Some thoughts on Soulless
Started reading this on the train today; I'm only 75 pages in or so but MAN is this book killing me.
The main character has no soul, is half-Italian, and is a spinster. I remember these things because it's mentioned every other paragraph. Let's call this Jon Snow syndrome.
Despite the fact that the book reminds you constantly that Alexia is half-Italian, with tan skin and a Roman nose, the cover model has... neither of those features. I know the author probably had little say in what the cover design looked like (especially as a first-time author) but man, it's not like it would have made a huge difference in the marketing to actually try and match the character model, given that the cover is all shadows and fog anyway. It's a matter of principle.
The writing is very affected. Not just the dialog, but the inner dialog. I guess it makes sense since it's in limited 3rd-person perspective, but man.
Speaking of that limited 3rd-person perspective, Carriger switches character perspective in the middle of chapters, nay, in the middle of scenes. Let's say that again: she switches character perspective in the middle of scenes. That is such a violation of one of the cardinal rules of writing good fiction, nay, of writing coherent fiction, that it physically pains me every time it happens. Which is often.
Otherwise, the book is not horrible, and I might find myself enjoying it at points. Begrudgingly.
You're Ned Stark's bastard!
The main character has no soul, is half-Italian, and is a spinster. I remember these things because it's mentioned every other paragraph. Let's call this Jon Snow syndrome.
Despite the fact that the book reminds you constantly that Alexia is half-Italian, with tan skin and a Roman nose, the cover model has... neither of those features. I know the author probably had little say in what the cover design looked like (especially as a first-time author) but man, it's not like it would have made a huge difference in the marketing to actually try and match the character model, given that the cover is all shadows and fog anyway. It's a matter of principle.
The writing is very affected. Not just the dialog, but the inner dialog. I guess it makes sense since it's in limited 3rd-person perspective, but man.
Speaking of that limited 3rd-person perspective, Carriger switches character perspective in the middle of chapters, nay, in the middle of scenes. Let's say that again: she switches character perspective in the middle of scenes. That is such a violation of one of the cardinal rules of writing good fiction, nay, of writing coherent fiction, that it physically pains me every time it happens. Which is often.
Otherwise, the book is not horrible, and I might find myself enjoying it at points. Begrudgingly.
You're Ned Stark's bastard!