Delightfulness

Yes, the word is "delight" but for the sake of expressive inaccuracy, I required more syllables. So I made them up. That's how Diva rolls.

After noting on facebook that Bethany had just finished the new Gail Carriger I sped to bn.com and downloaded the sample.

I love Soulless. I reviewed it here (just look at me backlinking like I am not lazy). It was the perfect combination of strong-willed female snarkitude in the face of Victorian mores and supernatural zaniness. As the series continued I became mired in the intricacies I couldn't keep track of (lazy, like I said) and then broke a hip on a non sequiter and gave up.

Now Carriger has come back with a new YA series about a finishing school for proper young ladies to teach them deportment and how to be an effective assassin. I dig me some subversion so this was up my alley all the way. It's fun, clever and winning. I enjoyed the descriptions, characters and plot. It's the first in a series so it's not truly resolved at the end and I think I know who the true villain will be but I'm 34 and this is YA so I OUGHT to be able to figure it out. I got a kick out of seeing characters from the Parasol Protectorate in supporting roles years before the other series takes place.

Any gripes I had were minor and nitpicky like I thought the mc should have been older than 14 considering you're not playing to a middle grade audience. The book uses a fairly advanced vocabulary and most junior high girls don't read books with "nascent" in them so an older protagonist would have been perhaps better suited to the audience. Also, the mc's name is Sophronia which is a mouthful to keep repeating in your mind. I am an ignorant American and don't have a clue how to pronounce Sidheag, a minor character whom I unfortunately christened "sid-hag" for lack of a more accurate rendering.

Loved it. Favorite line was "Who wouldn't want an exploding wicker chicken?"

This song

The baby running around squealing and waving her arms. I squeal back. The in-laws think I'm nuts but they never liked me much anyway.

The character I loved and thought was dying in the very beginning of A Memory of Light is still alive in chapter two so there is hope. Plus I really like Sanderson's writing style with Jordan's world building. I was very very anti-Sanderson before reading his take on the series because I thought it would screw up the epicness but it's an infusion of freshness and vivid voice. I'm liking it a lot.

Also, SP is helping us pack for the move. She really enjoys the empty boxes.