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A review by brisingr
Soulless by Gail Carriger
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.