to know, and more relationships to cheer on. Things where wrapped up rather nicely, but there's still some things left to intrigue...to make you wonder. I really, really, desperately need the next book! I've come over all bereft!
Genuinely, I can't even begin to tell you guys how much you should read these books, wether you're a steampunk fan or not, they're a great place to start if you're looking to get in to steampunk books! They're just so brilliant, and they really stand out from other books and please do yourself a favour and check them out! This series just gets better and better and I'm always so excited to see where it's going next!
SaveSave
