Soulless, by Gail Carriger

Okay, I'm going to be honest, I saw the cover of this book and I just started giggling. I mean, whatever position Miss Tarabotti is walking in on the cover of this book looks absolutely ridiculous and painful. She looks kind of like a skinny penguin with an umbrella which is just funny in itself.

So I was not in a position to take this book seriously from the get-go, which I think was a perfect way to come at it. I was really pleasantly surprised by what I read. I am not a huge fan of...more 4 out of 5 stars
Total read in 2010 so far: 73
(Also posted on my Goodreads profile here.)

Okay, I'm going to be honest, I saw the cover of this book and I just started giggling. I mean, whatever position Miss Tarabotti is walking in on the cover of this book looks absolutely ridiculous and painful. She looks kind of like a skinny penguin with an umbrella which is just funny in itself.

So I was not in a position to take this book seriously from the get-go, which I think was a perfect way to come at it. I was really pleasantly surprised by what I read. I am not a huge fan of the time period this book is set in, but the steampunky and magic aspects introduced just enough interesting flavor to the setting to keep me reading. And, yes, at times I was pretty annoyed by Miss Tarabotti, but the book is so light and fluffy it is hard to get really worked up about it. I liked the intriguing secret society aspects, introduced with just enough detail to lend themselves to the sequels, but the ending was so neat and tidy that I'm not sure how well future books that follow Miss Tarabotti will keep any romantic bits alive. (I added them to my to-read shelf anyway.)

I am also a total sucker for a Scottish accent, so that is probably what gave this its fourth star.