Changeless
22. Gail Carriger, Changeless
Warning: This review contains spoilers for Soulless.
Lady Alexia Maccon has recently begun her duties as muhjah, preternatural advisor to Queen Victoria. She has also enthusiastically adapted to married life with her husband, the Alpha werewolf of the Woolsey pack. Her newfound happiness is soon disrupted, however, when a preternatural plague breaks out in London: the supernatural powers of vampires and werewolves are completely neutralized, and all the ghosts in the immediate vicinity are exorcised. Some people even suspect that Lady Maccon, the only known preternatural in the area, is behind this plague of humanization. Fearing that a powerful weapon against supernaturals has been discovered, Alexia must find out what is causing the disruption. At the same time, she must also follow her renegade husband to Scotland, where he has unfinished business with his former pack.
I was a big fan of Soulless, and this sequel largely lives up to the promise of the first book. Alexia is a delightful heroine, with her inescapable pragmatism and her devotion to parasols as weapons. It was fun to follow her and Conall into their married life and see the continuation of their teasing banter. I also enjoyed the steampunk elements, like the dirigible and the fascinating aethographic transmitter. The mystery aspect of the plot wasn’t terribly complicated, but it provided enough forward momentum to keep the plot going. The characters are really the strong point of the series, though; I’ll happily keep reading just to learn more about the flamboyant Lord Akeldama, the mysterious (and cross-dressing) Madame Lefoux, and my personal favorite, Professor Lyall. There is a rather large cliffhanger at the end of this book, which is annoying - but luckily I already have Blameless on my shelves!