Review – Manners and Mutiny (Finishing School, Book 4) by Gail Carriger (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Steampunk
Length: 336 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Release Date: November 3, 2015
ISBN-13: 978-0316190282
Stand Alone or Series: 4th book in the Finishing School series
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 4/5 stars

This was a great conclusion to this humorous and fun young adult steampunk series. I really enjoyed it. I have read both Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series and her Custard Protocol series. While I probably like this series the least out of those three, it is still a fun and entertaining read.

Sephronia is finishing up her final year on Mademoiselle Geraldine’s floating dirigible. She has pledged to work for the werewolf dewan and is sorely missing the sootie Soap. However more dastardly plots are afoot; the Picklemen have not given up and it seems they have another plot in the works. Sephronia and her friends must unravel the Pickleman’s plot while still completing their finishing.

For some reason I didn’t enjoy this book quite as much as previous books in the series; but it still did a good job of wrapping everything up. The dialogue was witty and well written and fun to read.

We don’t see quite as much of Sephronia’s friends in this story. This book also wasn’t quite as humorous as previous books; things are just more serious in this story. I think both of those things detracted a bit from the story for me.

However, there were a few things I loved about the story. I love how Soap develops as a character and how he really comes into his own in this book. I also loved the interactions with Lord Akeldama. Additionally Mademoiselle Geraldine has some fascinating secrets of her own.

Things are wrapped up nicely. I have enjoyed all the books set in this entertaining Victorian steampunk world full of vampires and werewolves.

Overall an entertaining and well done conclusion to the Finishing School series. I would recommend to those who enjoy humorous steampunk reads. While this is not my favorite Carriger series (the Custard Protocol holds that honor right now) it is still a very fun read and I enjoyed the series as a whole.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Series Enders Reading Challenge
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge