Book Review: Changeless

I bought Changeless a couple of weeks after it was released in stores, and it took me a few more weeks to actually pick it up and read it. (Darn you, university!)

Alexia Tarabotti is now Lady Maccoon, wife of the gorgeous Lord Conall Maccoon. Sure, he's Scottish and he's got that whole werewolf debacle, but he couldn't possibly be faulted for that. When ghosts become exorcised and werewolves and vampires lose their supernatural tendencies, Lord Maccoon is off without any warning to his new wife. Of course, Alexia follows her husband's trail and brings along her friends, her half-sister, and her brand new parasol along for a brand new adventure.

How's that for an original summary? ;)

In terms of plot, I think Changeless is better than Soulless. I definitely enjoyed the ride that Soulless gave me, but I think that Changeless was a little more focused than its predecessor in terms of plot and character development. Actually, I predicted some of the events that occurred between the main characters in this book... I just didn't expect them to happen so soon. I think that's definitely a good thing though. I can only compare it to the TV series Glee, bringing the big events closer to the beginning rather than using it as a last ditch plot device in that would be considered cliche three seasons in. On a side note, I did not expect to compare a steampunk urban fantasy with a high school musical TV series. But it works for me.

The characters were in top form again, and there are also a few new characters that the readers get to enjoy. My old favorite Ivy Hisselpenny was definitely the scene stealer of the book, with Alexia's sister Felicity trailing a close second behind her. However, I know I'm probably speaking on my behalf alone but I don't think that there was enough of Professor Lyall in Changeless. I can't explain why, but when I read Soulless and Changeless, I just felt myself being drawn to Lyall's character. Hopefully there will be more Lyall in Blameless, but we shall see. It's a shame, but the only character I don't have any true feelings for is Lord Maccoon. I know I should, but it's like me and Brad Pitt. I recognize that they're both sexy and charming and it's a social convention to drool upon their appearance, but they don't really do anything for me. Truth be told, I like my men skinny and nerdy, so if Maccoon looked like that I'd be swooning. Thus the reason why I like Lyall and Tunstall.

If you recall my review of Soulless, my only qualm was that there was way too much sex and romance for my inner tomboy to handle. I'm a romantic, but I never go out in search of a love story. However, in Changeless the romance is there but it is muted and a little more easy for me to handle. That being said, I'm becoming more accustomed to the more romantic aspects of female sci-fi/fantasy lit. Apparently, Gail Carriger's writing is enough to turn me to the romance Dark Side. (As a side note, I'm now imagining GC as Darth Vader sipping on a cup of tea. I'm going to carry that image with me for the rest of the night.)

This may be a bit of a spoiler, but I'm not ruining anything having to do with the action within the plot itself. I just simply want to say that those who read this should know that it ends in a cliffhanger. But I don't think it was a bad cliffhanger at all. For me, a bad cliffhanger for a book would be trying to pull off the first half of a Doctor Who two-parter in literary form. I feel that the ending was written well. And there is a sneak peek for the next book Blameless which made me giggly.

So for all who are wishing for a good, fun read with well-written and comical characters, check out the Parasol Protectorate. I can definitely call myself a fan now after reading this book.