Review – Ambush or Adore (Delightfully Deadly, Book 3) by Gail Carriger (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Steampunk
Length: 164 pages
Publisher: GAIL CARRIGER LLC;
Release Date: October 1, 2021
ASIN : B09B9D5BMT
Stand Alone or Series: 3rd book in the Delightfully Deadly series
Source: Bought for Kindle
Rating: 4/5 stars
“ INTELLIGENCER
Agatha Woosmoss, the Wallflower, is the greatest intelligencer of her generation. And no one knows she exists. She has been invisible, capable, and cunning for well over four decades. Her greatest skill is in her ability to go forever unnoticed.
Except by one man.
VERSUS INTELLECTUAL
Pillover Plumleigh-Teignmott is a professor of ancient languages at Oxford University. He’s tried to ignore his training as an Evil Genius and live a quiet life away from politics and intrigue.
When an assignment goes horribly wrong, Agatha must hide and heal. So she goes to ground with the only person who’s always kept her safe, Pillover.
Can Pillover hold onto the deadly woman who specializes in getting away? Will Agatha realize that patience is indeed a virtue, and that perhaps it is good to be noticed by the one who waits?”
Series Info/Source: This is the third book in the Delightfully Deadly series and takes place in the Parasol Protectorate Universe. This series takes place after the Finishing School series but before either the Parasol Protectorate or the Custard Protocol series. I bought this as an ebook for my Kindle.
Thoughts: I enjoyed this but didn’t love it. The book switches POV between Pillover and Agatha. I have always enjoyed Pillover as a character but Agatha is less engaging. While I did like the opportunity to get a better understanding of Agatha, I still never liked her much and didn’t like how she treated Pillover throughout.
This story jumps between the current day (when Pillover and Agatha are in their fifties) and the past (into various years during when they were growing up). You end up doing some paging back and forth in an effort to keep track of what year in time you are reading about. I found a lot of the jumps into the past to be a bit boring but they do add extra information to the stories we already know from the Finishing School series.
This is a very bittersweet story and it is a bit hard to read emotionally. Pillover and Agatha have a lot of push and pull in their relationship and neither really makes a lot of compromise for the other, which is what makes things so hard for them. It’s a frustrating but also strangely sweet read.
There is a bit of story in between all the relationship talk and scenes. Some parts about secret societies and things happening around the world are filled in and add depth to the overall backstory. However, the focus is really on Pillover and Agatha and the on and off relationship they have through the years.
I liked this, there is a lot of humor and it’s worth reading if you are a fan of the Parasol Protectorate world. However, it wouldn’t stand alone well and I don’t feel like I would be missing a lot of story if I had skipped it.
My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this and had fun reading it. It was frustrating at points and is definitely a book aimed at fans of the series. If you are a huge Parasol Protectorate Universe fan (like I am) go ahead and pick this up. If you aren’t, skip it. If you hated Pillover and Agatha as characters in the Finishing School series, skip it. It was a fun quick diversion but nothing amazing.
