I listen to a lot of audiobooks (no way!) on the way to and from work, but at work I’m mostly limited to music, stand-up comedy, and whatever audiobooks I can find on Spotify or Google Play.
UNTIL NOW!
Overdrive sent an email out a few weeks ago that they would be adding an in-browser player, similar to their in-browser reader for ebooks. I just tried it out for the first time, aaaaand it’s fantastic. I haven’t tried it on my phone yet, but the phone app lets you download files to play, so that might be friendlier for my data plan.
Why I'm readingI was just looking through Overdrive for something to test out the in-browser audiobook reader, and this seemed interesting.
Where I got the book
Overdrive, Greenwich library.
Expectations
Your standard YA fare, hopefully not too self-involved or full of tropes.
So how was it?
Set in a Victorian steampunk era, the Finishing School series follows the rambunctious Sophronia as she’s whisked away Hogwarts-style to Mademoiselle Geraldine's finishing school… except it doesn’t seem to be a normal finishing school. She meets a variety of friends, learns skills like eyelash-flutter manipulation and wafting poisonous perfume, and embarks on various little plots and adventures.
It's definitely meant for the younger side of the YA audience, but it's a nice guilty pleasure read you don't actually have to feel all that guilty about.
Recommendation
Younger YA readers or older readers looking for something quick and fun; fans of the “special school” trope (like Harry Potter’s Hogwarts); steampunk fans.
Feels
Fun, light-hearted, with somewhat believable characters (if not plot).
Favorites
Sophronia’s friends are extremely tropey, but they’re done well and don’t feel fake or forced. Some of the stuff they learn in class is hilarious, particularly anything having to do with their "decolletage"...
Least favorites
There wasn’t anything I particularly disliked. Everything is predictable and tropey, but the story isn’t trying to be anything it’s not.
Writing style
As far as the writing itself goes, I had no urge to pull out the red pen. The teenage characters and fairly simple action/spy plot make this clearly a YA book, but with not quite as much focus romantic sub-plots (although there are several), and Sophronia actually pulls off the “just a normal girl” trope by 1) actually acting like a normal, reasonably headstrong girl, 2) not making a big deal about how normal/not special/average she is, and 3) not describing herself every five sentences. I'm fairly certain I didn't even know her hair color until several chapters in.
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