Blog Tour: "The Friday Society" by Adrienne Kress

Release Date: December 6, 2012
Publisher: Dial
Pages: 440

From Goodreads: "An action-packed tale of gowns, guys, guns –and the heroines who use them all.

Set in turn of the century London, The Friday Society follows the stories of three very intelligent and talented young women, all of whom are assistants to powerful men: Cora, lab assistant; Michiko, Japanese fight assistant; and Nellie, magician's assistant. The three young women's lives become inexorably intertwined after a chance meeting at a ball that ends with the discovery of a murdered mystery man.

It's up to these three, in their own charming but bold way, to solve the murder–and the crimes they believe may be connected to it–without calling too much attention to themselves.

Set in the past but with a modern irreverent flare, this Steampunk whodunit introduces three unforgettable and very ladylike–well, relatively ladylike–heroines poised for more dangerous adventures."

As I have said time and time again, it is very rare for me to like female characters- especially when compared to their male counterparts. I feel like the male characters are so built up, that we, as readers, know everything about them, from the differentiating flecks of colour in their eyes, how their hair falls just perfectly over their forehead, how the one corner of their mouth quirks up, etc., whereas the female characters are often just shells that female readers can insert themselves into- that is, until I read this book and met its three main females- Michiko, Nellie, and Cora.

Each of these girls is so dynamic, multifaceted, insert adjective of that nature here (and with such BIG personalities)- but best of all, I think it darn near impossible to pick a favourite out of the three as they each bring something unique to the table- from Michiko's understated strength and elegance to Cora's intelligence and witty comebacks to Nellie's charm and just overall likeability. They are some of few characters that I know that I will never tire of revisiting.

Another element of this book that really stuck out to me was the setting- a sort of Victorian-era setting with a Steampunk vibe. While I have read many books of this nature I have only found one to be truly successful in carrying it out before- Lia Habel's "Dearly, Departed", again, that is, until I read this novel. In fact, I think that the setting of this book may be even better than that of Habel's as I find the Steampunk to be not so glaringly obvious (ie. almost as if it is just thrown in there for the sake of being there), like Michiko's understated strength and elegance the Steampunkness is, too, understated.

While I know that some will have complaints that this novel isn't historically accurate, that the characters speak in too modern of a manner, etc. I personally really enjoyed that aspect- I found that it made the book much more fun and lighthearted than books of this nature typically are- much less heavy than usual. Plus, I feel like I could relate to them more as the way that we think is very similar.

All in all, I believe this to be a stunning debut from author Adrienne Kress- not only can I not wait to see what she has in store for us next, but I will be adding a finished copy of this to my shelves! I highly recommend this for those looking for memorable characters with a fun (not to mention sometimes flirty) storyline!

Rating: 4/5

I received this book from the publisher to read and honestly review. I was not compensated in any way for said review.