Soulless is a steampunk fantasy novel by Gail Carriger featuring the vampires, werewolves, supernatural, pretanaturals, and the like. Miss Alexia Tarabotti is a 25 year old spinster with a unique dilemma – she has no soul. After being rudely attacked by a vampire, Miss Tarabotti accidentally kills it. Lord Maccon, a gorgeous alpha werewolf, heads the investigation of the mysterious circumstances.

Here’s what I liked:

• The protagonist – Alexia Tarabotti
  • A strong witty female character. What’s not to like?
• The love interest – Lord Maccon – aka sexy werewolf
  • No explanation needed
• The Universe
  • A steampunk Victoria era world with supernaturals. I really dug the world that Gail Carringer build, and I think it really added to the story.

Here’s what I didn’t like:

• The plot
  • Ouch, ow, burn. Seriously though, the plot left a lot to be desired. It starts off fine but somewhere towards the climax it just becomes really predictable and boring. You can see what’s happening a mile away.
• Character motivations
  • If you get to the climax, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. There were parts of the book where the characters actions/motivations in the scene didn’t work with the circumstances they found themselves in. The characters face mortal danger, and they want to do that!? I’ll keep that spoiler free.

You should read it if:

• You like supernatural romances.
• You like strong female protagonists.
• You like witty, laugh out loud dialogue.

You shouldn’t read it if:

• You need to be surprised. You need the story to be unpredictable to enjoy it.
• You want to read something deep, meaningful, and artsy fart-sy.
• You have a problem with smut.

My final verdict:

For the right target audience, this book is a fun ride. I knew I was really enjoying it by how quickly I read the first 3/4 of the book. I also knew how much the climax bored me by how painfully slow the last 1/4 of it went. If the plot hadn’t lost me in the climax, I would have rated this book much higher. All in all, I liked this book, and I’m likely to pick up the next book in the series.

3.5 out of 5 stars, recommended