Review: Soulless by Gail Carriger

Book: Soulless (The Parasol Protectorate #1)
By: Gail Carriger
Published: October 1, 2009
Published by: Orbit

Description: First, she has no soul. Second, she's a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette.

Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire - and then the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate.

With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London's high society? Will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing? Finally, who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart?

My Thoughts: Soulless sat on my bookshelf for a little over two years. I couldn't remember why I had picked it up. I'm not much into historical romance, unless it's by an author I already know about in other genres, nor am I really into the whole mystery thing. Add to that my growing discontent for vampire and werewolf stories, and this should have been the recipe for disaster. Instead, it was a brilliant, hilariously funny novel that I couldn't help but fall in love with.

We follow Alexia Tarabotti, a soulless living in London. Being soulless, or Preternatural as it's formally called, Alexia has the ability to, with the touch of her hand, render vampires and werewolves human for as long as she remains in contact with them and exorcise ghosts. In this story, Vampires, werewolves, and ghosts are accepted by London society, but no "daytime people" know of the existence of the preternatural.

Alexia, a 26 year old "spinster" spends the duration of the book causing all sorts of problems with her parents, the vampire and werewolf society, and the scientists who have started to take up residence in London. As these things go, soon Alexia is at the heart of the trouble brewing in London, and only she can attempt to figure out how to fix it.

I absolutely loved Soulless. It was funny, witty, and exciting in only the way that London high society based books can be. Since I ended up getting this book in audio format from the library instead of reading my book as I ought to, I found myself smirking stupidly as I listened to the book while walking down the street and riding on the bus in response to something hilarious I heard. My love for this book reminds me a lot of my love for the Kate Daniels series, and there were some aspects of both series that are somewhat similar, however  I do not wish to imply that this is a steampunk version of the Kate Daniels series, or that they are anything alike. I repeat....This is nothing like the Kate Daniels series. I merely want to point out that my feelings toward the characters in each series were quite similar.

This was an entertaining read/listen that I would definitely like to read/listen to again. The narrator was amazing, one of the best I think I have encountered so far. I give it 5 stars. For those of you looking to branch into listening to audiobooks, I recommend this one as a great starting point. Be careful though, audiobooks are addictive once you really get into them.

 Since this is a five book series thus far and I will be breezing through the series in the blink of an eye, I wish to let you all know that I will not be posting a review for the remaining books in the series. If you wish to know of my feelings toward the other books, please feel free to add me as a friend on goodreads where I will be posting my ratings of the books.

Have you read Soulless yet? What are your views on it if you have?