Wonderfully witty and entertaining story!

This is not a stand alone book, as it's set in the world developed by previous stories. I recommend starting with Prudence's Mother's story 'Soulless"' (Soul less) in the Parasol Protector series, of which there are 5 books. Then start off with this series, 'The Custard Protocol' (I'm still laughing at this name!) The Finishing School series is a stand alone and predates the beginning of Soulless. However, you don't have to listen to it first, but can start off with Soulless if you wish.

This story is quite witty, entertaining and surprising. I literally laughed out loud at times, while being moved almost to tears when the London Pack has a surprising change. In listening to this book I was so engaged in the story that I actually cleaned house while listening, just so I had a reason to put off my real work until later! LOL (I get bored when cleaning so I love listening to audiobooks as it makes the time fly by.)

I love Gail Carriger's writing and wit so much that I've attended one author signing at Powell's books and will be attending another next week. She creates strong female characters set in a steampunk world. All too often other authors only write where men must be alpha, which I get tired of. (I'm a natural pack leader myself) However, Gail's writing showcase's the way these female characters forge their way through the world, and in the process are quite entertaining. These are not women who are weak, or even looking for an alpha man, as they're quite capable of looking after themselves with the help of their friends. Each of the characters has their own strength, whether male or female.

When I learned of this new book in the series I couldn't wait. In fact, I counted the days until it was available and then stayed up till after midnight, just so I could purchase it right away on Audible.

This book isn't only entertaining for women either. My Sweetheart actually loves this series as much as I do! What a surprise! He's normally more into science fiction, mysteries and such, liking more mayhem and violence in his books than I do. But he equally likes Gail's writings and attended her signing event with me and will also be going to the next one.

Moira Quirk, as always, delightfully narrates in such a way that I hear the different personalities shining through. The voice for Prudence is especially entertaining, as it brings home the vibrant personality that Gail has created.

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6 people found this helpful

Still in Her Mother's Shadow

Just like the first book in the series, this one struggles mostly against the others in the same universe. More than that, the balance seems off in the plot somehow. It seems to drag in several places.

Rue spends much of this arc exploring her relationships, finally showing the evolution I was waiting for in the last novel, but it often seems at the expense of the rest of the adventure. We get to know all her waffling over love and the changing dynamics with her parents, but her reactions and discoveries in relation to the adventure plot will seem like unlikely intuitive leaps for lack of any lead up.

All that said, it's still an enjoyable listen, and I personally think it ranks slightly above the last book. The actual plot outside the romance was entertaining and flowed well once it got going.

I do have to note that, while I appreciate the narrator attempting to listen to feedback and change her voice for Biffy, she gets no points because she managed to make it worse. I nearly stopped listening just based on his new voice, which has gone from a terrible and indeterminate accent to something reminiscent of Igor. Be prepared: it's horrendous, and even having been warned did not prepare me for how bad it was. His appearances are thankfully few and limited to the early chapters, so just try to push through.

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Charming as usual

I've loved the soulless series, and this followup is great. It's not the best, most pivotal novel in the world, but it is full of humor and adventure - as per Gail Carriger's usual. Enjoy the light listening and good voice acting.

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1 person found this helpful

Fun!

This author is always great fun. I like this series because I enjoy her writing style and characters. I do prefer her original series, Parasol Protectorate because I enjoy the more adult feel rather than the YA feel of this series. I plan to listen to it all from the very beginning through this series. The narration is excellent.

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i love this series. the story line is great.

can't believe the book is over. I love the imagination of the author. the story line is so believable.

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Wonderful steampunky fun!

This was a wonderful continuation of the Custard Protocol. There are at least two more books scheduled for this series; although Carriger said on her blog that the next Custard Protocol book will not be released until 2018...sadness :-( All the books in this series have been incredibly entertaining and just a ton of fun.

I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was excellent. The narrator does an absolutely wonderful job narrating and it was a joy to listen to. I kept finding myself creating reasons to listen to the audiobook so that I could listen to more. I would definitely recommend listening to on audiobook if you enjoy audiobooks.

I pretty much love everything about this series and think that it is Carriger’s best series yet. I love the quirky, yet lovable, characters and the amazing world. I love the adventure and magic as well. This is an absolutely fantastic steampunk world.

This book had a bit more romance than the first. Quite a large portion of the story is dedicated to Rue and Quesnel dealing with their personal issues. I don’t usually like romance taking over the story; but I love Quesnel and Rue so much that I ended up thoroughly enjoying these parts of the story just as much as the adventures in Egypt.

I love that we have immortal characters from previous series that pop up in the story, yet we also have new fresh characters that are incredibly interesting and entertaining as well. I love that there are tidbits that we learn that expand on the history of the older characters as well as the new ones.

The story wraps up very nicely and could have wrapped up the whole series. However, I was thrilled to hear there will be more stories and adventures in this series. This is one of those books that I was incredibly eager to read and sad when it ended.

Overall I adore this series. This story is just so much darn fun and I love the world and characters. I just absolutely loved everything about this series. I would highly recommend to those who enjoy humorous steampunk reads with some adventure and romance. I absolutely am dying to read the next book in the series.

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4 people found this helpful

Prudence to a new level

The characters and story are maturing, plots and relationships are deepening and the Gail Carriger / Moira Quirk continue to be a terrific pairing. I was only so-so on Book 1. This second installment is better in every way. I was sad to get to the end of this adventure and look forward to the next.

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3 people found this helpful

Getting even better!

I am loving this series! It takes the flavor of Carrigers olded stuff, and then gives it the freedom of moving around in an airship with a splash of pirate seasoning to make it an amazing book. Highly suggested!

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Top notch Carriger, as always!

I'm never disappointed with these stories, every time I finish the newest installment I want to relisten to the rest of the series. Hoping for many more stories to come!

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Another great book and performance!!

I loved this installment. I'm a huge fan of Gail Carriger's work. She did not disappoint. Can't wait to listen to them all over again.

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