Scan barcode
vaingloriouspoopweasel's review against another edition
5.0
Love it
I'm pretty sure this book was tailor written for me. All my favorite guilty pleasures combined! Victorian romance and supernatural mysteries... And the main character's name is only a letter off from mine. On point.
I'm pretty sure this book was tailor written for me. All my favorite guilty pleasures combined! Victorian romance and supernatural mysteries... And the main character's name is only a letter off from mine. On point.
alittleshy's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Here are some off-the-cuff thoughts about the work, now that I've finished it.
- I generally enjoyed myself. The characters were likeable and the setting was a novel one for me as a reader. I occasionally found all the manners business a bit tiring, but the story is set in the Victorian era so I can hardly complain. Complaining a work set in Victorian Britain delves deep into manners is like complaining a microbiology textbook is too focused on the cell. It'd be, in a word, silly.
- I was a bit worried about the appearance of
the automaton , because I initially thought it wasa golem and that there'd be somelow-key anti-Semitism in the work. As near as I can tell, those fears were unfounded. - I'm glad that the work didn't end with
Lord Akeldama's death , because he is the clearestqueer representation in the work. I'm pretty over the"bury your gays" trope, frankly. - I listened to the audiobook, and the performer does an admirable job voicing the various cast members. With that being said, it sounds like something akin to ADR was occasionally used. This is an assumption on my part, but every once and a while its like the performer is using a different microphone or is in a different room.
- There is an intimate scene in the prologue; it was fine (and relatively brief). If that's what you're reading for, though, you'll probably be disappointed.
- This isn't related to the "review," but apparently this series also has three volumes of manga? Go figure.
Content Warnings
Minor: Medical trauma
timinbc's review against another edition
4.0
Great fun! Did you like Gaiman's "Stardust"? The movie too, especially De Niro's pirates? Then you'll like this. Incredibly, some reviewers here seemed to have missed that You Are Not Supposed To Take This Seriously, and that it is not trying for a Nobel Prize in Literature. It's here to make you go har-de-har-har just as your spouse was almost asleep.
Wonderful characters, most with wonderfully overdrawn personalities. A decent plot to hang it on, although I think we're meant to just enjoy the scenes. Some over-the-top characters, but some stable ones to balance them.
This is not a book for your ten-year-old, though. There's some sex, and it's more than just waves breaking on a beach. There's some fairly unpleasant stuff when the Bad Guys get to be front and centre for a while.
Readers should also have read some Victorian stuff already, to understand some of the social things mentioned here. You can pick them up, but it's more fun if you realize that yes, these *were* the attitudes of the day and she's playing with them.
I'm going to pick up the next one as soon as I can.
Wonderful characters, most with wonderfully overdrawn personalities. A decent plot to hang it on, although I think we're meant to just enjoy the scenes. Some over-the-top characters, but some stable ones to balance them.
This is not a book for your ten-year-old, though. There's some sex, and it's more than just waves breaking on a beach. There's some fairly unpleasant stuff when the Bad Guys get to be front and centre for a while.
Readers should also have read some Victorian stuff already, to understand some of the social things mentioned here. You can pick them up, but it's more fun if you realize that yes, these *were* the attitudes of the day and she's playing with them.
I'm going to pick up the next one as soon as I can.
tregina's review against another edition
2.0
So very hard to know what to do with this one. On one hand I kind of enjoyed it, and thought the variation on vampire lore in particular was interesting. On the other, it really wasn't very good, on multiple levels (writing, characterisation, consistency). I will probably read the rest of the series because so much potential is there, even though I am constantly frustrated with how it's being handled.
kaitiecakes's review against another edition
1.0
This book was un-enjoyable and held no interest for me.
llfoofaye's review against another edition
4.0
A new series to love! How have I not heard of this before now?!
miseraya's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
veraann's review against another edition
3.0
A fun read sometimes it felt a bit cheesy. It's something to not take too seriously. It has vampires and werewolves and others. There is an interesting world build and people being proper.
brisingr's review against another edition
5.0
I was ready to give up on writing a review to this book, but since I'm trying to improve my motivation and working ethic, and since I really want to make all my friends read this book, here I am.
Alexia Tarabotti is soulless, which gives her a quite useful paranormal skill and reasons to befriend some of the best seen vampires and werewolves in London. She's also a spinter, but this does not trouble her, as she is very smart and a skillfull partner in a conversation, and so her presence is still very much appreciated. One night, she is attacked by a mysterious vampire, and from then on, the situation only worsens.
I've heard so many great things about this series, everyone that I know of that read this book, can only praise it, and so my interest got greater and greater since I finally just went ahead and read the book. And Oh.My.God. The hype is real and the love is well-deserved.
Firstly, I just adore the world. We're in the 19th century, but in a London quite different than that painted in history books: vampires, werewolves and ghosts are real and an integrated part of the society, and it was fascinating to see how the dynamics of the society changed based on having to accomodate to the existance of supernatural creatures. Also, the history and religions are also changed, to fit the settings given to the story, and I just loved how Carriger managed to casually explain said changes to us.
The language also fits the period. I don't know how easy it is for a native speaker to read this book, but I had to search the meaning of a word every few pages, and although it can be an insufferable task, here I just loved it! The words and use of words fitted the period, the atmosphere was held especially thanks to the proper use of words to describe the details, and it was a real pleasure to read this book with a dictionary next to me as well. I love books that get me out of my comfort zone (here my somewhat limited vocabulary) and teach me something new (here, new words).
Alexia Tarabotti is my goddess. I don't think I can put into words just how much I love her! She's witty, sassy, smart and doesn't even dare of accepting the excuse of "you're a woman". The female in me felt so pleased seeing how Alexia is acting, she's strong and great and I'm pretty sure we all aspire to have a little bit of her in us. She's also tall, dark-skinned and curvy (not your usual main-female, you might say), but she's lovely and loved all the same, and her worth isn't diminished or raised by her appearance (even though her famility does see quite a few troublesome traits in the eldest daughter).
But actually, all of Cariger's characters are so lovely! Of course, some do stand out in the narrative, but the others are usual typhologies of the time, and so they fit the story amazingly well, and each has its own quirk, making them easy to recognize and easy to love. I also adored their interaction and the dialogue is probably the funniest and greatest part of the book.
I think that my favorite character (besides our main characters, who you simply cannot not love) was Lord Akeldama, a 400 years old vampire with a great personality, interesting fashion-sense and a totally lovely way of talking.
I had so much fun reading Soulless, I seriously smiled through half of it, and I was totally immerged in it from the first chapter. It's also a great mood-lifter, it did amazing things for me. I adored the feminist themes, the steampunk-ish elements and well, this book as a whole had me falling in love with everything in it. It was entertaining, it gave me a little bit of everything (which might be the main plus of the book, you can probably find something that fits your taste, no matter what that is) and kept my eyes glued to the pages.
*heart eyes*
Do not answer me if you've read this book, but can I expect a queer relationship in the next volumes? Because I'd love to see it done.
Alexia Tarabotti is soulless, which gives her a quite useful paranormal skill and reasons to befriend some of the best seen vampires and werewolves in London. She's also a spinter, but this does not trouble her, as she is very smart and a skillfull partner in a conversation, and so her presence is still very much appreciated. One night, she is attacked by a mysterious vampire, and from then on, the situation only worsens.
I've heard so many great things about this series, everyone that I know of that read this book, can only praise it, and so my interest got greater and greater since I finally just went ahead and read the book. And Oh.My.God. The hype is real and the love is well-deserved.
Firstly, I just adore the world. We're in the 19th century, but in a London quite different than that painted in history books: vampires, werewolves and ghosts are real and an integrated part of the society, and it was fascinating to see how the dynamics of the society changed based on having to accomodate to the existance of supernatural creatures. Also, the history and religions are also changed, to fit the settings given to the story, and I just loved how Carriger managed to casually explain said changes to us.
The language also fits the period. I don't know how easy it is for a native speaker to read this book, but I had to search the meaning of a word every few pages, and although it can be an insufferable task, here I just loved it! The words and use of words fitted the period, the atmosphere was held especially thanks to the proper use of words to describe the details, and it was a real pleasure to read this book with a dictionary next to me as well. I love books that get me out of my comfort zone (here my somewhat limited vocabulary) and teach me something new (here, new words).
Alexia Tarabotti is my goddess. I don't think I can put into words just how much I love her! She's witty, sassy, smart and doesn't even dare of accepting the excuse of "you're a woman". The female in me felt so pleased seeing how Alexia is acting, she's strong and great and I'm pretty sure we all aspire to have a little bit of her in us. She's also tall, dark-skinned and curvy (not your usual main-female, you might say), but she's lovely and loved all the same, and her worth isn't diminished or raised by her appearance (even though her famility does see quite a few troublesome traits in the eldest daughter).
“How ghastly for her,” said Alexia, driven beyond endurance into comment. “People actually thinking, with their brains, and right next door. Oh, the travesty of it all.”
But actually, all of Cariger's characters are so lovely! Of course, some do stand out in the narrative, but the others are usual typhologies of the time, and so they fit the story amazingly well, and each has its own quirk, making them easy to recognize and easy to love. I also adored their interaction and the dialogue is probably the funniest and greatest part of the book.
I think that my favorite character (besides our main characters, who you simply cannot not love) was Lord Akeldama, a 400 years old vampire with a great personality, interesting fashion-sense and a totally lovely way of talking.
I had so much fun reading Soulless, I seriously smiled through half of it, and I was totally immerged in it from the first chapter. It's also a great mood-lifter, it did amazing things for me. I adored the feminist themes, the steampunk-ish elements and well, this book as a whole had me falling in love with everything in it. It was entertaining, it gave me a little bit of everything (which might be the main plus of the book, you can probably find something that fits your taste, no matter what that is) and kept my eyes glued to the pages.
*heart eyes*
Do not answer me if you've read this book, but can I expect a queer relationship in the next volumes? Because I'd love to see it done.
daumari's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars, rounded up to 4. Soulless is a fun adventure, mixing Victorian social niceties with the supernatural and a dash of steampunkish science fiction (if I had to make a judgement call, would err on the side of fantasy because of the vampires, werewolves, and ghosts but it does have both sf/f imo).
The characters were definitely chatty- did sort of feel like a Buffy the Vampire Slayer level of quippiness, and POV shifts from paragraph to paragraph probably added to that. Intrigued to see where the rest of the series goes.
The characters were definitely chatty- did sort of feel like a Buffy the Vampire Slayer level of quippiness, and POV shifts from paragraph to paragraph probably added to that. Intrigued to see where the rest of the series goes.