Review: Soulless by Gail Carriger

Alexia Tarabotti is laboring under a great many social tribulations. 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?

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My Thoughts: A novel of vampires, werewolves, and...parasols? I've heard many great things about this book from others and I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. I especially wanted to satiate my curiosity on how parasols were involved with this book. I've had Soulless in my TBR pile for almost a year and I was thrilled to have been able to finally read it. 

First of all, this story was absolutely fun! This was more than a romance novel; it was a great paranormal comedy. I greatly enjoyed the spin that Gail Carriger had with the supernatural folk and how they interacted with humans. I found myself laughing many times at the nonsense that was happening. 

What helped make this book very amusing were the characters. They were quirky! The main character Alexia was very stable but very likeable. She was strong minded, independent, and stubborn. The sarcastic and "proper" things she said in the most peculiar situations had me loving Alexia as a heroine. Next, Maccon was the yummy werewolf who wanted Alexia as his Alpha wife. I enjoyed all the scenes he had with Alexia because their interactions were comical. Finally, there was Lord Akeldema. He was my favorite character for he was hilarious! He was an ancient vampire who loved fashion, gossip, and men. I wish there were more scenes with him in the book.

As a whole, this was a fascinating book. It was a great diversion for me for it helped me get out of my reading funk. The only reason that I don't give it a five star is because I did find myself putting it down a few times and not getting back to it for a while. Even though my attention span did not allow me to read this book very fast, I enjoyed every moment that I read. And yes...I found out what purpose the parasol had in the book. I rate it: