9 May 2016

Review #425: A School for Unusual Girls (Stranje House, #1) by Kathleen Baldwin



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“And if we burn, you burn with us.”

----Suzanne Collins



Kathleen Baldwin, an American author, has penned a powerful and riveting historical regency-themed story in her book, A School for Unusual Girls that unfolds the story of a young rebellious and an exceptional girl who is a science-freak and loves to experiment with chemicals, irrespective of the polite girls in her society who are not allowed to meddle with chemicals, and that is when her parents decide to send her off to a boarding school, more like a correctional facility, so that she is transformed into a decent marriageable lady.




Synopsis:

Welcome to Stranje House.

It’s 1814. Napoleon is exiled on Elba. Europe is in shambles. Britain is at war on four fronts. And Stranje House, a School for Unusual Girls, has become one of Regency England’s dark little secrets. The daughters of the beau monde who don’t fit high society’s constrictive mold are banished to Stranje House to be reformed into marriageable young ladies. Or so their parents think. In truth, Headmistress Emma Stranje, the original unusual girl, has plans for the young ladies—plans that entangle them in the dangerous world of spies, diplomacy, and war.

After accidentally setting her father’s stables on fire while performing a scientific experiment, Miss Georgiana Fitzwilliam is sent to Stranje House. But Georgie has no intention of being turned into a simpering, pudding-headed, marriageable miss. She plans to escape as soon as possible—until she meets Lord Sebastian Wyatt. Thrust together in a desperate mission to invent a new invisible ink for the English war effort, Georgie and Sebastian must find a way to work together without losing their heads—or their hearts.



Georgiana Fitzwilliam's parents send her off to a strict boarding school where under the thorough guidance of Miss Stranje, their daughter will hopefully transform into someone polite and soft-spoken marriageable young woman instead of being rouge and playing with chemicals unlike other young ladies of the high society they belong from. Unfortunately Georgiana has no intention of losing her dreams of experimenting with harmful chemicals and inventing things. And thus she runs, she runs through the dungeons until she meets two men among whom one of them asks her to invent an invisible ink. Whereas despite the rumors about Miss Stranje's unconventional methods to make the girls right, she allows Georgiana to experiment with chemicals, but she is quite discreet about it publicly. And why is that? What purpose does this invisible ink has to do with the falling government?

Well, this book is an extremely charming yet thrilling story that is set in the 19th century England where society's perspective matters a lot, and when Napoleon was at exile and the government is falling as the country is getting ready for the upcoming war. The author has vividly captured the timeline by incorporating the exact details of those era from the fashion to the society to the culture to the politics to the scandals to the war, to the country's topography to the geography, all has been strikingly painted by the author into the canvas of her story line. Ans yes definitely this books stands out to be a treat for all kinds of readers, especially the regency history lovers, as the author arrests the flair and the aura of the regency themed England into her book.

The author's writing style is extremely brilliant as it is layered with suspense, emotions and mind-blowing experiment. From the very first page itself, the story is arresting and will keep the readers engaged till the very last page. The author pens this story with lots of unexpected twists and turns that change the whole course of the story and as for the readers, it will keep them anticipating till the very end. The narrative and the dialogues are quite interesting and is inspired from the then era, especially the English flair is quite evident from it. The pacing is really fast as the story flows with mystery and with Georgiana's gripping adventure.

The characters of this book are drawn with realism and their honest and authentic demeanor will make the readers root for them till the very end. The story not only revolves around the primary character, Georgiana, but also revolves around the other girls in the Stranje House, like Lady Jane, Tess, Maya and Sera, each one having an unusual and strange quality that make them an outcast in this narrow minded society. Georgiana, unlike her age of girls, is brave, intelligent, highly rebellious and someone who fights for the truth no matter what. Georgiana's despair and her longingness to escape this boarding school is very strong in the first few chapters but after learning the truth behind her parents' idea to drop her off to a forgotten place breaks her heart and thus she evolves into some quite independent and bold. The supporting characters, especially the girls and Lord Sebastian are quite well-developed and will keep the readers glued till the very end.

There is a lot of romance in the book that is layered among the edgy and captivating story, where the country is at stake. The love between Lord Sebastian and Georgiana is projected with lots of passion, cuteness and heart-felt emotions that touch the hearts of the readers deeply.

In a nutshell this is a happening and a splendid story that certainly will keep the young as well as the older minds glued to the edges of their seats.

Verdict: If regency, romance, conspiracy and chemistry are your thing, then definitely read this intriguing book for sure.

Courtesy: Thanks to the author, Kathleen Baldwin, for giving em an opportunity to read and review this book.
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Author Info:
Award-winning author Kathleen Baldwin loves adventure in books and in real life. She taught rock climbing in the Rockies, survival camped in the desert, was stalked by a mountain lion, lost an argument with a rattlesnake, enjoyed way too many classes in college, fell in love at least a dozen times, and married her very own hero. They’ve raised four free-spirited adventurous children.
Find more about Kathleen on her Website, Newsletter, Twitter, Facebook
Awarded 2016 Spirit of Texas, A School for Unusual Girls , is her first historical romance for Young Adults. It is a Junior Library Guild selection. Publisher’s Lunch listed it in their 2015 Young Adult BookBuzz. Kansas State NEA Reading Circle gave it a starred review in their 2016 “Best of the Best” for High Schools. Scholastic licensed it for book fairs, and New York Times Book Review called it “enticing from the first sentence.”
Kathleen is also an avid reader and adores the wit and humor of Oscar Wilde, P.G. Wodehouse, and Jane Austen. Her eclectic reading interests range from Frank Herbert to Meg Cabot, and on to the delightfully imaginative tales of Diana Wynne Jones.
Visit her here



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