Review: Heartless by Gail Carriger

‘Lady Alexia Maccon, soulless, is at it again, only this time the trouble is not her fault. When a mad ghost threatens the queen, Alexia is on the case, following a trial that leads her deep into her husband’s past. Top that off with a sister who has jointed the suffragette movement (shocking!), Madame Lefoux’s latest mechanical invention, and a plague of zombie porcupines, Alexia barely has time to remember she happens to be eight months pregnant.

Will Alexia manage to determine who is trying to kill Queen Victoria before it is too late? Is it the vampires again or is there a traitor lurking about in wolf’s clothing? And what, exactly, has taken up residence in Lord Akeldama’s second best closet?

Heartless is the fourth book of the Parasol Protectorate series: a comedy of manners set in Victorian London, full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking.’

I would have to say that I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I did the others. It was a good read, but not up to the intensity of the others in this series. It does have its twists and turns and Alexia is up to her usual ways, albeit being eight months pregnant. She must decipher a plot to kill the queen and find out who is behind it. Once again, you can trust no one and everybody is not what they appear. I think that is why I love this series, because you are literally on your toes and every character surprises you in the end.

This was one of those books in a series that kind of takes the story and prepares for the next book. Nothing too remarkable happened in this book, but it does end leaving a nice setup for the next in the series. I am sad because I am now at the end of this series and I only have one left. It has been a nice little jag and I am glad that I finally got around to reading this one as it was on my to-be-read pile for such a long time. I keep saying that Carriger is a writer in a class all of her own and it is completely true. I love authors that create a different world and Carriger is phenomenal with this. I think that I’ve said that a million times during the reviews of the books in this series, but I really cannot stress how true that statement is.

I love the characters and they feel like family. I can’t wait to see how this series ends. This was a must read for people following the series as you cannot read one and skip the others. They all build on each other and are essential to read them in order. Like I said, this one was just okay, but it still was a fabulous read and I simply couldn’t put it down. Not my favorite by far, but still a fun and engaging read.