My summer reading list: Soulless

So I read this book Soulless (The Parasol Protectorate) for book club. As I’ve mentioned before, the book club I am in is called “Drinkin’ & No Thinkin’” so it’s pretty imperative that the book we read is entertaining and not gonna make a girl strain her brain. This book lived up to that very low bar easily. I think I would have liked it a WHOLE lot more if I hadn’t seen the cover. Mostly because the entire book the author, Gail Carriger, spends a lot of page real estate telling us how currrrvy the protagonist Alexia Tarabotti is. She also spends so much time referring to Ms. Tarabotti’s olive complexion & big ol’ honkin’ nose. But on the cover of the novel I have, (scroll back up to see it) there is this slight lady with fair skin and a nose that looks on the small side. I know you aren’t supposed to judge a book by its cover, but still, if the cover is totally different from the character description, it’s jarring!

The story itself was entertaining. I had a hard time getting into it. I don’t know what my deal was, but I kept actively avoiding starting the book. I chose to clean the house, do laundry, and even read other books instead of taking a crack at this one. Once I did though, I enjoyed it. It’s a supernatural story with a twist, in that the lead character, the aforementioned well endowed in the face Ms. Tarabotti, is “soulless” and therefore when a supernatural person touches her, they lose their supernatural powers whilst they are in contact with her.

There are husky werewolf dudes, gay vampires, bitchy sisters, and discussions of Victorian fashion. What’s not to like? My favorite part about reading modern romance novels set in Victorian times is learning how they are going to bend the staunch social rules & get the romantic leads together and naked. This one didn’t disappoint.

I didn’t get to discuss this novel much with my book club buddies as we all decided to forgo the book part of the meetin’ and instead head to the theater to watch Magic Mike. We are highleeeee intellectual, you know.

I give this a score of:

Because I liked the characters, the world that Gail Carriger constructed, and the humor in book. While I loved the layout of the cover, I just could not wrap my head around the model they used being the same woman who was described in the book.

Melissa (155 Posts)

Melissa, a renowned glitter technician, currently spends her days as a mix between Alexis Carrington Colby, Donna Reed, La Chilindrina, & Velma from Scooby Doo. That is to say, she is president of a board of directors, a perfect wife & mother to two, a caricature, and a super smart lady who solves mysteries with style and knee socks. She also works for a design company & makes stuff on a daily basis. You can find more of her writing at Bucktooth Mama or follow her on twitter: @bucktoothmama