Competence

Competence by Gail Carriger

I'm going to start this review by saying that I am basically a die-hard fan of anything Ms. Carriger does. But Competence was definitely not my favorite. The reason being that Prim's 'primness' for lack of a better term persists for quite a long time while the reader bangs their head or book against walls waiting for her to get to the point and accept that she's in love with a woman and that it's perfectly OK. Now, I probably shouldn't be too hard on Prim because I have been known to be much kinder to those I love while not allowing myself an inch of flexibility in other areas, so perhaps my frustration came from a more personal source, and so I haven't altered my star rating based on that point.

One aspect of this book that I do quite love, is that Prim is a queer character, and this book was published with a 'big publisher' instead of self-published. This points to the fact that this it has become possible for us to see representation of LGBT characters in mass published fiction. And this is oh so important. Seeing examples of ourselves & others in fiction increases our empathy and understanding for one another, while finding our own place of belonging in the world. This is what drew me to books from a very early age, and I'm thrilled that this is becoming possible for our LGBT friends & family.

Soapbox aside, our main character in Compentence is of course Prim, and the Spotted Custard is off on yet another discovery mission as urged by our favorite soulless mum. This time the Custard puffs a course through mostly uncharted aether currents to South America (with lots of bluster from Percy, naturally) in search of some vampire cousins who are said to be the last of their kind. What ensues is unexpected, entertaining, and reinforces the notion that any and all conflicts can be solved with a liberal application of manners.