Book Review: Prudence by Gail Carriger

Author Gail Carriger began her steampunk paranormal world of tea and parasols with Soulless, which is book one in the Parasol Protectorate series.  (The whole series is a delightful blend of steampunk, espionage, vampires, werewolves, and Victoriana.  It has references to sex -- straight and not-so-straight -- in it, but no real descriptions of anything. It's probably a bit much for the junior high crowd, but a high school kid ought to be just fine with it.)  Carriger then jumped back in time in her fictional world with a 4-volume (the fourth not yet released) series of prequels, beginning with Etiquette and Espionage.  (This series is definitely YA, and it does contain some of the same characters as the Protectorate, as werewolves and vampires are immortal.)  Most recently, Carriger has released Prudence, which begins what appears to be at least a duology set 20 years after the end of the Parasol Protectorate series and featuring the daughter of the two main characters therein. Below is my review thereof:

This was less YA than Etiquette and Espionage, but much more so than Soulless and the rest.  There is a bit of talk about making love, but no actual activity other than a bit of kissing.  There are some humorous nudity scenes with not much description of bodies.  Overall, I think only the most strict parents would disapprove of this.  I certainly wouldn't have found it shocking when I was 14 or so.
As for the rest, the characters are fully developed and delightful, as usual for Carriger.  (I was disappointed that she never tells us what's become of Tunstell, Primrose and Percy's father.)  And many of our old favorites (Professor Lyall!!) appear again.
The plot moves along trippingly and with much fun, but the book does end on a mild cliff-hanger, with a couple of big issues obviously waiting for the next book, which I believe is called Imprudence. :)  (I hope it's out soon!)