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I read a variety of genres but tend to favor romantic fiction, whether paranormal, steampunk, or historical. Some dystopian, UF, and even an occasional mystery might make their way onto my reading list. Otherwise, anything that sounds quirky and fun goes! :)

 

Changeless (Parasol Protectorate, #2)

Changeless (Parasol Protectorate, #2) - Gail Carriger After reading Soulless, I was quite eager to start the next book of the series because I found the characters, the story, and the writing very entertaining, however, I must say that Changeless was a bit of a disappointment for me. Everything that made Soulless so successful was almost completely absent in Changeless. I missed the spiciness of the conversations between Alexia and Lord Maccon; the supportive friendship with Ivy, and surprisingly the major presence of Lord Akeldama and Professor Layll, even though I didn’t find the former so interesting in the first novel. I found myself almost bored with the interactions between our now married couple, and particularly annoyed with their constant reference to each other: “husband/wife”; they lacked the spunkiness and sexiness that filled book one. I felt that this marriage have ruined everything that was good about this couple in the first place.

Alexia was annoyed with her husband, her dear friend Ivy, and pretty much everyone else nearly throughout the whole novel. Specifically, she was almost mean-spirited towards her friend Ivy, which made me think why the two of them were still friends. Add to the mix her half-sister Felicity and I snoozed throughout most of their traveling misadventures that seemed to occupy a good chunk of the book.

The story itself did not pick up until the last few chapters, and even then the events and revelations that took place were predictable and expected, thus rendering them boring. The only thing that surprised me was Lord Maccon’s reaction to Alexia’s news at the end of the novel – I thought him to be more open-minded character. The refreshing, no cliff-hanger ending of Soulless was very welcomed for the first book in the series – it could have been a stand-alone novel if it wanted. However, there is a major cliffhanger ending in Changeless, which probably was the only thing that saved the series for me and made me pick up Blameless – although, I am starting to get worried that the names of these novels might give away everything upfront.

On another note, the new cast of characters including the Kingair pack and Madame Lefoux felt underwhelming. I really wanted to like Madame Lefoux, but her character felt a bit flat, and even though she was written as a major player in the novel I did not thirst to see more of her or even her story. A worthwhile mention should go to Major Channing Channing of the Chesterfield Channings – he certainly was an interesting character, and his interactions with Alexia, as well as with Professor Layll reminded me so much of Alexia/Conall and Conall/Layll relations in book one. I hope we get to see more of Channing in the coming novels.

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