Review of Changeless by Gail Carriger

Changeless is the second book in the Alexia Tarabotti series, aka, The Parasol Protectorate series, by Gail Carriger. It is a smashing good follow up to the first, Soulless, able to hold your attention and keep the pace and continuing story going smoothly. Again, since this is a sequel, there might be some spoilers. But I will try to keep them to a minimum.

We rejoin Lord Maccon and Lady Alexia roughly three months after the event of Soulless, and the newlyweds (spoiler, sorry) seem to be adjusting rather well to their new life together. Well, as well as a werewolf earl and a soulless preternatural who toss verbal barbs as often as kisses can. The bliss of married life is broken when troops---werewolves and fellow pack members---arrive from Britain's latest tour of Africa and camp out on the front lawn of Alexia and Lord Maccon's castle. On top of this, sudden episodes of "humanness" pop up all over London, affecting the supernatural residents and turning them human. The only people who can counteract the supernatural's powers is a preternatural, aka "soulless". Instantly the vampires, werewolves, and other supernaturals of London are casting suspicious eyes to Alexia, being London's resident soulless. Now Alexia has to clear her name, figure out what is causing the supernatural to become changeless, and go run after her husband who suddenly left for Scotland. And of course, the book sets up nicely for the third installment, Blameless. As great this book was, the ending made me mad and kinda weepy. 

Gail Carriger is a true talent with mixing Victorian England's class dynamics, supernatural species, and a healthy dose of steampunk into a truly wonderful adventure-romantic-mystery. Alexia, being "soulless", offsets the typically frivolous and superficial woman's role with smarts, a sharp tongue, and an attitude to rival any man. While she has to solve a mystery of mystical proportions, Alexia finds herself babysitting her horrible sister and her flighty best friend (who still has a pension for terrible hats) on her trip to Scotland to track down her husband and find the source of the changeless phenomenon. Changeless is an equal of its predecessor to the mystery, humor, romance, and rapier wit. Many others have compared Carriger's writing to be as sharp and tongue-n-cheek as Jane Austen, and really, how much more of a complement is that? 

This series is a truly good one, and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes their steampunk mixed with werewolves and vampires, their parasols action-packed, and their Victorian heroines cut from smarter cloth. With all the paranormal romances out there, some hit-n-misses when it comes to quality, Gail Carriger's Alexia Tarabotti does not disappoint. On my scale of 1 (literary hari kari) to 10 (literary orgasmic bliss) I give this installment a solid 8.5. 

Get started in this series, you won't be disappoint.