Half A Soul by Olivia Atwater – Review

Published: June 28, 2022 (paperback)

Publisher: Orbit Books

Series: Regency Faerie Tales #1

Genre: Fantasy, Romance

Pages: 304 (Paperback)

My Rating: 4.5/5.0

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:
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.

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The Regency romance with fairies that I’ve always needed in my life. This was so much fun I read it in a single sitting. I mean, I was trapped on a plane at the time but I had a Kindle full of other books and there was no way I was putting this one down. It was addictive and delightful and the romance made my heart sing!

Theodora Ettings, or Dora as she prefers to be called, is not your average young lady as she only has half a soul thanks to a spiteful faerie lord ripping part of it out when she was a child. This has resulted in Dora having an unusually cool head in all situations and well, let’s just say she’s not easily offended because she doesn’t feel too much of anything. When her lovely cousin dashes off to London for the season Dora comes along as her steadfast and loyal friend, not planning to ever find someone to marry. Until of course she comes across the Lord Sorcier, Elias Wilder who’s rude and brash, but who has a shockingly pure, good heart underneath it all and Dora finds that perhaps she could love someone after all.

For me, this was the perfect mix of fantasy and romance without being predictable. Dora isn’t a swooning heroine to be swept off her feet at the first sight of a handsome man. She’s quite unusual compared to the other ladies because she’s simply unflappable, though Dora recognizes that perhaps sometimes she should be offended or upset. The Lord Sorcier, Elias Wilder, is a man well known to be of unpleasant temperament to the lords and ladies he’s forced to socialize amongst. He’s actually a wonderful, caring man who works himself far too hard and on too little sleep in an effort to improve the lives of those society has forgotten. His dearest friend, Albert (a doctor), is the third son of a noble family who served with Elias during the war and he and his family now run orphanages. All in all, the main cast of characters are wonderfully good people even if Elias is prickly most of the time. 

This was a cozy, comfortable read with fairly low stakes and a nice, clean romance. This would be entirely appropriate for younger teen readers since there isn’t any graphic/smutty content, but the appeal is there for any fan of wholesome romance stories! I can’t wait to pick up the second book, Ten Thousand Stitches, which features a new main character and the return of at least one character who made a brief appearance in Half A Soul.