“Whimsical, witty, and brimming over with charm” (India Holton), Olivia Atwater’s delightful debut will transport you to a magical version of Regency England, where the only thing more meddlesome than a fairy is a marriage-minded mother!
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—an unfortunate condition that leaves her prone to accidental scandal. Dora hopes to be a quiet, sensible wallflower during the London Season—but when Elias Wilder, the strange, handsome, and utterly ill-mannered Lord Sorcier, discovers her condition, she is instead drawn into peculiar and dangerous faerie affairs.
If her reputation can survive both her curse and her sudden connection with the least-liked man in all high society, then she and her family may yet reclaim their normal place in the world. But the longer Dora spends with Elias, the more she begins to suspect that one may indeed fall in love even with only half a soul.
Blending Fantasy and Romance isn’t easy. It takes a lot of skill to strike that balance. Atwater takes the best of each genre, re-emphasizes those highlights, and leaves the faults. Popular Fae fantasy romances lack the craft, the depth, and the skill of great fantasy romance authors like Olivia Atwater. Where those authors dilute faerie stories into something lacking nuance, Atwater adds perspective to a spellbinding faerie romance. But more importantly, her skills left me feeling that the characters loved each other on such a level that I wanted them to embrace the madness they felt for each other. Love is a layered, spellbinding mystery in Half a Soul.
In an alternate Regency England, manners mix with magic. Theodora Ettings was cursed by a faerie with only half a soul as a young girl. Fear. Embarrassment. Love. Her curse gives her little sense of these things, leading to even more scandalous mishaps. When her cousin’s season starts, Dora enters the secluded, ignorant Ton. Within the shiny ballrooms, she meets the ill-mannered Lord Sorcier, the court magician. When citizens get struck by a magical sickness, Dora’s drawn into the world of faerie.
Atwater pulled me in with this prickly witch girl and the fascinating foul-mouthed, angelic magician who dances with her. Dora could have easily fallen into whimsical but she always maintained a very solid character. She would have been more boring as an over-exhausted whimsical character. Every author seems to make it a rule that faerie and whimsical heroine go together.
Dora’s got a great sense of humor. The deadpan wit in response to Elias’ demonic hatred for all things rich English people like is perfection. What makes their interactions and funny remarks so special is their neurodivergence. The way Elias and Dora react to the world is different. Dora’s uncertainty that she can’t love is relatable. Their mannerisms are very intimately familiar to me. But what I especially like is that two people society decided to dislike found comfort and sweetness in each other.
“I love that you are kind but almost never nice.” They are perfect to me. I wouldn’t change them. I’m enamored of their attitude that ‘everyone else is annoying, the only person I like is you.’
I’m very smitten with Olivia Atwater. She reminded me that the stereotype that we have an empathy gap isn’t true. That difference often makes us even more in touch with feelings and what makes for appropriate responses. Someone shouldn’t be unlikeable because their manners are different. What should be determined is their apathy for others.
Romance, although I love it, has many problems. One stems from historical romance–Regency historical romance. Bridgerton fans will be familiar with this phenomenon. This genre isn’t factual historical fiction. It is more like a potato chip version of historical fiction. Salty, delicious, crunchy. You get the idea. But it’s very out of touch, failing to be self-aware that ‘heroic’ aristocrats more likely encouraged the severe class distinctions, even as they practiced ‘Christian charity.’ Olivia Atwater’s Half a Soul smartly picks at that.
The smoky, sparkly prose of Olivia Atwater has put a lovely little curse on me. The pressing of a cigarette between lips, exhaling in a veil of smoke. Making twinkling stars for Dora. That scene where instead of being soft and quiet about it, he yells all the flowery things Dora wants to hear from him? I fucking loved that part.
Thank you to Orbit and Angela Man for providing an ARC for review.
Olivia Atwater joined our Common Room Conversation on Fantasy of Manners last year, talking writing and romance with C.L. Polk and Freya Marske!
