Soulless by Gail Carriger

10 hrs 48 mins | Hachette Audio | Paranormal | 10/1/2009 

So, lol this book has been on my TBR shelf forever! It was in one of my early In My Mailbox’s nearly 8 years agoand I finally got around to reading it this year for book club.

Soulless is set in a steampunk Victorian London where supernaturals–werewolves, vampires and ghosts–live alongside humans. 26-year-old half-Italian spinster Alexia Tarrabotti isn’t a supernatural but she isn’t quite human either. She’s a preternatural–a rare person born with no soul and the ability to turn supernaturals human with just a touch. When supernaturals starting going missing Alexia decides to some investigation, much to the chagrin of Lord Maccon–the surly local werewolf Alpha and de facto head of the Bureau of Unnatural Registry (B.U.R).

This book starts off with a bang as Alexia kills a rogue vampire with her parasol at a dinner party. I remember when I first read this book I was overwhelmed by how quickly it jumps in with no world-building. At the time I hadn’t read much paranormal outside of the Twilight and Mortal Instruments series and struggled to get into it. But as I re-read this on audio I actually liked that we just jump in mid-action scene. I found Soulless to be an escapist, fast-paced, frolicking, Pushing Dasies-esque paranormal ride that I was just along for it. I was surprised by how quickly I read this.

Now some of the content doesn’t age super well. The Camp Gayvampire, Lord Akeldama, leaned a little too much on stereotype and he felt expendable to Alexia. Speaking of Alexia, I understand she is supposed to be an outcast, but she was rude to the few people who were her friends for no reason. It felt like a lot of the time she was using people except for Lord Maccon, who becomes the love interest.

This book just came out in audio 2 years ago and narrator Emily Gray does a great job setting the tone for this genre-blending paranormal modern l classic!