Book Review: Changeless (Parasol Protectorate 2) by Gail Carriger

Changeless (Parasol Protectorate 2)
by Gail Carriger

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/531668810?book_show_action=false

Recommended for: Fans of Victorian Literature, Steampunk, Gail Carriger, restorative tea :)

Read from December 24, 2014 to January 09, 2015 — I own a copy

Changeless by GailCarriger, second installment in the Parasol Protectorate Series, was another enjoyable romp through Carriger's Victorian Supernatural Steampunk world. And this time, we even escaped London to enjoy some of the Scottish Highlands! And as a huge Outlander fan, I canna complain about more time spent there!

I will say that I liked this book ever-so-slightly less than Soulless, but I think that is a fairly natural reaction to a series: books in the middle are tricky because there purpose for existence is merely to create new complications for following books, and nothing is ever as fresh as the first book in a new series. However, even with that said, this was still a solid 4-star book that I enjoyed thoroughly.

I definitely enjoyed the involvement of Madame Genevieve Lefoux. I enjoyed her precocious manipulations in the Finishing School Series, so I was very happy to have her back in these books. And I am curious to see whether or not Alexia might follow in her father's experimental footsteps - that would be quite salacious!

I do wonder why Carriger choose to bring Felicity, Alexia's half-sister, along for the adventures in Scotland - I cannot quite figure out her purpose, yet. But maybe that will reveal itself more thoroughly in the upcoming installments.

And I wonder what sort of ramifications will develop from the ultimate decision of Miss Ivy Hisslepenny and the claviger Tunstell. Will that decision cause future consequences, too? And what of the outcome with Sidheag? How will that complicate Alexia's future? Hmmmm...

And of course, the ending! I cannot say much for fear of spoiling it, but I was shocked and intrigued by how it all wrapped up in the end. That will have major ramifications, to be sure.

I will say, however, that I found it very out-of-character for Alexia to just give up and accept that fate - she is so strong-willed; I would have expected her to put up more of a fight. But shock can cause drastic numbing effects, so maybe the fight will come up in the third book.

I am looking forward to getting into Blameless right away. I have so many questions that I want to have answered, and there are so many loose ends, that I want to jump right in before I forget any of them. Plus the description on the back of the book says that Alexia will be traveling to Italy, and Io amo l'Italia

I am very much enjoying this series, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys an intriguing plot, complicated characters, and brilliant banter.