Moira Quirk changed the accents and added a 'fang lisp' to Dama which in the Parasol Protectorate was mentioned to be a faux pas or in poor taste/unacceptable. While I loved the Parasol Protectorate series I was distracted and disappointed by the transition to another narrator. Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Listen knowing these shortcomings and you will probably enjoy Gail Carriger's unique voice. Without the significant backstory from the Protectorate books, this would have been an even thinner experience. My guess it that it's hard to satisfy readers/listeners who have expectations from previous works, but this was not up to previous standards. It was disappointing relative to the cleverness of previous books. the were-lion island, the Templars, Floote's life in Egypt, etc.) I started it once and lost interest, but came back again due to my regard for the author. In Imprudence, many interesting angles were unexplored (i.e. While the Finishing School was YA also, the plots were more engaging, clever and intricate, the characters were uniformly much better developed. The amount of time that Rue and Quesnel spent sexually exploring emphasized the YA nature of the series. While Imprudence was slightly better in this regard than the previous book Prudence, the plot was thin.

Unlike Sephronia, Prudence, or Rue, has little to recommend her that make us really care about her. However, the problems with Imprudence went deeper than just the narration. While these things don't speak to the plot, the interfere with the ability to transport into the story, making the experience less satisfying at the outset. Gray continue the Alexia-based storyworld. Quick's deft vocal handing of Sephronia and her best friend Dimity. There was also little vocal differentiation between Rue and Primrose, so at times it wasn't possible to tell who was speaking by their voice. Some consistency at the very least would have been good. Akeldama sounded exactly like Professor Braithwaite. In some cases, the pronunciations were so different (Rabiffano, BUR as 'bur' not B-U-R) that it was beyond disconcerting. Gray's voice (Akeldama, Alexia, Lord Maccon, Floote, Biffy) completely unrecognizable for the devoted listener. Quirk, makes Prudence sound like Sephronia and the secondary characters we came to love under Ms. In both cases, the narrators Emily Gray and Moira Quirk respectively, brought the series to life. I loved the Parasol Protectorate and the Finishing School series.

Prudence by Gail Carriger