Thursday, July 7, 2011

BOOK REVIEW - SOULLESS by GAIL CARRIGER - PARASOL PROTECTORATE # 1

By : Gail Carriger
Published By : Orbit Books
Released : Available Now
Details : Paperback , 357 Pages

RATING : 4.5 Nibbling Lord Maccon Stars!!

Book Blurb : Taken From Goodreads

Without a morsel of exaggeration, its publisher describes this debut novel as "a comedy of manners set in Victorian London full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking." At the center of Soulless's "parasol protectorate" is Miss Alexia Tarabotti, a young woman who lacks not only a suitor but also a soul. And those are not her only problems: When she accidentally kills a vampire, it begins a series of events that she must set out to resolve without the help of any proper authorities. A charming mass market original.

BOOK REVIEW:


What a funny, witty tale about a half Italian spinster named Alexia Tarabotti ..... her parasol.... werewolves, vampires , steamy advances including neck nibbling.... * waggles eyebrows* . Throw in a rather flamboyant rove vampire with a fashion sense to outshine the cleverest Parisian designer, Biffy and some well built Lord Akeldama worshipping dandies, a scientist or two... a plump Queen of the Westminster Hive , a professor, a dash of steampunk and a rather embarrassing family and you have a cleverly written story. Gail had me laughing out loud, smiling a great deal and fanning myself at the very Scottish, Lord Conall Maccon, Earl of Woolsey.


I did chuckle out loud when Lord Maccon swore, behaved in a most serious manner around Alexia and quite frankly felt he needed to sit her upon his lap on more than one occasion. HA!


The supporting characters were so much fun . Floote is a must have. I want a butler like him, he is more proficient than Alfred attending to Batman. To have a knowledgeable friend like Lord Akeldama, he was such fun to be around and Professor Lyall, Lord Maccon’s Beta was a fitting second to his Alpha.....after all a Beta has to be able to be forthright and tell his Alpha when he is in need of grovelling.


Alexia Tarabotti is just one of the most intelligent, witty and brave, never dull for one moment female characters. Her banter and forwardness with Lord Maccon, only she could get away with talking to the Alpha like she did. Alexia was never one to shy away from her opinion. They are one of my favourite couplings.


I am looking forward to opening up Changeless and finding out what they are up to.


‘Soulless’ is a most deliciously entertaining read that I highly recommend. I did find getting into the swing of Carriger’s writing style a tad different, at first read. After a couple chapters I was totally immersed in her writing style and looking forward to reading the whole series. ‘Soulless’ was a book to be read in the manner it was intended, a humorous read with a tad of darkness and strong characters with amusing dialogue. She kept with the sensibilities of the era but allowed her characters to roam a bit freer, allowing them to stand out. I can only assume that Gail Carriger has a most humorous personality that has flowed over into her writing. What fun , laughter filled days she must have writing her stories.





FAVE QUOTES:


The earl abruptly looked more livid than tired. “ Do you , by George! What has he been luring you in with? Little pip-squeak, I shall wallop his scrawny hide to ribbons.”





Her landing mattress squirmed and growled. “ Good God , woman! Shift off.”




She jerked back. “What are you....?”

“Only way to keep you quiet,” he grumbled, taking her chin in a firmer grip and planting his mouth atop hers once more.



Silence.

“ I kissed her,” he explained, aggrieved.

“Mmm, yes, I had the dubious pleasure of witnessing that, ah-hem, overly public occurrence.” Lyall sharpened his pen nib, using a small copper blade that ejected from the end of his glassicals.

“Well! Why hasn’t she done anything about it?” the Alpha wanted to know.

“You mean like whack you upside the noggin with that deadly parasol of hers? ......

Lord Maccon looked petulant. “ I mean like attempt to talk to me, or perhaps not talk at all but simply drag me off somewhere....”





“Hello, princess,” said Lord Maccon to the vampire.

“Got yourself into quite a pickle this time, didn’t you?”

Lord Akeldama looked him up and down. ‘My sweet young naked boy, you are hardly one to talk. Not that I mind, of course.”




Michelle

5 comments:

  1. I borrowed this out from the library a couple weeks ago. What a great review, you've got me wanting to move this up my TBR pronto. I was just after a bit of steampunk, but I'm glad to know it has plenty of humour to it. It sounds like you really enjoyed it. Thanks!

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  2. Hi Brett,

    It's a lot of fun. I had just finished Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma which is a rather heavy , brilliant read and this is what I needed. Gail has got a wicked wit about her writing and the characters are awesome.
    Thanks for stopping by.

    Michelle A.

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  3. I had no idea if I should read this anytime soon, I picked it up about 2 weeks ago at a charity shop and its been sitting on my shelf but now I think I'll give it a go.
    Great review. Loved reading the fave quotes.

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  4. I just checked the first three of these books out from the library a couple of days ago and they are sitting beside me on the table...maybe I should put them a little higher on my TBR?? The covers are SO FUN and your review makes them seem even funner!

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  5. Hi Gabbie and Sweetestlittlebookworm,

    This must surely slide up the tippy top of your TBR pile. As I am Australian and I have the ocker accent...outback...anyhoo I find myself wanting to speak rather proper when reading these books...loL!! I am zooming through Changeless..you will Love Lord Maccon....wink!

    Michelle A

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