Half a Soul (Regency Faerie Tales, 1)

Very light reading, with energetic characters.

I cannot wait for "The Lord Sorcier"
I had been out of reading for a while but I must admit this had me sucked back into reading.
It turns out to be a sweet type of romance.
❤️

Half a Soul was such an adorable read!

Theodora “Dora” is the main character and POV of this book, and at a young age half of her soul was taken by a faerie, but not before her cousin Vanessa is able to stab and injure the faerie with iron embroidery scissors. This has caused her to not feel her emotions the way others can, and sometimes she has difficulty knowing how to respond to certain situations. She carries these scissors around under her clothes for extra protection.

At the age of 19, Her Auntie Frances, Vanessa, and herself travel to the city of London during courting season, so that Vanessa may find herself a husband. Vanessa only wants to meet Lord Sorcier, who is a grumpy magician, because she believes he can help Dora be cured of her curse. Dora befriends Lord Sorcier “Elias” and his friend Albert to aid them in their search of the cure of the “sleeping plague” that has spread throughout dozens of children in the city and gives Elias information regarding her curse.

This book had me smiling and laughing the entire time I was reading it! The character growth of Dora throughout the story was so great to see, and I loved her objectivity due to the repression of her emotions to scenes that occur and also being able to reflect on how she ought to be feeling/believes that she does feel in the book. The relationship between Dora and Elias was so good. Dora is able to call out Elias on how he treats others, and Elias reminds Dora that she is a person regardless of how many emotions she has. I think two of my favorite parts of the book were when Dora and Elias dance all night at the ball and when Elias proposed to her.

✨ she only has half a soul, odd, but full of heart + wit
✨ a deliciously frustrating grumpy magician
✨ regency era england
✨ pride & prejudice meets howl’s moving castle
✨ cozy fantasy
✨ witty + charming
✨ light faerie lore
✨ under 300 pages

Half a Soul is a cozy work of fantasy full of charm, delightful characters, faerie trickery, swoon-worthy romance, and a touch of mystery. I did not expect to fall in love with this story and its characters! It's charming and witty, and I found myself smiling and swooning and dare I say Dora and Elias gave me DracoHermione vibes?

Simply said, it was enjoyable and whimsy throughout, and it never failed to enchant me from beginning to end. I will definitely continue reading the Regency Faerie Tales series. If you enjoyed Legends & Lattes, this is just as cozy and feel-good.

This book gave me every single thing I asked of it and then some. I sat smiling like a goofball multiple times while reading this. Atwater’s writing is as smart as it is whimsical and warm. The Pride and Prejudice vibes were perfect...utterly perfect. The romance was fluffy, the banter was witty and the faeries were bonkers.

Theodora Ettings has situated herself among my all-time favorites. She’s funny and lovable, and despite her affliction of being half-souled, is entirely relatable for all the best reasons.

I’m afraid if I write much more I will inadvertently give spoilers. That said, this book will now reside in the section of my personal library where comfort reads are lovingly kept.

This was a unique and whimsical read. The series name is truly fitting because this book had the charm of a fairy tale.

Similar to that, this book also read different for me in the sense that if it's a retelling I wouldn't be able to tell because this story was so incredibly unique.

I loved the details and descriptions in this book and although I had my minor issues with the novel it was an enjoyable read overall.

I hadn't realised it prior to reading this book, but Historical Fantasy might be one of the most amazing genres ever. I loved every second of this book. First and foremost, I loved the dynamics between Dora and Elias. They were simply superb together.

I also loved the way in which the reader is invited to slowly fall in love with Elias, to the point that you cannot help but swoon every time he appears. The romance is very clean, but oh my, it made my heart flutter. The story truly feels like a fairytale.

I cannot wait to read more by this author!

I have loved Regency Romances since I first found Heyer. I love fairy tales.
This may not be everyone’s cuppa, but I was entranced.

Very enjoyable read!

Likes

The plot: This isn’t a spoiler, since it’s literally in the title, in the description and happens in the very first chapter. But, Dora only has half a soul, after her emotive half is stolen by a Faerie. I loved how the plot wasn’t driven by the vengeance to get it back, for that wouldn’t match the personality that Dora was left with. Instead, we follow her journey to help her cousin get married and then get swept up into several seemingly minor plot threads that then all come together. It’s glorious.

Dora’s presentation: The way Dora was written was so fascinating. I can’t imagine trying to write a character who literally couldn’t feel, nor express, intense emotions, and doing it as well as Atwater does here. Especially in a romance. I loved her from the start.

Romance: It was so pure.

Wit and humor: Particularly, I fell in love with Dora’s wit and humor. It complimented so well with Lord Sorcier’s, rebelled against the expectations of society (and her horrid Aunt) and endeared her to me even more.

Dislikes

I cannot think of a thing. I absolutely adored this book.

Honestly, when a book mentioned that it deals with anything from Faerie, I’m usually not much interested in it. Why? Beats me, but it’s not my jam. I am so glad that I ignored that with Half a Soul. I literally read this book in a manner of hours. It’s so wonderfully written, so pure in its delivery and tone, so light and whimsical; all things that go against the dark angst and themes that I usually gravitate towards. Yet, it didn’t take away my love at all, but instead, expanded it.

What a truly wonderful read. I am positively itching to read more from this series!