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ajnsmiths's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
I loved the main character of this book and her brisk, no-nonsense Scottish approach to the task set before her (return in time to pre-revolution Russia and make sure a marriage takes place) but it became a bit tedious when Shona finally put 2 and 2 together a good hundred pages after I did. Surely someone educated at Miss Blaine’s school would not be that obtuse.
portybelle's review against another edition
5.0
I have absolutely loved and chuckled my way through Miss Blaine's Prefect and the Golden Samovar over the past few days. Librarian Shona McMonagle received the finest education in the world at the Marcia Blaine school and therefore is one of the creme de la creme. If you are thinking that the school name sounds familiar, you are correct. It is the name of the school in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Rather than being proud of this though, Shona hates the book! She is on a personal mission to make sure nobody reads it as she thinks it suggests only the girls in Miss Brodie's class are the creme de la creme, when everyone knows that the best education in the world was at her school and everyone attending the school had the good fortune to receive it. Now Miss Blaine has developed a time travel system to make sure people from all periods of time can have the benefit from her girls' efforts to make the world a better place.
Shona is delighted and proud, though probably not surprised, to be chosen by Miss Blaine herself to go on a mysterious mission to 19th Century Russia. She has a very high opinion of her abilities and her intellect, which in anyone else would seem annoying but in Shona is both amusing and endearing. Though she wouldn't thank me for saying so, I think there is more than a little of Miss Jean Brodie in Shona herself. There were so many funny moments throughout the book as Shona tried to discern her mission. When she meets young heiress Lidia, she is convinced that her mission must be to match her up with the beautiful Sasha, the countess's protege, and make sure that she does not marry the much older (and shorter) General. But has she perhaps misunderstood her mission?
Among the many things which made me laugh were the misunderstandings as Shona's modern day speech, impeccably translated into Russian, were nonetheless misunderstood by the people around her. ' "Sausages is the boys." He flinched, "In Scotland, you make sausages out of people?" I reflected that in some parts of Glasgow they probably did, but there was no need to tell him that." ' Her pride in being a citizen of Scotland, indeed of Morningside in Edinburgh, was amusing as were the jibes at Glasgow, with whom Edinburgh has a friendly - or perhaps not so friendly - rivalry!
This book is very witty and clever, as well as fast paced and quirky. It is packed with real laugh out loud moments, some of which I'm sure gained me strange looks as I was reading on the bus. Among a marvellous cast of unforgettable characters such as Old Vatrushkin, Nanny and of course Lidia, Shona is a heroine I loved and one I really hope we see again.
Shona is delighted and proud, though probably not surprised, to be chosen by Miss Blaine herself to go on a mysterious mission to 19th Century Russia. She has a very high opinion of her abilities and her intellect, which in anyone else would seem annoying but in Shona is both amusing and endearing. Though she wouldn't thank me for saying so, I think there is more than a little of Miss Jean Brodie in Shona herself. There were so many funny moments throughout the book as Shona tried to discern her mission. When she meets young heiress Lidia, she is convinced that her mission must be to match her up with the beautiful Sasha, the countess's protege, and make sure that she does not marry the much older (and shorter) General. But has she perhaps misunderstood her mission?
Among the many things which made me laugh were the misunderstandings as Shona's modern day speech, impeccably translated into Russian, were nonetheless misunderstood by the people around her. ' "Sausages is the boys." He flinched, "In Scotland, you make sausages out of people?" I reflected that in some parts of Glasgow they probably did, but there was no need to tell him that." ' Her pride in being a citizen of Scotland, indeed of Morningside in Edinburgh, was amusing as were the jibes at Glasgow, with whom Edinburgh has a friendly - or perhaps not so friendly - rivalry!
This book is very witty and clever, as well as fast paced and quirky. It is packed with real laugh out loud moments, some of which I'm sure gained me strange looks as I was reading on the bus. Among a marvellous cast of unforgettable characters such as Old Vatrushkin, Nanny and of course Lidia, Shona is a heroine I loved and one I really hope we see again.
mercourier's review against another edition
Wasn't feeling the past pace of the writing and the character was frustrating to me.
bickleyhouse's review against another edition
5.0
I cannot overemphasize how delightful this book was. I checked this book out from the library because, while shelving on Tuesday night, I came across the second book in the series, Miss Blaine's Prefect and the Vampire Menace. I was about to check that one out when I realized it was second. So I found this one.
On the back of the book, it says, "Who's Likely to Like This? Fans of Jasper Fforde . . . and of librarians." Also, in the blurb on the back of the book, it says, "Never underestimate a librarian."
They had me at Jasper Fforde, honestly.
Miss Blaine's Prefect, who calls herself Shona McMonagle, has the world's best education, as she attended the Marcia Blaine School for Girls. She has "a deadly expertise in everything from martial arts to quantum physics." She also has a loathing distaste for Muriel Spark's book The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
And she can time travel. She is enlisted by Miss Blaine, herself, to time travel to Tsarist Russia, at some point in the 19th century, and she has a week to complete her mission. There is one problem: she is unsure of her mission. She makes an assumption, early on, that it is to make sure two people get married.
In the meantime, people start dying, right and left, and one particular person is always present, making them a prime suspect.
The plot of this book is, at least for me, quite original, and the writing is hilarious. There are out-loud laughs galore as Shona (who, of course, uses a different last name in Russia, but still claims to be from Scotland), tries to figure out what her mission is, as well as what year she has landed in. She doesn't want to outright ask what year it is, because, well, that would be weird.
One of the funniest devices in this book, for me, is how Shona (who is from modern times) constantly uses catch phrases, which the Russian people do not at all understand. I didn't make note of any of them, but the one I can remember is when she says "Hang on," to someone (which we, of course, understand to mean "wait a minute"), and the person says, "Hang what on what?" There a number of those humorous interactions.
I believe my favorite character in the book is Old Vetrushkin, her footman/coachman/chef/and whatever else she needs him to be. Oh, and Tresorka, the dog, who is initially introduced as a floormop.
Again, a delightful and hilarious book, and the mystery is well-done. While I did figure out who the killer was, early on, I did not figure out why and who they really were.
Also, I had no idea what a samovar is, but I now know. For those who may not, it is a large, metal container, typically used to heat water for tea.
I will most definitely be reading the second book.
On the back of the book, it says, "Who's Likely to Like This? Fans of Jasper Fforde . . . and of librarians." Also, in the blurb on the back of the book, it says, "Never underestimate a librarian."
They had me at Jasper Fforde, honestly.
Miss Blaine's Prefect, who calls herself Shona McMonagle, has the world's best education, as she attended the Marcia Blaine School for Girls. She has "a deadly expertise in everything from martial arts to quantum physics." She also has a loathing distaste for Muriel Spark's book The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
And she can time travel. She is enlisted by Miss Blaine, herself, to time travel to Tsarist Russia, at some point in the 19th century, and she has a week to complete her mission. There is one problem: she is unsure of her mission. She makes an assumption, early on, that it is to make sure two people get married.
In the meantime, people start dying, right and left, and one particular person is always present, making them a prime suspect.
The plot of this book is, at least for me, quite original, and the writing is hilarious. There are out-loud laughs galore as Shona (who, of course, uses a different last name in Russia, but still claims to be from Scotland), tries to figure out what her mission is, as well as what year she has landed in. She doesn't want to outright ask what year it is, because, well, that would be weird.
One of the funniest devices in this book, for me, is how Shona (who is from modern times) constantly uses catch phrases, which the Russian people do not at all understand. I didn't make note of any of them, but the one I can remember is when she says "Hang on," to someone (which we, of course, understand to mean "wait a minute"), and the person says, "Hang what on what?" There a number of those humorous interactions.
I believe my favorite character in the book is Old Vetrushkin, her footman/coachman/chef/and whatever else she needs him to be. Oh, and Tresorka, the dog, who is initially introduced as a floormop.
Again, a delightful and hilarious book, and the mystery is well-done. While I did figure out who the killer was, early on, I did not figure out why and who they really were.
Also, I had no idea what a samovar is, but I now know. For those who may not, it is a large, metal container, typically used to heat water for tea.
I will most definitely be reading the second book.
kittykornerlibrarian's review against another edition
4.0
This is a time-travel mystery told in first person by Shona Ferguson McMonagle, who hails from Scotland and is a proud librarian and graduate of Miss Blaine's school for girls. She is on an assignment from her former headmistress to travel in both space and time to Russia to complete an unspecified mission that she is told will quickly become obvious to her. Of course, it doesn't, she never even figures out what year she's in, and I saw the object of her mission long before she did. It's told in a breezy, conversational style, with plenty of Scottish words thrown in. I didn't fuss myself by worrying too much about understanding the plot and trying to figure things out; it all became clear in time and I was mainly along for the ride. I don't think I've ever read a book quite like this one. I would read another by this author.
cascadienne's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to like this book. I really did.
But it felt like the author was trying way too hard to use a cache of niche knowledge, and I found Shona to be irritating and smug beyond all redemption.
But it felt like the author was trying way too hard to use a cache of niche knowledge, and I found Shona to be irritating and smug beyond all redemption.
mystikai's review against another edition
4.0
Shona McMonagle is fifty-something, Librarian in Edinburgh, she had an excellent education at Marcia Blaine School for Girls. When Miss Blaine herself turns at the library she gives Shona a mission and she is whipped back in time to Russia but she is not sure of her task, is she to stop Lydia from marrying the old General and find her a nice young beau?
I wasn’t sure I was going to like this when I started listening to it, but I found Shona so amusing, her remarks had me laughing quite a lot. Although I had guessed who was the culprit early on and wanted to grab her head and turn her to that person shouting “It’s THEM”, but the amateur detective, cosy mystery theme was enjoyable.
Olga Wojtas narrated this audiobook and I think she did it proud as she is Scottish herself it came through really well with Shona’s character, but also the accents of other characters were great too.
If you are looking for a light-read cosy mystery with humour added you will love this.
I wasn’t sure I was going to like this when I started listening to it, but I found Shona so amusing, her remarks had me laughing quite a lot. Although I had guessed who was the culprit early on and wanted to grab her head and turn her to that person shouting “It’s THEM”, but the amateur detective, cosy mystery theme was enjoyable.
Olga Wojtas narrated this audiobook and I think she did it proud as she is Scottish herself it came through really well with Shona’s character, but also the accents of other characters were great too.
If you are looking for a light-read cosy mystery with humour added you will love this.
bdowning81's review against another edition
5.0
This book, and its main character, is delightful, and frustrating, and delightful. I very much enjoyed getting to know Shona Fergusovna and her entourage.