This was a nice ending to the series, pretty on par with the quality of the rest of the books, so if you liked those, you’ll like this one, too. I’ve just been slightly underwhelmed with this series as a whole, so I was just slightly underwhelmed with this book in the same way. I got really excited about the ending of the third book, but she didn’t really take it anywhere super exciting, just medium exciting. I did like the last two books more than I liked the first two, so the series does have a clear and satisfying trajectory. My same issue holds, though, that it just feels too slight.
The first half of this book, Sophronia and pals are in London, having secret meetings and such as the Picklemen plot seems to be coming to a head. The second turns into a full-on Die Hard in a dirigible situation, and that was actually really great. Sophronia John McClains her way to victory, all whilst in a poofy skirt.
I was really happy with the way the Sophronia/Soap romance worked out; no easy answers there, but a fitting ending. All the characters got fitting endings, really, although I would have liked to have seen more of Sidheag in this than the by proxy appearance we get from her by letter to her friends. I suppose there just wasn’t room, but I missed her anyway. (I was very happy, of all things, with the development we got on Madame Geraldine!)
All in all, a pretty successful reading experience, but I do prefer her adult books to her young adult, I think.
[3.5 stars, rounded up]
