Name: Half a Soul (Regency Faerie Tales series #1)
Author: Olivia Atwater
Publisher: Orbit
Date published: June 2022
Genre: Fiction, adult, fantasy, romance, historical, fairy tales
Pages: 304
Rating: 5/5
It's difficult to find a husband in Regency England when you're a young lady with only half a soul.
Ever since she was cursed by a faerie, Theodora Ettings has had no sense of fear or embarrassment - a condition which makes her prone to accidental scandal. Dora hopes to be a quiet, sensible wallflower during the London Season - but when the strange, handsome and utterly uncouth Lord Sorcier discovers her condition, she is instead drawn into dangerous and peculiar faerie affairs.
If Dora's reputation can survive both her curse and her sudden connection with the least-liked man in all of high society, then she may yet reclaim her normal place in the world... but the longer Dora spends with Elias Wilder, the more she begins to suspect that one may indeed fall in love, even with only half a soul.
- From Goodreads.
This book was just utterly wonderful. It left me feeling so happy and overall was just such a joy to read. The idea for the story felt very unique and an interesting storyline to follow. I thought the fact that Dora had half her soul taken from her and this left her unable to feel emotions as strongly and to react like other people was written very well and felt very creative. I could still connect to Dora and found her to be very loveable and endearing. She was very complex and self aware and I loved following her development. I also loved her relationships with the other characters in the story. Her friendship with her cousin Vanessa was so heartwarming and it was so lovely to see two female characters so devoted to each other and who were such a good comfort to each other and could be such a good influence on each other.
I also really loved Dora's romance with the Lord Sorcier, Elias, the way the relationship between them changed and grew was done so well. I loved the affection they had for each other and how the dialogue between them was so charming and witty. I think they have definitely become one of my favourite fictional couples already.
Another character I loved was Elias' friend Albert, he was a wonderful part of the story and it was lovely to see him becoming friends with Dora and them helping and supporting each other.
I thought the book did a great job of showing all the different parts of society. Dora and Vanessa faced difficulties being women of their social class at that time, especially Dora who found herself a bit of an outcast when she could not behave the way she was expected to, but they also saw the hardships of people who lived different lives to them and I thought all the discussions around that in the story were well done. I also liked that there was an overall theme in the book that said that we might not be able to change all the bad in society all at once but you can keep doing your best to do something yourself and you can still make some positive difference.
I liked how magic was involved in the story. The descriptions of how Elias used magic were always so enjoyable to read and I also enjoyed the elements of faerie folklore that were in the book and how they were used, they made it very mysterious and enchanting.
Overall it really was a fantastic book. I loved every moment and will definitely read it again and read more from this author. I would recommend this book if you liked Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones or An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson.
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