She Was, After All, Soulless and Practical

~Soulless~
The Parasol Protectorate
Book the First
By Gail Carriger
Amazon ~ Powell's

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?


I've had this one on my To-Read shelf since forever. Being a sucker for werewolves and vampires, the premise hooked me from the get-go, plus that cover image was perfection. I bought a used copy of it ages ago, but never quite got around to diving in until this month the Maven of the Eventide's (aka Elisa Hansen's) Vampire Book Club chose it as their next read (the club's review/discussion will be held March 15th at 5:30 PDT on her channel for any interested). Though I'm more on Team Werewolf than Team Vamp, this excuse was as good as any to finally take the plunge and start my first ever Steampunk series. And boy was it steamy.

I'll admit, the romance got a bit hotter and more hilarious than I anticipated. It was kinda hard to anticipate it at all, really. Alexia and her love interest play a lot of cat and mouse throughout the book, mostly to the annoyance of the other party, and then suddenly there's copious snogging. It really seems to come out of nowhere, following a somewhat stressful scene in which lives are on the line, and it only gets crazier from there. I don't want to spoil it, but let's just say that not even the imminent threat of torture can put a damper on these two's sexual chemistry—wink, wink.

And the fun just continued from there. Honestly, I mostly sat back and enjoyed the ride with this one, turning off my analytical brain for the most part. From the sass and wit exhibited by the main cast, to the somewhat exaggerated side characters, and the magic of the Victorian steampunk-ish setting with supernatural creatures roaming in the open, I was simply enthralled from page one.

I loved the bits and pieces of supernatural lore sprinkled throughout the book. It gave me just enough insight to get by, but still left a lot to explore in future books. Vampires, werewolves, and ghosts have been "out" and accepted by the British for a couple hundred years (though this acceptance did push the Puritans to leave for the Americas) and much of society has been tweaked and shaped by their influence. For example, since vampires and werewolves are almost exclusively active at night (earning the blanket term sundowners), most large social functions seem to have shifted to be evening affairs. Then there's the BUR (Bureau of Unnatural Registry) which polices them and their concerns, and keeps tabs on the sole known female preternatural (aka soulless), Alexia.

The lore on souls alone was fascinating. Soul is kinda the midichlorians of this universe, with the possession of an abundance of soul allowing one to survive the metamorphosis into becoming a ghost, vampire or werewolf. Of course, measuring the soul beforehand has yet to be accomplished, so it's mostly a guessing game as to who will survive into immortality. There are those who seem to have more soul, like actors or painters, mostly creative-types, and men tend to survive more often than women, but the actual science of it hasn't yet been established (though there are those who are trying). And then there's Alexia, a so-called preternatural, or someone lacking any soul at all, who cancels out all supernatural abilities on contact. It's said that preternaturals once acted as hunters and slayers of the supernatural, though it doesn't seem to have been the case for the last few hundred years. I can't wait for more soul info to be revealed in the next books, as I'm sure it will be.

The one thing that did bring this book down for me was the constant xenophobia, body shaming, and borderline racism in regards to Alexia's appearance and heritage. Even the blurb above makes it clear that Alexia suffers from having had an Italian for a father, and this point is hammered in constantly throughout the book. Whether she's complaining about her darker (tan) skin, her large nose, her curvy figure, or even her outspoken nature, it always seems to come back to her Italian blood. Now, I don't think it was necessarily the author or Alexia being xenophobic, as much as it was Alexia's mother constantly hammering in an idea of unworthiness for her entire life, and that becoming ingrained within her to the point of not thinking herself deserving of love, accepting the fate of a spinster even as early as 15:

Miss Tarabotti seemed [...] only a spinster, whose unfortunate condition was clearly the result of a combination of domineering personality, dark complexion, and overly strong facial features. [pg 25]

Even when her love interest is coming straight out, saying he loves her and wants to marry her, she denies any possibility because she's partly Italian and her face is an eyesore. Thankfully she does eventually overcome enough of her self-loathing to accept his advances, but she doesn't come out to say she's proud of her looks or heritage, which was disappointing, but I'm hopeful it might yet come about in future books. I think Italians had a huge stigma against them in this time period (if I remember my US history correctly), but it was still uncomfortable having it brought up so often, and especially with the constant digs against skin color.

Overall, this was a fun and funny foray into a combination urban fantasy, historical romance, cozy mystery. Whether you've picked a side in the age-old supernatural debate, or are keeping both avenues open, there's plenty of fang-filled lore to sink your teeth into, and characters of both persuasions to fall for. Having been published over a decade ago, along with being set more than a century ago, there are undoubtedly some uncomfortable references and ideologies that come up, but I still have faith that more positive messages will come forth as the series progresses. So if you're up for some Victorian-age snark with a side of steampunk and a lot of bite, I'd recommend checking out Soulless tonight.

Read by Emily Gray
Unabridged Length: 10.8 Hours
Listened at 1.75x Speed

I was extremely impressed by the range of voices Ms. Gray exhibited in this recording. Not only was she able to provide a sizeable cast of characters with unique voices, she also portrayed a variety of accents (Scottish being one of prominence) and infused every one with tons of personality, emotion, sass, what have you. Lord Akeldama was especially fun to experience, speaking so often in italics, you know.

And with names like Akeldama and Maccon, as well as the occasional English and Scottish vocabulary, hearing the 'proper' pronunciations was greatly appreciated, as ever. I did notice a couple inconsistencies between the audio and the Kindle text, though nothing egregious enough to warrant complaint. Just one part where the word "erotic" was switched with "exotic" caught my attention, as well as a "Most" being left out of "Her Most Royal Highness", though it is included a couple paragraphs later. Minor inconsistencies, but nothing that would get caught unless you're reading along like I do.

Overall, a pleasure from beginning to end. If you're like me and worry about getting names right, or just love hearing a British accent in your ear, I'd highly recommend giving this audio a try. And I'll be looking forward to continuing the series with Ms. Gray soon!