A review by ms_morri1
Soulless by Gail Carriger

3.0

I suppose I’m at the point in my life that if a book doesn’t immediately suck me in, I can’t give it more than 3 stars. Though, if it were possible on this site I would probably bump it up to a 3.5 as I found myself enjoying the second half of the book much more than the first.

I think my main issue has to do with the main character who first suffers from that tired trope of complaining that she’s not pretty enough when, in fact, she’s gorgeous and the male lead is already very much in love with her. Second, I agree with other reviews that at least at the start of this story, the lead is not very nice. I think the author was trying to illustrate that she’s more at home among werewolves and vampires, because it’s when she starts interacting with them that she becomes more tolerable, but it took a long while for me to warm up to the character.

That said, while I wouldn’t say this is the best Victorian fantasy read I’ve ever crossed, it’s certainly embraces the camp and fun of vampires and werewolves and if you’re looking for a fun adventure story, I’d say pick it up. Though it was a slow start for me, I’d be willing to check out the next book to see if there are improvements to the story overall.