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A review by aksmith92
Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
What an absolute blast. The novel's main character and protagonist is the lovely yet very different Theodora Eloisa Charity Ettings - aka Dora - who happens to have half her soul stolen by an evil faerie. She goes throughout life in the 1800s as a bit of a shrew because half her soul is missing! She rarely feels emotions like others do and does not understand the highly complex etiquette of England. I most certainly can tell that Olivia Atwater peppered this into the plot to ensure that folks on the neurodivergent scale feel seen and visible; I loved everything about Dora.
The plot was quite intriguing - we have Dora, who accompanies her cousin, Vanessa (and Vanessa's mother/Dora's Aunt), to London because, OF COURSE, Vanessa must get married. Dora is regularly told to stay in the shadows and keep quiet not to make a fool of the family. Atwater's ability for you to feel the pain that Dora goes through is profound.
As the courting season begins, Dora finds herself smack in the middle of a bit of mystery, in addition to her own soul business. Through this process, she meets some friends and the Lord Sorcier, Elias Wilder, known in London as ill-mannered and awful. Yet, he may be Dora's only help in finding her soul.
This novel was extremely well done, with the world-building, mystery, and love story. I enjoyed the prose, as it reminded me of some of the more classical-style writing of Pride and Prejudice, but with an apparent modern twist that made it incredibly readable. While I wanted more information about Lord Sorcier's back story because I found the love story a bit unbelievable without understanding more of Elias, I now know that Atwater has a novella about him that I plan to read soon.
I decided to rate this 5 stars because it was just so SO FUN. Everything seemed to fall into place. It's one of those 5 stars where I don't think everything was perfect, but it made me feel all cozy. I chuckled multiple times as well, and the characters were just lovely. I simply loved it and it surprised me!
The plot was quite intriguing - we have Dora, who accompanies her cousin, Vanessa (and Vanessa's mother/Dora's Aunt), to London because, OF COURSE, Vanessa must get married. Dora is regularly told to stay in the shadows and keep quiet not to make a fool of the family. Atwater's ability for you to feel the pain that Dora goes through is profound.
As the courting season begins, Dora finds herself smack in the middle of a bit of mystery, in addition to her own soul business. Through this process, she meets some friends and the Lord Sorcier, Elias Wilder, known in London as ill-mannered and awful. Yet, he may be Dora's only help in finding her soul.
This novel was extremely well done, with the world-building, mystery, and love story. I enjoyed the prose, as it reminded me of some of the more classical-style writing of Pride and Prejudice, but with an apparent modern twist that made it incredibly readable. While I wanted more information about Lord Sorcier's back story because I found the love story a bit unbelievable without understanding more of Elias, I now know that Atwater has a novella about him that I plan to read soon.
I decided to rate this 5 stars because it was just so SO FUN. Everything seemed to fall into place. It's one of those 5 stars where I don't think everything was perfect, but it made me feel all cozy. I chuckled multiple times as well, and the characters were just lovely. I simply loved it and it surprised me!