Wednesday 2 March 2011

Book Review: Blameless by Gail Carriger

Pros: quirky characters, action

Cons: soap opera feel

As this is the 3rd book in the series, the synopsis contains spoilers.  This is not a book you can pick up without having read the previous two.

Alexia, Lady Maccon, begins this book at her mother's abode, being estranged from her husband due to the 'baby inconvenience'.  Though faithful, her husband's werewolf state ought to make him unable to father a child.  The vampires aren't happy about Alexia's pregnancy, and without the protection of the Woolsey Pack she's in trouble.

So she does what any self-respecting soulless would do while under attack - take a trip to the continent to see if anyone there can explain how she conceived.

While the characters are still quirky, their personalities are toned down a bit in this novel so at no point do they grate on your nerves (which happened a few times in Changeless).

The plot, while organic as per the other books in the series, feels a bit tighter in this book.  Carriger's writing, already good, has improved.

The only 'negative' I had was that the story is starting to feel like a soap opera.  Which can be fun, but can also go too far.  It's worked so far, I hope Carriger can keep the books from becoming farcical rather than pleasantly campy.

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