Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1)

Jul 06, 2011

Wendy Darling rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: victorian, steampunk, pn-shapeshifters, pn-vampires, paranormal-general, pnr-urban-fantasy, adult, read-2011, brain-candy, ebook-egalley, favorites-all-time

Here is a most edifying (and highly scientific) quiz you may use to ascertain whether this novel is one that you will enjoy.

* Is your bookcase overflowing with strong, decisive heroines?
* Do you chuckle over the animated Gorey titles preceding a PBS “Mystery!” presentation?
* Are you fond of the Victorian era?
* Does witty prose make you positively giddy with excitement?
* Have you ever lingered over a bit of lace or wistfully touched a velvet coat?
* Are you delighted when someone brews a pot of te...more

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Jul 04, 2010

Eh?Eh! rated it

Shelves: rbrs, goodreaders-made-me, babble-added

Rbrs #4

Remember in grade school, when the teacher would ask for a volunteer to give the first speech or present the first diorama or whatever? Public Speaking - that which is feared more than death. Comparisons were always inevitable. I learned to shoot that hand up like a game of "not-it," so that everyone would be compared to me but my stuff would gently fade in the mob memory. Also, to get it out of the way so then I could relax while everyone else sweated it and got ever more anxious. Soooo,...more

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Jun 25, 2010

Caris rated it

Recommended to Caris by: rbrs

Shelves: romance, 2010

I hate vampires. I have a strong dislike of werewolves, but I fucking hate vampires. Robert Pattinson, yeah, I think he’s dreamy, but I wouldn’t hesitate to put a stake through his fragile, airbrushed chest. I wouldn’t shed a tear as he muttered those incomprehensible little nothings with his dying breath.

Because vampires are stupid. The whole mythology has been driven into the ground. It’s no longer romantic. Shit, it’s not even interesting. It’s easy. Way, way too easy.

And that’s why Carriger...more I hate vampires. I have a strong dislike of werewolves, but I fucking hate vampires. Robert Pattinson, yeah, I think he’s dreamy, but I wouldn’t hesitate to put a stake through his fragile, airbrushed chest. I wouldn’t shed a tear as he muttered those incomprehensible little nothings with his dying breath.

Because vampires are stupid. The whole mythology has been driven into the ground. It’s no longer romantic. Shit, it’s not even interesting. It’s easy. Way, way too easy.

And that’s why Carriger’s effort is so impressive. Somehow, she managed to make both vampires and romance readable. And I think it’s because she didn’t really focus on either. Instead, she opted to craft a clever little plot that forces the story to move.

Don’t get me wrong. At many points, it’s put-your-eyes-out cute. I mean, she writes herself in as the main character, often refers to werewolves as puppies, and includes that atrocious happy ending. But all of this, I think, can be forgiven. She’s writing within the confines of about a million different genres, as other reviewers have pointed out. But I think it’s these genre rules that save her. She can’t really write a traditional romance, because she’s got those werewolves to contend with. And then there are those vampires who have to coexist with that steampunk business. And let us not forget about the sci-fi and the political satire.

My point is, for better or worse, it seems to work. By giving at least a little attention to each of her genres (granted, some receive a lot more than others), she keeps any one from getting stagnant, which, in my opinion, is the biggest problem with genres. All of the romances I’ve read have had this problem. They get too wrapped up in themselves and become completely uninteresting. But this book is never gets to that place.

I am experiencing no small admiration of Carriger’s mind. She is a very clever woman.

Now I’m starting to feel bad. I think I’ve said too many good things. Hmmm.

So she’s got this parasol, right? And it’s really important. It’s ugly, but important. The significance of this accessory is so pronounced that the series is named for it. She uses it to defend herself against a vampire, then to shield herself from the sun for a while. And then she forgets it, but keeps thinking about it, wishing it were near.

I don’t think that parasol means shit.
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Sep 08, 2011

Lora rated it

Recommends it for: I suppose nearly everyone, since I seem to be one of the few who doesn't like it

Recommended to Lora by: too many people to name

*sigh* Boy, am I in the minority here! Every friend of mine has given this at least three stars, and here I am not even being able to finish it. Still, I don't hate this book, so before giving my reasons for not liking it, I will be fair and go over what I did like.

Our heroine, Miss Alexia Tarabotti, hasn't had an easy life. Besides being put on the shelf at the age of fifteen by her mother, she's had to deal with unjust criticism. While the people of today spend countless dollars on cancer-caus...more *sigh* Boy, am I in the minority here! Every friend of mine has given this at least three stars, and here I am not even being able to finish it. Still, I don't hate this book, so before giving my reasons for not liking it, I will be fair and go over what I did like.

Our heroine, Miss Alexia Tarabotti, hasn't had an easy life. Besides being put on the shelf at the age of fifteen by her mother, she's had to deal with unjust criticism. While the people of today spend countless dollars on cancer-causing tanning beds and spray on tan in a cans that make them look like a walking Orange Julius, in Alexia's day and age it is simply not the fashion to have a little darker skin. Nope, alabaster is where it's at! So as you can imagine, the vampires fit in quite nicely. But not our poor Miss Tarabotti! She has been shamed and ridiculed for even having lightly tanned skin practically since she popped out of her mother's womb. And what about that dreadfully large nose Miss Tarabotti sports? Well, we can't have that, now can we? No, no, no! We'll have to take the hedge trimmers to that thing! Pfft.
As I'm sure a lot of people have, I've been on the receiving end of this kind of backwards thinking that Alexia's received from her family and peers, and it doesn't feel good. So I can sympathize with Alexia. She holds her head — and her nose — high, and lets it roll off her beautifully clad shoulders. I admire that. And . . . I'm afraid that's where my interest ended.

I have read of the neck nibbling (or gnawing, as the case may be) that ensues later on, and, for obvious reasons, I sincerely tried to make it to that part. But I guess even some good smut couldn't make me continue. For me, the writing made this nearly impossible to get into. Somehow it manages to read like fanfiction while still confusing me. I had to reread several passages in order to get even a semblance of what was happening in some scenes.

Besides these reasons, I couldn't get into the world Carriger created and, other than Miss Tarabotti, none of the characters (no, not even Lord Maccon) appealed to me. I realize this could've changed had I given it more time, but as of now I don't have the interest to do so. I believe that 50 - 100 pages is enough to tell if a book is for you or not, and I gave it 80.

To all fans of this series, especially those that are my friends, I'm sorry. I tried. :((less)

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Jun 08, 2010

Sparrow rated it

Recommended to Sparrow by: Felicia Day and the creepy comic store guy

Shelves: on-a-dare, reviewed, vampires

Monsters are inevitably campy. That is a rule. You might not think it’s true, but you’re wrong. I’m sorry to be the one to break this to you, but the rule also applies to space. Monster stories and space stories range from those that deny the campiness and try to be really soulful social commentary to those that are hilarious in acknowledging the campiness and still manage to have something brilliant to say. There are levels in between those two extremes, but I’m trying to give you the framework...more

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Nov 08, 2010

Kat Kennedy rated it

Shelves: kat-s-book-reviews, should-have-been-bad

If you've been on GoodReads for any decent amount of time then you probably know Tatiana. If you don't then she is a very popular, entertaining reviewer with almost flawless taste in books and you should go read and like all her reviews abunch.

Usually, we tend to agree on a lot of books. When comparing books, we generally have an 88% similarity rating which has led me, in the past, to comment that we must be soulmates. So you can understand my obvious distress when I read this book and quite lik...more

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Jan 04, 2011

Miriam rated it

Shelves: fantasy

Well, the first thing I can tell you is that reading this from a critical, review-writing frame of mind is not the way to enjoy it.

I encountered this book when it first came out, lying on the new release table of the Union Square Barnes & Noble (that's San Francisco, not NY, B&N friends). I no longer live in the City and was visiting a friend who, as it turned out, wasn't home yet. Or answering her phone. Night was falling and I had no way of knowing how much time I would have to kill....more

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Jun 05, 2010

Elizabeth rated it

Shelves: 2010, hem-steppers-and-bodice-rippers, in-by-of-england, vamps-and-other-mythical-beasts, victorians-and-wannabes, reviewed, fantasy-sci-fi, the-knights-who-say-meh

There was a joke at my college that if they offered a course in basket weaving, it would be hard. First there would be a cross-cultural survey of the history of basket weaving with a primary focus on no fewer than four geographically and historically diverse societies and their approaches to basket weaving. Then there would be the lab of collecting reeds, drying them, and preparing the dyes. Your required research paper would involve the exploration of basket weaving in modern popular culture, d...more There was a joke at my college that if they offered a course in basket weaving, it would be hard. First there would be a cross-cultural survey of the history of basket weaving with a primary focus on no fewer than four geographically and historically diverse societies and their approaches to basket weaving. Then there would be the lab of collecting reeds, drying them, and preparing the dyes. Your required research paper would involve the exploration of basket weaving in modern popular culture, drawing on your foreign study experience, and including examples drawn from current authors in at least three disciplines. Finally, the final would involve both written timed essay and a practical of actually building a basket. For extra credit, this could be done underwater.

These are the joys (and pains) of a liberal arts education.

The result of such an education is that I can’t read this type of book and stay on topic. If the author is going to casually lay out that the protagonist is “soulless,” and that she (Alexia) came to terms with this reality by reading a few Greek philosophers, well then, it is on, baby. No one gets to toss off a remark like that and get away with it without something, anything, to back it up. If Alexia doesn’t have a soul and she came to terms with it by reading Greek philosophers, then Alexia is one of those readers who can look at each word on the page without actually absorbing it; something like what would happen if I read a book in Greek. It’s not that I couldn’t read a book in Greek, but I wouldn’t enjoy it, since I would not have understood a single word. The unfortunate result of the casualness of this remark was that I thought Alexia much stupider than she is supposed to be and her behavior throughout the book seemed to be one idiotic, unmotivated act of silliness after another.

There’s just no reason for this type of response. Is it really necessary to try and remember what Plato said about the soul? Did I even read that part in Aristotle? Isn’t this supposed to be some frivolous little read? Why bother getting worked up about some idiotic interpretation of what the soul means? Well, two reasons: the first is that this has happened to me before. The heartbreaking ruin of The Name of the Rose was brought about by Eco summarizing The Prince in one page as the brilliant argument of what’s-his-name against the opposing debate team. Suddenly I was in college again and listening to my freshman seminar professor say, “don’t just summarize, don’t regurgitate someone else’s idea back at me, give me something of your own in this essay or I will fail you.” Eco failed.

The second reason is that this early inconsistency in the main character was indicative of the entire book. It is one long failure to consistently and accurately build on any of the truly clever ideas that the author started with. It was so frustrating to watch the repeated failures and simplifications and gloss-over-because-I’m-not-really-sure-how-this-should-work parts. Alexia, soulless woman, always dresses in the height of fashion because her soulless state seems to mean that she doesn’t have her own taste, but then she continually abuses her friend Ivy for some very ugly hats. How exactly would she know? She’s supposedly got a great rack (we’re told repeatedly) and she forlornly hangs out at the end of ball rooms in pretty dresses pretending that she doesn’t want to dance. Are you telling me that no man in our steam-punk-alternate-history-Victorian-England would try to take advantage of a woman with such obviously low self-esteem, but excellent tits? The Victorian white upper/middle-class man may have been a prude (in public), but I never heard he didn’t know how to take advantage of an opportunity.

Why is it in these romance books (or even the pseudo-romance genre we’re kindly calling urban fantasy) that this amazingly beautiful/awesome/clever woman is only identified as such by the on-set of the very manly hero? The alpha male that is mandatory to make the book succeed. In this one he is literally the Alpha, of the werewolf pack. How’s that for not working terribly hard on characterization? It’s like the gorgeous actress set to play a nerd in a movie, and she gets a makeover (e.g. she takes down the pony tail and puts on contacts) because some guy has now noticed her, and now she’s super cool and popular and everyone is jealous and the Queen of England visits her at home. (Oops, that was a spoiler, forgive me).

Ultimately the book fails because too much of this is wish-fulfillment or has been done before. If you aren’t into the wishes at the beginning, it’s not going to get better. You’ll spend your time instead trying to remember your Aristotle, while drinking a cup of properly prepared tea, and wondering why something that should have been so right for you, went so terribly wrong.
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Aug 08, 2011

Catherine rated it

Recommended to Catherine by: Alisha

Shelves: england, fantasy-paranormal-sci-fi, excellent, ghosts, historical, read-2010, romance, scottish-irish-celtic, series, to-buy, vampire, were-shifter, soulless, steampunk, read-2011, audiobook

*Originally read 7/4/10 - 7/5/10*

This book was, quite simply, delightful! I finished it with a big smile on my face and giggled almost continually while reading it. My husband finally banished me to the bedroom because I was irritating him while he watched a movie.

The world that Gail Carriger created was so much fun and so interesting. I loved seeing a familiar government amid the new and exciting facets of it. I loved the set up of the supernatural creatures and the singular abilities of the pr...more *Originally read 7/4/10 - 7/5/10*

This book was, quite simply, delightful! I finished it with a big smile on my face and giggled almost continually while reading it. My husband finally banished me to the bedroom because I was irritating him while he watched a movie.

The world that Gail Carriger created was so much fun and so interesting. I loved seeing a familiar government amid the new and exciting facets of it. I loved the set up of the supernatural creatures and the singular abilities of the preternatural. Who would have thought that having no soul would be so useful around vampires and werewolves? But my favorite part of the book had to be the interaction between Alexia and Lord Maccon. Hilarious!

Alexia inherited more than her Italian ancestry from her father, she also inherited her soulless state. Alexia is firmly on the shelf and not really bothered by the fact. She goes her own way and ignores her mother whenever she gets too overbearing. Alexia is quite unlike any other woman of her acquaintance. She's witty, opinionated, and pragmatic, but can also be quite fierce. I love how prim she can be about some things, but quite forward in others. Also, her absolute horror about her friend's ugly hats was hilarious.

I really loved how Alexia's soulless state was emphasized. She can dress well, but she never can achieve that extra pop. Her choices always reflect a lack of soul. I thought that was a rather clever point to bring up. I also liked that the soul wasn't necessarily a religious thing. Multiple people had too much soul, although few had as little as Alexia.

Alexia's friendship with the foppish Lord Akeldama was great! He was such an interesting character. His mincing around and speaking with great drama always got a smile from me. I also loved his devoted, little harem. Three cheers to the author for creating characters that I love to pieces! One part that was so sweet was when Alexia went to wake him up to keep her promise. I had a total Awwww! moment.

Lord Maccon was so gruff and sweet. He was the perfect balance to Alexia. I loved when he was ranting about her ignoring him. He kept talking about how it was "her turn" because he made the last move. It was very cute watching him have to be reminded that Alexia is not a werewolf so she doesn't understand what game he's playing.

The sexual tension and eventual culmination of said tension was very well done. It was delicious when they finally kissed.

I can't wait to try the next book! This is definitely a series to pay attention to.

*Updated: I listened to this in audiobook for my reread and absolutely adored it. The narrator was fabulous and really made the story come alive.*(less)

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Sep 16, 2010

Tatiana rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: fans of Jeanine Frost's "Night Huntress" series

Shelves: series-dropped-lost-steam, romancelandia

My apologies to all my friends who love this book, but again, I fail to understand the appeal. Like with a few other popular novels I've tried reading recently, this is simply a glorified fanfiction in print. If you ever ask me what I mean calling books "fanfiction," my answer would be, as with the definition of "porn," I can't articulate it, but I know when I see/read it. It's just too gratuitous and lacks substance, depth, flavor, richness, even though it, at times, entertains.

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Oct 24, 2010

Jenny (Eternally Books) rated it

Shelves: all-paranormal, 1st-in-series, 2010-read, series-read, steampunk, favorites

I loved Soulless! Alexia Tarabotti is a 26 year old spinster who is intelligent and fashionable, who is prone to dark skin and drinks a lot of tea! Always found with her parasol and two hair pins made of silver and wood, she would one day like to fly in a dirigible. She also happens to be a preternatural, “Soulless” which is almost as embarrassing as having an Italian father.

A preternatural is born without a soul. When she touches a supernatural Alexia effectively neutralises them, the vampires...more I loved Soulless! Alexia Tarabotti is a 26 year old spinster who is intelligent and fashionable, who is prone to dark skin and drinks a lot of tea! Always found with her parasol and two hair pins made of silver and wood, she would one day like to fly in a dirigible. She also happens to be a preternatural, “Soulless” which is almost as embarrassing as having an Italian father.

A preternatural is born without a soul. When she touches a supernatural Alexia effectively neutralises them, the vampires fang retreat and the werewolf becomes human again. Alexia accidentally kills a rogue vampire at start of book with a wooden hat pin when she is attacked. She is most perturbed when he did not seem to know she was a preternatural!

Alexia is a wonderfully strong and interesting character. She is very much the alpha female, yet manages to do this within the social constraints of 1870’s London!

In the Victorian London world created by Gail Carriger, vampires and werewolves have been integrated into society. Queen Victoria even has a werewolf and a vampire advisor (dewan and potentate) who we are told have helped immensely in developing the British Empire. The werewolves are, of course, lead by their alpha - Lord Macon while the vampires live in hives. This world is very enjoyable and the requirements of Victorian society makes a wonderful contrast with werewolf society, Lord Macon finding it especially difficult to maintain the proper etiquette around the full moon!

There are many excellent characters in Soulless. Lord Aceldama, Alexia’s eccentric flamboyant friend who happens to be a gay vampire. Professor Lyall, the beta werewolf, carries his role as ‘second’ to Lord Macon wonderfully in a capable and humorous way! Not forgetting Miss Hisselpenny with her questionable taste in hats and Floote the butler.

Soulless is not primarily a romance but there is Lord Macon who Alexia has been at odds with since “The Hedgehog Incident”, who it turns out rather likes Alexia after all!

The style and language takes a little getting used to but once you do it helps build the atmosphere of Victorian London.

Souless is humorous and very well written with a little bit of mystery mixed in with the fantasy and it may just leave you hankering after a treacle tart! Well worth the read and I’m very much looking forward to reading the second book in the Parasol Protectorate series, Changeless!

My review was published on my blog, if you'd like to check my blog out visit:
http://magicfaeriesparanormalreview.blogspot.com/2010/08/review-soulless-by-gail-carriger.html (less)

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Jun 14, 2010

Kelly rated it

Recommended to Kelly by: RBRS devils

Shelves: 21st-century, fantasy-and-scifi, fiction, goth-goth-baby, romantical, victorian

So, I’ve got something else to blame on Glee. In addition to all the terrible eighties music that I’ve been listening to, and image of that terrible Mozart spaceman outfit gone wrong that they put Kurt in for the Gaga episode, I feel certain that the same people who decide on the structure and performance of that show are the same people who decided that it was okay to release Soulless in the form that I read it.

At it’s heart, Glee is simply a weak, changeable framework for presenting touchston...more So, I’ve got something else to blame on Glee. In addition to all the terrible eighties music that I’ve been listening to, and image of that terrible Mozart spaceman outfit gone wrong that they put Kurt in for the Gaga episode, I feel certain that the same people who decide on the structure and performance of that show are the same people who decided that it was okay to release Soulless in the form that I read it.

At it’s heart, Glee is simply a weak, changeable framework for presenting touchstones of cultural nostalgia and niche enthusiasms, with interspersed attempts at taking advantage of whatever cultural phenomena have been raking in money over the past few years. The plot, characters and setting all radically and inconsistently change as necessary to allow the producers to put on a show about songs and stories that people feel are an integral enough part of their past or current identity to get them to watch the show each week. The problem with all this is that if you present a musical revue as an ongoing story, then people (at least people like me), will attach certain expectations to the story they’re reading. This is especially true of any genre storytelling- that is, storytelling that will trigger something in the audience’s brain that tells them how to process the joke that’s just been told, how to view the characters, and therefore how to judge the story’s conclusion or lack thereof. Glee is written by three different people who do not seem to communicate well to each other, and following any sort of story gets difficult: one minute we’re watching a mean-but-you-gotta-laugh-cause-he’s-right commentary on culture and the media, the next minute it’s a Very Special Episode that asks us all to sing kumbaya and feel bad for those less fortunate than ourselves. It’s gotten especially jarring over the back half of the first season (I maintain that there were several episodes in the first half that were genuinely good!). These genres do not sit well next to each other, each exposing the weaknesses and downright awful or mean aspects of the other- ie, Are these characters supposed to be simply cardboard cutouts that offer conscious criticism and zippy one liners? Or are they supposed to be real people for me to engage with and treat as I would a real person in that situation? You’ve gotta pick one and tell me what’s up, ‘cause otherwise it’s an uncomfortable and unrewarding viewing experience, and that feeling is gonna outweigh even my undying love for Journey.

I had a very similar experience with Soulless. There’s a lot of genres elbowing for room in here-Regency comedy of manners, Victorian gothic, steampunk, urban fantasy, PG Wodehouse comedy, a bit of SATC, and a prissy bodice ripper (if that seems contradictory, well, just look at the rest of the list!). The author herself talks about this in the little mini interview in the back of my edition of the book, how “suddenly, I was juggling more subgenres than Ivy has ugly hats!” (Oh, don’t worry, we’ll get there in a minute.) Now, I like a lot of these genres separately- and I am aware that there are lots of other people out there who read some sort of combination of these genres, and I saw the hand of the Glee producers at work. Separately, I like all these things. Together?: It’s a Queen medley on top of a Spice Girls cameo with some Green Day background noise, a Broadway power ballad’s notes soaring over it all and whatever the hell that Sugar Ray song was that I now can’t get out of my head- goddamn this idea for a review!- providing the remix beats. Why, Carriger, why must you try to ruin innocent genres who committed no other crime but being so awesome??

Our heroine, Alexia Tarabotti, is a pretty straight up Cinderella/Jane Eyre type, who just happens to have special magical powers (she’s soulless- but there are no downsides I can see to this except that there may be no heaven for you if it exists, but she seems cool with this). She is an Indomitable Fantasy Heroine Who Can Take Care of Herself, and a Wounded Duckling who thinks nobody likes her, even though she is prettier, smarter, wittier and has better boobs than anyone in the room. Now, that trope is pretty tiresome- even Tina Fey doing it ironically on 30 Rock as a commentary on Hollywood standards has started to grate on me. But fine, it’s a genre stereotype and whatever. The problem comes when Carriger applies different standards to the things that come out of her mouth- for example, her treatment of Ivy Hisselpenny, which pissed me off to no end. Now mind you, this is a woman Alexia calls her “dearest friend,” who she visits regularly and spends a good deal of her time with. It slowly emerges that Alexia finds her shallow, stupid and desperate for a man, as well as having terrible taste with all those “ugly hats”. Now aside from all the “how would she know if she’s soulless?” comments people have already made, I thought that, more importantly, Alexia was a huge bitch! I’m sorry I can’t state it in a more nuanced way than that, but it really made me angry. Ivy seemed to be yet another foil to make sure we knew just how Special a Special Snowflake Alexia was, and for Alexia to use for emotional comfort... while being completely comfortable with viciously making fun of her a few pages later. The genre mixing problem shows here because I think Alexia’s opinion of Ivy, the possessor of ugly hats, is exactly how PG Wodehouse might characterize a person in one of his short stories, as so-“And as for Miss Hisselpenny- she wore an ugly hat- we need say no more!” Fine, but as the book goes on, Alexia’s story gets more and more melodramatic and Tearjerking, with involved Gothic plots and character development past the opening farce, and I’m supposed to feel bad for how badly she’s been treated, ie, see her as a real person. And you know what? I don’t like any person if the nicest thing you appear to be able to say about your best friend is that she’s a shallow bimbo who wears bad hats. I’m left to assume the only reason she hangs out with her is because she’s one of the only characters with less social standing than Alexia, so she can feel secure that she’s better than her. Actually, Alexia doesn’t have a good opinion about any other woman she encounters in the book. If all other women are torn down as unworthy in a book that’s, in the end, about women ending up with men, I'm pretty sure I know what the reason is. And it makes it pretty clear to me who really puts the most importance on getting a man. Speaking of which, another example: we hear over and over that Alexia aspires to Lofty Intellectual Ideals and scorns gossipy, shallow women. But then she indulges in gossip later with Lord Akeldama’s (her Sassy Gay Friend) sassy gay chorus (which includes at least one incredibly offensive gay stereotype-the one named Biffy who magically knows how to do her hair in the most current French fashion!), and we’re supposed to see the gossip as naughty, titillating fun that all sophisticates take part in. So now she’s in Sex and the City and Pamela at once? Again, PICK ONE. Because honestly, presented that way, it seems like just another excuse for the author to give her more male attention, even if those men don’t want to fuck her. In short, she takes funny and good things about various genres and makes them mean and self-serving. It was not fun to read that, so no, I can’t just put aside my problems with it and enjoy myself.

And remember, I LIKE these genres!

I could go on with the many other similar travesties this book commits, never mind the severe misunderstanding of Jane Austen, the completely unthinking and mind-blowing racism and classism committed while imitating authors from earlier eras, not to even MENTION the insult to the Greek philosophers (which Elizabeth has covered nicely) or science of all kinds. But I think I have made my displeasure clear enough to anyone dedicated enough to reach the end of this review.

And now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go perform an exorcism on Sugar Ray.(less)

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Oct 13, 2010

Leah rated it

Shelves: high-five-that-hymen, 4-stars, scars-and-tats-and-piercings-oh-my, thats-some-funny-shit, its-all-in-the-accent, book-cover-skank

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. All Alexia Tarabotti, a preternatural (someone who nullifies the powers of supernaturals), wanted was a cup of tea and some food. Instead, she was attacked (multiple times) by a vampire and was forced to kill him. As a result of this, BUR agent Lord Conall Maccon is put on the case of finding out who this mysterious vampire was. As a result, Alexia is pulled into hive business, almost kidnapped twice, romantic trysts with the gorgeous werewolf (Lord Maccon), eventually taken captive, and pervers...more

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Jan 13, 2010

Lady Danielle aka The Book Huntress rated it

Recommends it for: Fans of steampunk, historical romance, fantasy

Shelves: werewolf, victorian, fantasy, steampunk, owned-copy, spinster-old-maid, police-federal-agent-law-enforcemen, alpha-heroine, alpha-hero, supercouple, heroine-i-adore, hero-to-die-for, cleanup-challenge

Ms. Carriger, congratulations! This was a great ride. I can honestly say that I laughed myself silly reading this book. This is one of those books that will probably embarrass you if you read it in public. You have been warned! This is the first novel that I've read that managed to cleverly and gently satirize the conventions of historical romance, and it was done in a manner that was utterly irresistible. I have not read any Wodehouse, but I imagine I will like him very much, if he is indeed an...more Ms. Carriger, congratulations! This was a great ride. I can honestly say that I laughed myself silly reading this book. This is one of those books that will probably embarrass you if you read it in public. You have been warned! This is the first novel that I've read that managed to cleverly and gently satirize the conventions of historical romance, and it was done in a manner that was utterly irresistible. I have not read any Wodehouse, but I imagine I will like him very much, if he is indeed an influence on this author's writing.

Not only did I enjoy the humor, I thought the characters were beyond interesting. Alexia is one of those heroines that will stand out in the reader's mind. She's intelligent, gutsy, fierce, yet ladylike and admirable. Although she has moments where she's down on herself (she seemed unable to accept that Lord Maccon was interested in her, but it totally made sense to me), she manages to be remarkably comfortable in her own skin. I believe that this is a big part of her appeal to Lord Maccon. Alexia is an alpha woman that I really like. She doesn't come on too strong, and she knows her limits. Throwing her weight around is not a tactic that she resorts to. But if you try something, she will make sure you know it's not happening. I liked that she was a woman of her times, in that she was strong, intelligent, and passionate; yet, she possessed the morals and understandings of what was appropriate in her society. Alexia's ability felt very novel to me. I especially liked how she used it when she interacted with the supernatural people in her life, especially Lord Maccon. There's a really good part where Alexia has to get up close and person with a naked Lord Maccon to keep him from changing back into a wolf. And they sure do take advantage of that moment. Naked Lord Maccon, up close and personal, who could blame a girl?

Ah, let's talk about Lord Maccon. Three words: To Die For! I loved him. Not too surprising, since I happen to adore, big, sexy, Scottish werewolves. But it's the whole package with him. I like that he's rough around the edges. Smooth operators bore me. The unpolished, fierce heroes, they get me everytime. Ooh, he had me reading this book furiously to get to the next scenes with he and Alexia. I loved all his scenes, in human and in werewolf form.

Alexia and Lord Maccon had awesome chemistry. This is not really a romance novel, so the reader must keep this in mind. Soulless is more of a fantasy with a very strong romance. If you take that into consideration and enjoy the ride, the romantic moments will be a pleasant surprise on top of the humor and the fantastic elements. Having said that, I loved all the smootchy/getting personal scenes. This book has that element of Victorian romance that I just love. The whole "we are passionately carried away, but this is really improper and I hope we don't get caught" theme really works for me. I loved how they couldn't seem to keep their hands off each other. Very appealing! Alexia and Lord Maccon are going on my favorite couples list. No doubt about it.

Now to the fantasy/steampunk elements. I thought Ms. Carriger did a great job. Initially, I had to get used to the writing style. Like I said earlier, I haven't read too many satirical-styled stories. I had to realize that I couldn't take things too seriously. Once I got into that mode, I was good. This book is an interesting hybrid in that it's definitely a humorous story, but there are some edgy, dark elements, as well. The automaton was pretty darn creepy. I immediately started thinking about golems when it was first introduced. I liked how she took the golem folklore and gave it a steampunk twist. I could completely understand why Alexia found it so repulsive. It was alive, but so opposite from what a living being might be. I liked the adventure aspects. This book made me think of the old school adventure storytellers like Jules Verne, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Edgar Rice Burroughs, although this book doesn't stray far from the drawing rooms and polite environs of London and its suburbs. I could easily imagine Ms. Carriger writing a ripping, neo-pulp adventure yarn. If she does, sign me up! I hope she has a Roxton-esque hero if she does. Hint, Hint. I definitely think this would make a great movie (in the right hands).

Steampunk is a new, but beloved genre for me. When it comes to technical and mechanical devices, I have no imagination. So I have to give it to Ms. Carriger for writing these aspects very well. I had a very good visual picture of the steam-driven, clockwork technology in my head while I was reading. Yet, she didn't overdo it so that I was more focused on trying to picture these devices and not focused on the story.

Vampires and werewolves are the main supernatural beasties in this story. They are very politically and socially-organized, to the degree that they have advisors to the queen herself. I admit, I really had to focus on this aspect, needing to reread a few paragraphs to really gain an understanding of the social structure of the two supernatural groups. But it was time well spent. I liked reading about the social dynamics of the vampire society, divided up into hives, each with a Queen vampire (she's the only one who can make new vamps), and having human servants called drones. Lord Akeldama, Alexia's flamboyant friend who happens to be a very powerful vampire, was a hoot. His fashion sense was outrageous, and he kept me laughing. On the werewolf side, I was enamored with Professor Lyall, the competent, extremely intelligent beta to the Alpha werewolf, Lord Maccon, Earl of Woolsey. I hope to see a lot more of Prof. Lyall. The werewolf pack dynamics were especially interesting to me, werewolf lover that I am. I absolutely love the werewolf salute given to Alexia at the end of this book. I was practically clapping. I think you could see that the vamps and weres were very integrated into society, and a huge part of the governmental workings of the author's concept of Great Britain of the 19th Century. It really gives a different perspective on the British Empire.

Man, this was a great read. If you're coming from a romance or a contemporary urban fantasy background, this book will take you out of your comfort zones, but it's so worth it. Hang in there until you get used to the flow of the language (it's very 19th century), and relax and enjoy the witty humor (it's very funny). You will have a great time. Don't forget to bring your tricked-out parasol and glassicals, just in case.(less)

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Jun 03, 2010

BarkLessWagMore rated it

Shelves: fantasy

I wasn’t sure how I would feel about this book having never read a steampunk novel and not being overly fond of comedy of manners type books unless they’re exceptionally witty. Turns out I was hooked immediately by the author’s wicked sarcasm. Most authors try too hard to get the right mix of funny/witty/sarcastic and end up making their characters sound dumb but here it felt fresh and natural and was so unlike most of the bland and/or annoying stuff lining my shelves.

The book starts out with o...more I wasn’t sure how I would feel about this book having never read a steampunk novel and not being overly fond of comedy of manners type books unless they’re exceptionally witty. Turns out I was hooked immediately by the author’s wicked sarcasm. Most authors try too hard to get the right mix of funny/witty/sarcastic and end up making their characters sound dumb but here it felt fresh and natural and was so unlike most of the bland and/or annoying stuff lining my shelves.

The book starts out with our spinster heroine, Alexia Tarabotti, taking out a rude vampire with her hair pin/stake. Then the arrogant Lord Maccon, a gorgeous werewolf, enters the scene and insists on questioning her about the vamps demise. Damn, all she wanted to do was to hide out in the library, drink some tea and eat a treacle tart in peace. I can relate. Now the treacle tart has been flattened by the obnoxious vampire and the tea has been spilled to and fro during the slaying and she’s being accused of murdering the ill mannered vampire by the ill mannered werewolf.

In this Victorian set world, humans intermingle with vampires, werewolves and the rare “soulless” humans who can negate the supernatural creature’s powers by touching them. Alexia is one of the “soulless”. She is confident and funny but doesn’t have the soft pretty looks that attract males but for some reason Lord Maccon, in all his sexy glory, can’t seem to keep his paws off her. The two become embroiled in a mystery of sorts and it’s a thoroughly entertaining journey.

This is fun book that is more humor than horror but I enjoyed it all the same. Alexia is a strong willed character who never strays into annoying or unlikable heroine territory and is a proper lady which makes many of the scenes all the more humorous. Her wit won me over from the beginning. The steam punk aspects were new to me but added a fresh otherworldyness to the whole werewolf/vampire thing that has been overdone of late. Lord Maccon with his sexy brogue and messy appearance and the strong cast of secondary characters (excepting the Alexia's direct family which were overdone stereotypes - ugh, disappointing) were brought to vivid life and weren’t there just to prop up the heroine.

Despite all of those good things this book wasn’t a quick read for me and it’s hard to pinpoint the reason. I think the old fashioned speak slowed me down. Words such as “incommodious” stopped me in my tracks and there were a bit too many adjectives everywhere. I loved the characters and the originality so I’ll definitely pick up the next one soon.
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Apr 28, 2010

Chandra rated it

Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy, nerdy-girl-bookclub, historical-fiction, love-romance, 2010_reads, horror-thriller

It’s hard to pin down the genre here -- mystery, chick lit, horror/fantasy, paranormal romance, and historical fiction (albeit a steampunkish alternate history). Basically there is a little something for everyone and anyone who is up for some light fun. It really helps that this book never takes itself too seriously as it does follow a fairly well trod romantic trajectory– an unconventional female (Alexia Tarabotti) is paired with a Brontean male lead (Lord Conall Macon) who is predictably both...more It’s hard to pin down the genre here -- mystery, chick lit, horror/fantasy, paranormal romance, and historical fiction (albeit a steampunkish alternate history). Basically there is a little something for everyone and anyone who is up for some light fun. It really helps that this book never takes itself too seriously as it does follow a fairly well trod romantic trajectory– an unconventional female (Alexia Tarabotti) is paired with a Brontean male lead (Lord Conall Macon) who is predictably both exasperated and attracted by said lady’s unique qualities and antics. In this way it reminded me a great deal of the Amelia Peabody books. But this one has that little something extra that makes the journey enjoyable and worth the inevitable outcome.

Carriger has taken great care in creating her setting and making it an interesting place for her characters to exist and interact. She’s also created some truly fascinating secondary characters (Professor Lyall – the wise and studious beta werewolf and Lord Akeldama - the flamboyant vampire with an old soul). Maybe they're even a little more appealing than our two leads? But, no matter, thank goodness for a protagonist who enjoys her food and has the curves to prove it. I desperately hope that if this is ever adapted for the big screen that they get this part right! I’m picturing someone like Nigella Lawson. And for romance lovers there are several racy (but not raunchy or explicit) love scenes.

I was actually prepared to give this four stars, but ultimately I docked a star because of a few little quibbles. I thought the Cinderella construct of Alexia’s family was just too trite and tiresome and I’d love to see a novel which has enough confidence in its female lead not to surround her with idiotic and inferior females. And finally I found the ending not entirely satisfying - employing a silly deus ex machina (I know, I know, what did I expect?) and shift in tone that took me out of the story a bit. Nonetheless, I did mostly enjoy this and would recommend it to several of my friends and even have plans to continue with the series at some undetermined date. If nothing else I'd love some more back story on a few of the characters.(less)

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Oct 22, 2009

The Flooze (Michelle M.) rated it

Recommends it for: Everyone!

Recommended to The Flooze (Michelle M.) by: The Holy Terror

Shelves: mystery, romance_or_chicklit, urban-fantasy-paranormal, favorites, vanquished_2009, owned, steampunk

Recipe for success:
- Liberal amount of Austen & Wodehouse
- Generous helping of the supernatural
- Sprinkling of steampunk
- Heavy dose of humor
- Dollop of romance

Icing:
- One sorely abused treacle tart
- One hedgehog, slightly squashed

What a success Soulless is. No First Book Syndrome here.

Gail Carriger shows that she is a woman with ideas in this alternate history paranormal tale. Not only does she have ideas, but Carriger knows how to execute them. Soulless is a refreshing and wildly amusing...more

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Mar 03, 2011

Morgan F rated it

Shelves: 2000s, nfa-library, fantasy, steampunk, vampires, romance, goodreads-author, werewolves, its-a-girl, haha, i-haz-powers, medium-sized, read-2011

I am new to the whole paranormal romance genre. Being a teenager yet, I can finally read the dirty bits without giggling or tossing the book across the room in an embarrassed panic whenever someone walks into the room. Yay for maturity!

Soulless was a fun read, and oddly very funny. I was cracking up. My favorite line:
"The vampire's eyes were open, and he was staring at her intently. It was as though he was trying to speak to her with simply the power of his glare. Alexia did not speak glare-ish"...more

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Feb 21, 2010

Becky rated it

Shelves: fantasy, humorous, vampires, historical-fiction, library, 2010, highly-recommended, mystery-and-thrillers, reviewed, romance, owned

In the words of Allison, this book kicked ass. I immensely enjoyed it, and have added it to both my "wishlist" and "to buy" shelves. Maybe someone will want to part with their copy, but I won't hold my breath.

First, let us get the bad stuff out of the way:
1) The main character's name: Alexia. This is a kind of disorder that causes word blindness, or the inability to read. TERRIBLE choice for an exceedingly smart and well-read main character.
2) There were some annoyingly errors in the text, th...more

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Jul 18, 2011

Kate rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: on-my-kindle, writing-i-favor, ill-read-the-next-one, my-favorite-mcs, swoon-worthy-males, read-2011, good-not-great, favorite-2011-reads

Actual Rating 3.5 stars

Oh this was delightful. Really, I have this warm fluttering feeling in my chest, still, and I finished this book this morning!!

I will go ahead and get the bad stuff out of the way. Soulless was a slow read for me, and it is not a thick book. At some points that fact got me down, and made me feel tired. Carriger has an extremely loquacious writing style here; which don't get me wrong, I highly appreciated it. But I still get caught up on words like cantankerous, and incom...more Actual Rating 3.5 stars

Oh this was delightful. Really, I have this warm fluttering feeling in my chest, still, and I finished this book this morning!!

I will go ahead and get the bad stuff out of the way. Soulless was a slow read for me, and it is not a thick book. At some points that fact got me down, and made me feel tired. Carriger has an extremely loquacious writing style here; which don't get me wrong, I highly appreciated it. But I still get caught up on words like cantankerous, and incommodious. The language of this book will drive some people to actually drop it with strong dislike. For me, it is only a minor complaint in that it slowed me down quite a bit, which was frustrating because I am a slow reader as is. My other problem was in the 'action' of the story. I'm afraid it just never drew me in. It is difficult to pin-point exactly why, but I really could not get myself to be interested at all in the great 'mystery' of what is happening to all of the disappearing paranormals, or the science behind how they came to be and what it has to do with their souls. Actually, I am getting bored just thinking about it now so....

Now the good stuff.
I really love the idea of humans, vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and all other paranormals openly intermingling in everyday life. But when you create a world like that on the streets of Victorian London, I just absolutely gush with excitement. And so I did quite a bit of gushing while reading Soulless, where vampires and werewolves are wealthy and respected Lords of English society, and any silly, desperate, & worrisome mother would be proud to marry her daughter off to. It was such a pleasure to read a paranormal romance following English society etiquette; vampires/werewolves taking tea, attending balls, and dabbling in current politics. I felt it rang true to the period very well. The whole setting and premise makes me positively whimsical and my imagination to run absolutely wild, and is to me this book's strongest feature.

The characters are perhaps the next strongest. I found them to be interesting and fun to spend my time with. I especially loved listening to them talk, which speaks homage to the writing of course. Conversations were full of wit and charm and eloquence of the time, all serving to create strong and fun to follow characters. I have read quite a few reviews for Soulless now, and have gathered that most people absolutely LOVE the main character Alexia. I find that very interesting because I actually debated if I ought to throw her into the bad section of my review. I understand she is by nature "soulless", and therefore different than other humans. But I was frustrated in the beginning, and especially the beginning of the love story with her 'soulessness' making her unfeeling and uncaring which to me translated to a bit boring and difficult to relate to. In the end however, she is saved from the bad section, because she does show that though odd, she is still human and has some normal desires and insecurities. However she was never my favorite character. In my opinion her character is saved by the others. Her friend Miss Hisslepenny and her love interest Lord Maccon were perfectly written to support her. Perfectly.

Youe see? I still feel just *sigh*, happy. This book was fun. I hope the others are as good, because I have the first 3.
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Feb 20, 2010

Michael rated it

Shelves: obscure-references-book-group, read-in-2010, fantasy

At the end of "Soulless" first time author Gail Carriger says that one of her inspirations for the story was the idea of what if you set an urban fantasy during Victorian times. Given the quirks of the society, it's a fascinating concept and that hook alone is enough to make me want to like "Soulless."

Unfortunately, the novel is too much a product of the current publishing climate in which a majority of the books hitting the market must have vampires, werewolves or (as is the case here) both. I'...more At the end of "Soulless" first time author Gail Carriger says that one of her inspirations for the story was the idea of what if you set an urban fantasy during Victorian times. Given the quirks of the society, it's a fascinating concept and that hook alone is enough to make me want to like "Soulless."

Unfortunately, the novel is too much a product of the current publishing climate in which a majority of the books hitting the market must have vampires, werewolves or (as is the case here) both. I'll give Carriger credit that her vampires are genuinely evil, scary and frightening and not misunderstood, sparkling creatures of the night. And her long-standing conflict between the two sides is a lot better realized than the invented for the sake of creating romantic tension conflict that we have in a certain other bestselling series that shall not be named.

But there were times reading "Soulless" that I felt as if this book was being tragically mis-marketed. The cover proclaims it a novel of "vampires, werewolves and parasols" and the character of Alexia Tarabotti, a woman born without a soul who is able to negate the supernatural powers of various creatures she encounters, is an intriguing one. But there are moments in the story that I wanted to throw the book aside and scream with frustration--most of them concerning Miss Tarabotti's interactions with a certain Lord Macon, who just happens to be the head of the werewolves. The novel spends a lot of time focused on the etiquette of the times and their forbidden romance. It's straddling a lot of conventions--not only steam punk, but also Victorian romance and urban fantasy. The problem is that the transitions are rarely seamless, leading to the novel seeming disjointed and coming to an abrupt halt at various points during the narrative.

Alexia spends a lot of time reflecting on her status--not only as soulless but also as a perceived old maid (at the age of 26!)--as well as the romantic entanglement with Macon and doting on food. It's the scenes with Macon where the novel grinds to a complete halt, becoming a romance novel, complete with pages on end about kissing, weakness in the knees and warming of the nether regions. All well and good if it went on for a paragraph or two, but when it ends up taking place over three or four pages and then being ruminated about for the next several more, it serves only to bring the story screeching to a massive halt.

It also serves to rob any and all momentum the story builds up in the early pages as Alexia kills a vampire at a party after being attacked. It robs the storyline of vampires, werewolves and how they are organized in such a time and the implications of the ability to turn humans into vampires without the usual process of its drive and depth. It would be more interesting if we spent more time developing Miss Taraboti into a character who is more than just the definition her society places on her.

Unfortunately, the novel never rises above any of this. It has a solid start but unravels quickly.

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Jun 17, 2011

Chad rated it

This novel was recommended to be my a friend of mine here on goodreads and boy does she ever have awesome tastes in books. Soulless was truly a book I would recommend to my friends on GR as well, A cleaverly, artisticly funny novel all the way till the end, can't wait to read book #2:Changeless, out now.....

The characters in Gail's world are utterly fascinating and draw you into their wicked and enchanting London. Well worth giving it a shot!

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Jun 14, 2010

Ceridwen rated it

Recommends it for: Night Ceridwen

Recommended to Ceridwen by: Emily Hamilton, RBRS

Shelves: baying-at-the-moon, for-teh-ladies, janeites, necrophilia, rbrs, rule-britannia, steampunk, alternate-history, insomnia, pulp, urban-fantasy

I was up most of the night reading this, I have to admit, although that statement has to be qualified by the fact that I suffer from intermittent crushing insomnia, and would have been up anyway. I don't always read when I'm up haunted by whatever it is that haunts me, although haunting is maybe the wrong word for how I feel when I'm sleepless. Maybe dislocated, like a piece of myself is tethered and floating above me. I'm not a huge believer in my own soul – please don't flame me, you may belie...more I was up most of the night reading this, I have to admit, although that statement has to be qualified by the fact that I suffer from intermittent crushing insomnia, and would have been up anyway. I don't always read when I'm up haunted by whatever it is that haunts me, although haunting is maybe the wrong word for how I feel when I'm sleepless. Maybe dislocated, like a piece of myself is tethered and floating above me. I'm not a huge believer in my own soul – please don't flame me, you may believe what you will about your own, and will accept your judgment to that end – but there's something about being sleepless that is soulless for me, a removal of something vital, so that awareness becomes the inverse of itself, unconsummated by dream and therefore not awareness.

The above paragraph is pretty emblematic about how I get during my insomnia escapes: slightly hysterical, overblown, and with a tendency to metaphysical blather. As such, Soulless was more or less the perfect companion. Day Ceridwen was pretty irritated with Soulless, because there's a lot wrong here: jarring shifts in pov that a good editor would have ordered be rewritten; ditto to the endless anachronisms and freaking split infinitives. This is a first book, and it shows, especially in the earlier sections before Carriger seems to find her style and stick with it, more or less. Although maybe when I say this, I just mean before I stopped paying attention and spent more time grabbing at the part of me that can sleep floating above my head. No, here, I'll stick with it: the opening sequence with our heroine Alexia dispatching a vampire while rolling in tarts is clearly intended to be comic and parodic in a way that believes itself to be more clever than it actually is, and the justification for Alexia's supernatural condition frustratingly dumb. But when things start rolling, and stop stopping every other page to shift into another genre and gets bloody well to it, then I started having more fun.

Here's the thing: I don't buy the soulless explanation for Alexia's condition for one second, and I'm not sure I'm supposed to. Maybe this is me giving Carriger more credit than she deserves, but hear me out. Alexia is told many things about herself by her family and her society: that she's unattractive, that she's past her sell-by at 26, that her plainspokenness is unwomanly and bad. I'll just pass over the fact that she comes to the understanding that she's worthy through the love of a man. (Or a werewolf. Um, you know, that romantic love as ego-boosting transformative power thing you've heard so much about.) Alexia has also been told she does not have a soul, because she has an empirically proven power over other supernatural beings: one touch and the were- and vamp- parts of those creatures retract, leaving them fully human and fully mortal. Okay, fine, cool so far. She is also told because of this she can't follow fashion, she does not have sexual passion, and, I dunno, some other stuff. All of this is bollocks, of course, feathers from horses, that sort of thing. She clothes-horses like the best of them; she's forever flushing and pounding when she gets near Lord Maccon.

So pretty much we have one established fact here: she has a measurable affect on supernatural beings. It's like the fact of her being a girl: she has a measurable vagina. (Not that anyone actually measures it, per se.) Having a vagina doesn't necessarily equate to timidity, though she's often told it does or should. She's told her preternatural abilities are based on the lack of a soul, and I find this similarly suspect. We're told lots of things in life that equate the demonstrable to the intangible, and this soulless business seems like one of them. Honestly though, I can't tell if this is what Carriger intended, and it's possible she believes her own back-story. Maybe not though: the bit at the end with the scientists trying to find empirical evidence seems to point this way though.

This is the other reason I liked this book, even though I find it somewhat embarrassing to admit, and I have to use whatever the girl version of Mulligan's Yardstick is to measure it: buttons are hot. So far into my foray into the romance genre I've been left cold, bored, pissed off, enraged, giggling and stupefied by the sex scenes. When it wasn't uncomfortably clinical, the sex in Dead Until Dark was laughable. Pleasuring the Pirate had throbbing vulvas and laving and magic toes; no more will be said of this. I would tell Skye O'Malley to go fuck herself, but I'm afraid that's already been done, ad nauseum. But here? I don't know, somehow it worked for me. There was no endless euphemism, and while events were rarely explicit, the logistics seemed based in a physical reality that I inhabit as well. I liked that Alexia continued to think while in the throes – she wasn't swept away by passion, in that way which makes her sexual choices outside of her control. I'm not saying that many or most of these scenes aren't extremely silly, but bodies are pretty silly when you get right down to it, as Meredith notes so well in her review. And one of the cooler moments, for me, was when she thinks calmly and briefly about how she won't be able to have kids, and then shrugs it off. I'm not saying women don't want kids or whatever - although often they don't - but the romance didn't hinge on procreation in that uterus = babies biological reductionism that plagues your more standard romantic fare.

I feel like I'm justifying my hubba hubba a bit too much here – putting on the critical hat and asking you to admire the feathers of non-rape – but ultimately it's an unthought response, one based on the buttons = hot equation that underpins my libido. Also, probably I'm more likely to...ahem...appreciate this sort of thing when there's a werewolf involved, because lordy, can I NOT get behind the whole vampire thing. (I've said it before, I shall say it again: vampires are high-functioning zombies. That does not get me hot in any way.)

I don't know. Again, there's a lot to be bothered by, if you think about it too much: the Gay Friend & His Fabulous Entourage, the fact that while there are plenty of female characters, the only woman of any substance is Alexia, and Carriger seems to shit on the other female characters just to make Alexia More Special. It almost fails the Bechdel Test – almost, but not quite. The steampunk elements tended to cosplay and window dressing more than I would like, but as I said before, excellent use of buttons. Day Ceridwen most likely would be putting more knives in than I am now, but Night Ceridwen had a less intellectual response, and Both Ceridwens can appreciate that. I reeled my soul back in and went to bed, and slept dreamlessly, which may be a strange comfort, but it's a comfort nonetheless. (less)

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Nov 17, 2011

Denae rated it

Shelves: fiction-fantasy, author-american, 2000s, award-ala-alex, fiction-romance, recommended-by-a-friend, steampunk-bleh, drinkers-of-blood, wolves-of-the-were-persuasion, sweet-sweet-luuuuurve, neverending-tea-time, london-town, aristocracy, that-is-not-natural, too-stubborn-for-their-own-good

This book brings together so many things I love: kickass female heroines who don't dress like they belong in a film mockery of an S&M video, food, vampires and other such magical types, love, dirty scenes, and the London Season. Didn't see that last one coming, did you? Well, it's true. Gail Carriger manages to fit all these things into Soulless, a book that is more funny than sincere, more romance than steampunk, and less creepy than you might think when you realize what the main couple has...more

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Sep 13, 2009

Katie(babs) rated it

Fans of Steampunk, rejoice. And better count those who adore Steampunk with a great romance that has a delightful, witty and very original heroine. Gail Carriger’s Soulless will be on the lips of many before the end of the year. This is one of the most refreshing books I have read for 2009. Orbit has a very good thing with Gail Carriger. This freshman novel is near perfect in its writing and storytelling. When a book such as Soulless brings forth such laughs and an abundance of happiness while y...more Fans of Steampunk, rejoice. And better count those who adore Steampunk with a great romance that has a delightful, witty and very original heroine. Gail Carriger’s Soulless will be on the lips of many before the end of the year. This is one of the most refreshing books I have read for 2009. Orbit has a very good thing with Gail Carriger. This freshman novel is near perfect in its writing and storytelling. When a book such as Soulless brings forth such laughs and an abundance of happiness while you read, it is a true winner in my eyes. I couldn’t stop smiling for hours after I finished reading.

Soulless is about Alexia Tarbotti, a twenty-six year old Victorian spinster who lives in London with her stepfather, mother and two sisters who embody incredible beauty. They are diamonds, while Alexia is considered to be a lump of coal. Her mother never allowed Alexia to have her coming out and placed her on the shelf at fifteen because of Alexia looks. Her deceased biological father was Italian and gave Alexia her long nose, dark looks and too many curves that are considered acceptable. She also has this bad habit of being a nibbler and eating when it suites her. Alexia has a dark secret because of her father. She is known as a preternatural, one who doesn’t have a soul. Alexia has a heart and can feel emotions but because she has no morals, she uses reason and logic instead. As a preternatural, anytime Alexia touches a supernatural creature like a vampire or werewolf, they lose their abilities. Her kind used to hunt these creatures throughout time. And if Alexia is found out, it could go very badly for her.

Alexia’s secret is about to come out because one night while she is at a ball, sitting alone in a library with her nose out of joint because there was no real food for her to eat, she is attacked by a vampire. The vampire had to audacity to try and suck her blood without even an introduction! Alexia defends herself with her parasol, which is one of her most favorite things in the world. Because she kills the vampire, she is in dire straits. Alexia is pretends to faint and is found by her nemesis, Lord Maccon who is the fourth Earl of Woolsey and the Chief Minister in Charge of Supernatural Liaison for the Greater London Area. He works for the Bureau of Unnatural Registry (BUR), a division of Queen Victoria’s Civil Service and also happens to be Scottish and the alpha to the Woolsey werewolf pack. Alexia and Maccon don’t get along because of an incident with a hedgehog that he blames Alexia for.

For some reason the vampire was starved and that was why he attacked Alexia. Because vampires live in hives and have queens, there should be no reason for a vampire to be so hungry and attacking the good people of London. Along with Maccon’s beta, Professor Lyall, they begin an investigation and find out that both vampires and werewolves are disappearing. It looks like something dastardly is at play that could uproot the whole supernatural community.

Armed with her parasol and good sense, Alexia will do some investigating of her own. She is very good friends with Lord Akeldama, a very witty and old vampire whose personality is as outrageous as his wardrobe. He gives her sound advice on where to go and who to be aware of. She also has her other good friend and owner of horrendous bonnets, Miss Ivy Hisselpenny to bounce ideas off of. Unfortunately, Alexia is in deeper trouble than she would have ever expected especially when the BUR offices are broken into and her file is stolen and Countess Nadasdy, the vampire queen of the Westminster Hive warns Alexia that there are many who would like to eliminate her. Alexia would like nothing better than to forget any of this is real, but how can she when she is attacked too many times to count? And then there is Lord Maccon who pops out of nowhere to protect her as well as kiss her senseless and dare to give her love bites around her neck for anyone to see.

Soulless is a rousing good time. The sights and sounds of Victorian England are shown so well here where you will be lost in the world of vampires, werewolves and mad scientists who have an obsession with octopuses. Not only is there a great deal of action but a wonderful romance between Alexia and Maccon that is too adorable for words. Gail makes sure to build up Alexia and Maccon’s attraction for one another slowly to the point these two are ready to combust because they can’t keep their hands off one another. Because Alexia is a proper virginal miss, she is still very innocent in the ways of courting and love. She knows the mechanics of attraction and the outcome due to some naughty books she has read that her deceased father owned. And watching Maccon come to grips with his uncontrollable lust and eventual devotion and love for Alexia is very sweet.

The mystery surrounding the supernatural disappearances is written so very well and you will be cheering for Alexia because she is the one to figure things out. Her reactions are priceless and her voice and internal musing are the highlights when reading.

There are not many books I can recommend that will make you want to drop everything you are doing and run out to your nearest bookstore to buy. Soulless is one of them. This is one book that you must own. I am truly in awe of Gail Carriger’s writing talent and I am utterly amazed it took her so long to be published. She is a true superstar of the publishing world and because of her I have a new respect for the Steampunk genre that I so callously felt was a fad that would die out. With Gail Carriger writing her Parasol Protectorate novels, that will not be the case.

I can say with utmost certainty that Soulless deserves an A+ and one of the best books I have read for 2009.(less)

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Feb 10, 2011

Maja rated it

Shelves: paranormal-romance, books-for-rainy-days, reviewed-in-2011

I chose Soulless from my never-ending TBR list because I wanted a light, undemanding read, but instead I found a great story with bright, intelligent humor and quite an unusual heroine. While it most certainly won’t enter the canon of literature, I think it will provide a solid entertainment to anyone who enjoys a good paranormal romance.
In her family, Alexia sticks out like a sore thumb. She’s 25, half-Italian, with dark skin and a large nose – all highly undesirable traits in a future wife. B...more

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Jun 16, 2011

VampAngel rated it

Shelves: reviewed

*I decided to reread this delightful book on 06/16/2011 in honor of the release of Heartless in about 2 weeks. I would recommend this book to everyone*

This book takes place in London during the Victorian Era. Miss Alexia Tarabotti is a spinster, but more importantly she's soulless. That means she can neutralize every supernatural creature she encounters. If she touches a vampire or a werewolf, they instantly become human once again, thus losing all of their powers. The effects of her touch are t...more

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Jun 02, 2011

Sath rated it

Shelves: steampunk, 2011-must-read, vampires, werewolves, ghosts, reviewed, on-my-bookshelf, second-hand, shes-a-virgin

Alexia Tarabotti, is a half-italian, allegedly unnatractive, past-her prime (at 26) young woman. Living in Victorian britain. Who has nothing left for her in life, but to escort her younger and more eligible sisters to parties that she has no interest in (apart from the food, or lack thereof). She also happens to have no soul.

Then Alexia gets accosted by a hungry vampire in the library, and inadverntently kills him while fending him off. Vampires aren't actually suprising in this version of vict...more Alexia Tarabotti, is a half-italian, allegedly unnatractive, past-her prime (at 26) young woman. Living in Victorian britain. Who has nothing left for her in life, but to escort her younger and more eligible sisters to parties that she has no interest in (apart from the food, or lack thereof). She also happens to have no soul.

Then Alexia gets accosted by a hungry vampire in the library, and inadverntently kills him while fending him off. Vampires aren't actually suprising in this version of victorian society, nor in fact are werewolves. But what is mysterious is that the vampire was not sired by any other vampire, and was untrained and mostly unaware of his origins. This is the mystery. And that seems a good point to introduce Lord Connal Maccon, Alpha of the local wereworlf pack, and head of BUR (which stands for something pompous to do with paranormal investigation or beurocracy or spies or something). Maccon is apparently big, gruff, scottish, etc, everything that is expected of an Alpha werewolf. And Alexia and he don't get on at all, which is to say, they're blatantly denying the mutual repressed attraction for one another. Adventure follows.

Suprisingly, I gave this book 3 stars. I actually liked it. But I feel like I shouldn't have. I think this is similar to the reaction that some people have when you mention 'twilight' to them, they don't want to admit that they might actually have enjoyed it, or be tempted to read it if they hadn't, and their reaction is always over-emphatically "No, that stuff is awful". Well I rated twilight 5 stars, and I actually stand by that unashamedly, but this novel is different, this must be My version of the twilight dilemma. What I mean is, I feel slightly ashamed of my 3 stars. While I was reading it, my notes (yes I write notes now while reading) were largely about what was annoying, or just plain wrong about the book. And yet I ended up enjoying the thing anyway. I feel like a little bit of a literary failure.

So what was wrong with it? Well where to start.. Alexia is a spinster apparently, we get told this repeatedly, despite the fact that she's only 26 and as such is far from being past child-bearing age. Either this is part of the 'relate to the heroine because she's apparently unnatractive and unworthy but she proves them wrong' trope. Or the author just really loves the word 'spinster', like she loves all other unnecessary words being thrown about, without regard to conventional use or grammatical correctness, because it feels all victorian or something.

Many people have claimed that the book is very 'Austen', No no no no, it's not Austen at all. Thats the kind of thing you might say if you thought you knew or liked Austen, just because you've seen the crappy new Pride and Prejudice movie, or heaven forbid.. bridget jones diary. No it's not Austen. Not any more than Terry Pratchett is JR Tolkien. Not to say that either is worth less than the other, but really, to compare them like that is probably to an insult to at least one of them. This is not Austen style writing, and it's not Austen style wit. It does have it's own brand of humor, and it goes for a faux-period comedic style of writing, that I actually enjoyed, but it's certainly in it's own class, not miss Austen's.

The one thing that was most jarring about the writing, and stopped it from being otherwise a fairly smooth read (despite ignorable grammatical errors), was the quantity of modern American terms used. I'm afraid to say that Alexia had 'jelly' on her breakfast instead of jam, and 'creamer' in her tea instead of just cream. Greatly spoiling the illusion of what was otherwise a fairly enjoyable alternate steam-punk victorian setting.

And so, it may have annoyed and irritated me like mad, it may have been stereotypical on the wallflower heroine/Alpha male hero romance front, Alexia's soulless state had a distinct lack of effect or involvement apart from one supernatural ability which could have been explained by any other non-explained-title, it may have misused and abused the english language.. But I admit. I enjoyed the damn thing. Because if I get over it, it's just fun, and it's got cool steampunk type things, and it's kinda quirky and it grows on you even if you really hate it, similar to a grumpy scottish werewolf I suppose.

See my other reviews of the Parasol Protectorate series:
#2 Changeless →(less)

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Apr 17, 2010

Darcy rated it

Shelves: 2010

I was excited to read this book as so many of my GR friends have read it and raved about it and it was a book of the month selection for one of my groups, sadly the library didn't cooperate and I didn't get it in time. So finally I received notice that my turn was up for this book. Well this is one book I could have done without. A book this length usually is no problem for me to burn through in 4 hours, but after getting 25 pages I revised my plan to read until page 100 in one sitting as the st...more

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Mar 23, 2011

Stephen rated it

Shelves: ebooks, audiobook, mystery, punked, 2006-2010, detectives, science-fantasy, fang-bangers, ghosts, were-is-the-wolf, romantical, popcorn, comfort-food

4.0 to 4.5 stars. VERY PLEASANTLY SURPRISED is the best way I can think of to describe my reaction to this book. While there are a few urban fantasy series that I really enjoy, it is not my favorite genre, especially those series that could also be classified as “paranormal romances.” This book, while more “Victorian steampunk” than urban fantasy does certainly have a very strong “romance” element to the plot…AND I REALLY, REALLY ENJOYED IT!!

The story takes place in an alternative Victorian Lond...more 4.0 to 4.5 stars. VERY PLEASANTLY SURPRISED is the best way I can think of to describe my reaction to this book. While there are a few urban fantasy series that I really enjoy, it is not my favorite genre, especially those series that could also be classified as “paranormal romances.” This book, while more “Victorian steampunk” than urban fantasy does certainly have a very strong “romance” element to the plot…AND I REALLY, REALLY ENJOYED IT!!

The story takes place in an alternative Victorian London where vampires and werewolves exist and have made themselves known to the normal human population. In fact, through there very long lives and special abilities they have become very powerful in society (thinking of them as the aristocracy would give you a good idea of how they are portrayed). The main character, Alexia Tarabotti, is a spinster (at the ripe old age of 26) whose half-Italian heritage and strong-willed personality make here less than perfect marriage material according to London society. In addition to her Mediterranean appearance and her sharp wit, Alexia has another very unique quality…she was born without a soul. This type of person (known in the book as being a “preternatural”) has the ability to completely eliminate the abilities of all “supernatural” creatures that come in contact with her. As another review mentioned, she is like “kryptonite” to the supernatural. I found this to be a very clever and unique plot device (which is hard to come up with these days).

With the above as background, the plot itself is really best described as a comedy of manners combined together with a mystery involving a complex conspiracy involving forces both human and supernatural. Part of the reason the book appealed to me is that the main character reminded me of someone out of a “Jane Austen” novel (whose books I really enjoy). Alexia is smart, beautiful (despite the prejudices of London society), independent and a bit unconventional in so far as she does not always behave the way “society” believes she should. I found the story to be engaging, the characters to be interesting and well developed and the world-building and supernatural elements to be excellent.

Overall, I really enjoyed this and plan to continue reading the series. Highly Recommended!!

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GERMAN - Fantasie...: Gail Carriger - Parasol Protectorate (Soulless/ Glühende Dunkelheit)	22	19	Mar 23, 2012 09:57am

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