Half a Soul

Half a Soul
by Olivia Atwater
Rating: ★★★
isbn: 9780356518763
Publication Date: June 28, 2022
Pages: 280
Genre: Fantasy, Fiction
Publisher: Orbit

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.

A reading friend read this recently and called it a sweet, cozy read and my local library had a copy so I thought, why not?

It’s definitely sweet, but I might call it closer to YA than cozy.  I’m not sure I can explain why though – maybe because of the strong fairy tale parallels?  Either way, Atwater is a solid writer who definitely has a moral to share in this story – one that comes across strong, and almost heavy handedly, to this reader, but might be right on target for younger, or less cynical – or more passionate – readers.  For me, the message was better shared in the author’s Afterword, when she tells the story about the little girl on the beach, throwing all the struggling, beached, fish back into the sea.  (For those that haven’t heard it: a man approaches the little girl and asks her why she bothers, the fish are going to die, it doesn’t matter; to which she replies “it matters to this one”.)

I struggle with nasty, mean characters that don’t end up the centre of a murder investigation by the end of the book, so I struggled with the Aunt’s treatment of Dora; treatment she faced no consequences for.  I enjoyed the strong friendships though, and the satire of the British ton that was faire land was acerbic.

All in all it was a light read strongly focused on kindness.