Unfortunately, soullnesses is sidelined in favour of the development of the romance subplots and the mystery of the missing supernaturals. Everyone who is aware of Alexia’s status declares her important and significant, as evinced by the resolution of the book setting her up as a VIP. Given that Alexia’s state as a soulless “preternatural” is one of the most unique and intriguing things about the book, one might have expected Carriger to explore its ramifications more creatively than she does. Carriger never really addresses how Alexia’s abilities affect ghosts, unfortunately. Vampires’ fangs retract, werewolves revert to human form, and the creatures become mortal. Alexia Tarabotti is special because she is soul less, and therefore neutralizes supernatural beings with her touch. (Ghosts also exist but are less … ahem … substantial.) Humans can become supernatural beings if they have excess “soul”. Vampires and werewolves conform to rules of civility that allow them to coexist alongside humans. Gail Carriger takes a lot of liberties in imagining an alternative Victorian England where the supernatural is not just real but openly acknowledged. That is, the main character, Alexia, falls in love-but with a werewolf, not a vampire! However, vampires constitute a significant portion of this story as well. I should clarify that, while this is both a romance and a vampire novel, it’s not a romance vampire novel. Call it serendipity, but I took the opportunity to cross this one off my list. When I went to the Bury library last week to pick up some books I’d reserved, I noticed Soulless in a display of alternate history novels. I almost bought the boxed set of all five books in this series at Christmas time, stopping myself on the grounds that I wouldn’t want to bring them back to England with me, so they’d gather dust at home until the summer. What is wrong with me?Īs with The Rest Falls Away, Soulless has been on my to-read list for a while now. Yes, I have indeed read another romance novel with vampires.
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