Carriger, Gail: Changeless
Changeless (2010)
Written by: Gail Carriger
Genre: Paranormal Steampunk Romance
Pages: 388 (Mass Market Paperback)
Series: Book Two (ongoing)
I bought this book shortly after (or maybe even before?) finishing Soulless, fully intending on reading it ASAP. But other books wormed their way into the immediate TBR pile, and after Mistborn, which left me wanting, I decided to go for something that I knew I'd enjoy and have fun with. Also, the third book in the trilogy comes out the very end of this month, so reading this book now just made a whole lot of sense.
The premise: ganked from BN.com: Alexia Tarabotti, 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. 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.
Review style: There's not a whole lot I want to discuss, other than to note how this book passes the Bechdel Test as well as talk about some of the areas this book improves upon in comparison to the first. Spoilers, I'll be good. I don't WANT to be good, mind you, but I will be. So no spoilers.
First off, let's talk about the romance. Because it's fun! I absolutely love the dynamic between Alexia and Conall. They crack me up with their tempers and devious natures, and they're absolutely fun to watch together. Now that they're married, the romance factor feels very natural without being a bother, and when it IS a bother, it's usually Alexia who's bothered, so it ups the humor. Short of the unexpected ending, I'm quite happy with these two.
Another difference between Changeless and Soulless is that the stuff Alexia obsesses over in the first book (i.e. all of her FAULTS) is pretty much non-existent. Don't get me wrong, it didn't bother me in the first book, but others complained, so I think it's fair to mention the lack here. Oh, Alexia gets some snide remarks about her weight, eating habits, and skin color, but it's pretty much from a single source, and since it's not Alexia beating herself up, it's not so bad.
Ivy and the Ugly Hats also make an appearance, and end up taking a rather significant portion of the book in terms of subplots. I was surprised by this, as well as the resolution and the expected outcome of said resolution. I look forward to seeing all the repercussions of this in the third book, because surely Carriger will address it.
I will say that Ivy did get rather annoying in this book, regarding what she was obsessed with (and it wasn't just ugly hats!) as well as her conviction (as well as other people's conviction) that Alexia married simply to elevate her status, that she didn't love Lord Maccon. Quite irritating on many levels. But it did provide humor, which was good. But I will say, in regards to Ivy, Carriger just kept skipping back and forth over the line of funny and annoying.
In many ways, I feel like you could take this book and apply the Bechdel Test and it pass with relative ease. Because Alexia does have female friends as well as female companions she talks with, and she discusses more than just men and marriage. Especially with Madame Lefoux. Both women share a love for science and gadgetry, and there's a chemistry between them that I'm curious to see if Carriger will explore. A bi-sexual love triangle, perhaps? That'd be quite progressive for the Victorian Era!
The overall story had me quite engaged, and I was pretty pleased to learn more about preternaturals and their role in history. I'm also making a prediction, given how often Alexia's father was mentioned in this book: I don't believe he's dead. Trust me, that's not a spoiler. It's just a prediction because he's mentioned SO often.
Also, and this is not a spoiler, but the end KILLED ME. I'm so glad I read this with the third book around the corner, because I really don't want to have to wait any longer than necessary to see how all of this plays out. And please, please let this resolve in Blameless. I'm not sure I can handle this particular storyline lasting longer than a single book! Then again, according to Carriger's website, there's two more books after the third, so who knows what's in store?
My Rating
Must Have: while I'll always warn potential readers that you must be in the right kind of mood for this book and its humor, this is a heckvua lot of fun and it had me thoroughly entertained. Better still, this book managed to take all of its interstitial ingredients and produce a stronger, more cohesive text than the first, which was still really enjoyable. No one element of historical fiction, paranormal fantasy, romance, mystery, and steampunk really stands out as a sore thumb, but rather all of these elements seem to strike a rather enjoyable balance. I really love Alexia as a character, and it's fun to watch her interact with both her friends, her enemies, and of course, her husband. The ending of this installment has me dying for the next, and trust me when I say that if I had Blameless in my hands when I finished Changeless, I wouldn't have taken a break between volumes.
Cover Commentary: I love these covers, and I think this is my favorite. I still claim that something about the coloring of the model makes me think she should be blonde, but oh well. I love this cover. Gorgeous dress, a model that seems to fit the heroine's description (aka, not skinny as a rail, but with curves!), and I love the blue colors and the overall design. Keep up the great work, Orbit!