Book Review: Changeless by Gail Carriger

 

Goodreads Summary: Alexia Maccon, the Lady Woolsey, awakens in the wee hours of the mid-afternoon to find her husband, who should be decently asleep like any normal werewolf, yelling at the top of his lungs. Then he disappears; leaving her to deal with a regiment of supernatural soldiers encamped on her doorstep, a plethora of exorcised ghosts, and an angry Queen Victoria.
But Alexia is armed with her trusty parasol, the latest fashions, and an arsenal of biting civility. So even when her investigations take her to Scotland, the backwater of ugly waistcoats, she is prepared: upending werewolf pack dynamics as only the soulless can. She might even find time to track down her wayward husband, if she feels like it.

CHANGELESS is the second book of the Parasol Protectorate series: a comedy of manners set in Victorian London, full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking.

Goodreads Rating: 3.99 stars with over 45,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Steampunk, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance, Urban Fantasy, Vampires, Werewolves, Mystery, Historical Fiction

Goodreads Challenge: 28/30

2023 Reading Challenge: #25 Read a book that takes place somewhere you'd like to live (See the entire challenge here)

Book Review:

Hello, Readers! I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe this holiday weekend (if it is a holiday for you). I picked up Changeless because I wanted something light to read. Since it takes place in England and Scotland, it is a good fit for #25 on the challenge list. Both locations are at the top of my list to visit someday, and I'd love to live abroad just to experience it. 

I enjoyed the idea of Changeless more than I enjoyed the actual story. I liked the book, but it felt flat. There were instances of Alexia's feisty sass that I really enjoyed in the first book, but it felt a little half-hearted. The whole story felt rushed. I enjoyed the story, just didn't love it.

What I appreciated the most about Changeless by Gail Carriger is that it doesn't take itself seriously. There's a lot of humor and sarcasm in the book. While rushed, the story and the humor make it a fun and enjoyable read when you want something silly. The Steampunk element was turned up in Changeless. It was there in Soulless, but I don't remember it being as pronounced. There was a lot more explanation of how the gadgets and gizmos worked, which I really liked. Often in Steampunk, it becomes background and not part of the story. Since Alexia has a curious and scientific disposition, things were explained thoroughly.

The story's ending took this from being a 4 to a 3 for me. It got too predictable and was a little disappointing. I still liked the book, but it ended in a way that I wasn't dying to know what happens in the next book. It made the series a take-it-or-leave-it situation for me. If I see the third book on sale and want something silly to read, I might pick it up. But I won't be upset if I don't continue.