Soulless

By: Gail Carriger

Narrated by: Emily Gray

Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

Alexia Tarabotti is laboring under a great many social tribulations. First, she has no soul. Second, she's a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette.

Where to go from there? From bad to worse, apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire - and then the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate.

With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London's high society? Will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing? Finally, who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart?

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

The Parasol Protectorate

• Soulless
• Changeless
• Blameless
• Heartless
• Timeless

For more from Gail Carriger, check out:

The Custard Protocol

• Prudence
• Imprudence

Finishing School (YA)

• Etiquette & Espionage
• Curtsies & Conspiracies
• Waistcoats & Weaponry
• Manners & Mutiny

©2017 Gail Carriger (P)2017 Hachette Audio

First enjoyable audible read - made me laugh & totally addicted

I started and restarted reading this series of books a year ago and could not get through this first one. I recently started the trial of Audible when I had to drive several hours to visit a friend. I chose this book as an experiment. I wanted to ascertain if the oral presentation of the story would make a difference. It did. The performance of the actress who gave voice to the characters was absolutely marvelous. The accents and emphasis she applied to help the listener get to know the characters and follow the story line was transformative. In general I do not like romance novels or what I consider ‘sappy’ girl meets boy plot formulas; however, the author provided enough content, included my favorite ‘monster lore’ & enhanced the lore with her own unique tweaks and gave the characters sufficient personalities & depth to keep me engaged through to the end. My biblio-addiction is now complete. Thank you Audible. Thank you Ms. Carriger. On to listening to book 2.

Enjoyable Storyline

My preferred reading is espionage, history, biographies, self help and mystery. My favorite authors include Janet Evanovich, Dan Brown, Vince Flynn, and David Baldacci. I stumbled upon this book series during an Audible sale and found it enjoyable. I was surprised by the incorporation of supernatural characters. The heroine is strong and intelligent without her strength being attributed to a condition. She is a strong, independent character without being losing her femininity.
I have purchased more books in this series and I hope the characters continue to evolve.

Very entertaining

What's not to love...it has vampires, werewolves, and intrigue all wrapped up in a harlequin-steampunk novel.

surprisingly good!

I wasn't sure if I would like this book, but I really enjoyed it! It was light hearted, but not overly silly. It kept my attention without being too intense. I found it very enjoyable.

Fantastic World-Building and Characters

I read Soulless back in 2010 and loved it . When when "discovering" it became a series and is available in Audible I literally jumped in happiness.

I so enjoyed revisiting this fun , sexy and entertaining story , its original cast of characters and the phenomenal world-built around it.

As for Emily Gray 's narration , her voices for females are fine but her male voices aren't very good.

Oh Wow

This book was fantastic. It kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen next, It mad laugh and laugh at Alexia and Lord McCann's banter between each other. They kept getting into funny predicaments. I love the characters they were funny and lovable. We had humans, vampires werewolves and a preternatural. I most definitely will do more in this series. The narrator did a great job with the voices of each character.

A Favorite

My first time with the audio version. My husband and I listened together. it is a favorite of mine. we both loved it and thought it was great fun.

Love it

I have not fallen in love this hard with a book series in a such a long time. I recommend this For Deborah Harkness fans

Absolutely Fabulous!!

I am at a lost for words as to how to express my complete delight with this book! It was outstanding in every way. I cannot wait to continue with this series. I don’t see how anyone could find fault with the writing or the narration - both in my opinion were exceptional! I am so very glad that I found this book/series!!

Fun

I absolutely loved this book. What a fun and entertaining way to mix a historical romance with paranormal aspects. The narrator was amazing with different voices and inflections. The characters were likable and fun.