Author: Kathleen Baldwin
Series: Stranje House, Book 1
Release date: May 19, 2015
Published by: Tor Teen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
It's the time of Napoleon, who is now exiled to Elba. There are many who would like to take over and bring him back. Now that Britain is so completely overcome by war on so many fronts, it may not be able to hold on to what they've gained. When Miss Georgiana Fitzwilliam's parents send her to Stranje House after a firm takes over the stables while she's conducting experiments, she thinks she's been dumped off for beatings and dungeons for the rest of her time there. She is nicely surprised to find out she has actually been given the chance of a lifetime to finally be who she truly is while learning to hide it from others better. Her new school is actually a school for spies!
My thoughts: This was FANTASTIC! I loved how smart and amazing the MC is, and how horrible her parents are which made me wonder if things like that ever truly happened. The way the girls are completely discarded by their families just because they're found to be "embarrassing" in some way is abhorrent! It was rather fun to see the drama that they put on though for the parents and new students/recruits.
Ms. Stranje is without a doubt a very cool character who has wiggled herself into so much intrigue behind the scenes in Britain. She has also trained the unusually exceptional young ladies of Stranje House to help her in her causes around the country.
There are so many secondary characters that are wonderful and fascinating in this story, that I am going to let you find out on your own about them. No ruining it for you here! ;)
I will tell you about Georgie though. She is amazingly smart! Wow! She knows so much about so much! She is especially good at chemistry and science of all kinds. How cool is that!? She has spent so much of her life being treated like crap by her family that when she gets settled into Stranje House and begins to really open up and live it is a wonderful thing to be a part of in the story.
Final thoughts: If you like a book that's historical "sort of" that also has a theme of girl power while also allowing for some amazing adventure along the way...then THIS IS FOR YOU! Get it now! LOVED IT and can't wait for book 2! This is one I will even be buying for my shelves since this was from NetGalley.
This is being added to my TBR list. I love good historical fiction plus the characters sound great. Mr. Stranje...what a great name for a character. Thank you so much for review!!
ReplyDeleteIt was fantastic! I was thrilled that it was a JLG pick and we got it at MHS LMC.
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