This books grabbed me from the beginning and I read it in less than a day. It was a quick read, fast paced yet still beautifully written. I loved that there wasn't a lot of world building/info dumping about Faerie, in this story it just openly exists alongside our world and the reader (and characters) just gets on with the story.

It had some lovely side characters and the main couple were fun to read about, Elias is such a great grumpy character.

I will definitley be checking out the rest in this series.

My tiktok discussing this book will be uploaded two weeks prior to publication and I shall update with a link when it does.

Dora & her cousin attend society in London with the purpose of finding husbands but Vanessa is more intent on finding the unpredictable & bad tempered Lord Sorcier to see if he can help Dora after half of her soul was taken by an evil faerie lord.
A regency/faerie romance. It reads as YA although it wasn’t advertised as such. Not usually my sort of thing so I find it hard to rate although I did quite enjoy the story by the end - especially the revelation of the ‘sleeping plague’ & the portrayal of the differences between rich & poor in Regency England.
Thanks to NetGalley for an advance e-copy.

I really enjoyed this book and I’m excited that it seems to be a book in a series. I’d like to start by saying thank you for allowing me access to read this book.

It was unexpected how much I would love and hate some of the characters but I did. I wasn’t a fan of “the Hens” but I don’t think many readers would be. I loved Dora and I enjoyed the magical essence to this book and that rather than the character shy from it, magic seemed to be a norm in this story.

Elias was a fab character, just the right amount of rude and insulting to make his character enjoyable and even though Dora was half her self, she still showed compassion and love in spite of this.

There were some minor issues with the book. The use of the word “Auntie” was not for me. I think the word Aunt would be more fitting as the ladies were of high society so it seemed that Aunt would be an more appropriate word to be used when describing her character.

I would have liked more of a back story to Lord Hollowvale in the prologue. It seemed to jump straight into a magical aspect and I wasn’t expecting it so at first it seemed quite strange.

All in all, I loved the book and if the story follows on with Elias and Dora, I will most definitely read it.

There was something about this book that just screamed to me when I first heard about it. I do not know what it was, but I was convinced I was going to love it. Getting the ARC for it was truly a blessing as it not only proved my beliefs but exceeded my expectations. Half a Soul is a beautiful book filled with the perfect amount of magic, regency society and dark fae/faerie that no part of the core story threads felt like a second thought or under utilised. The characters are charming and unique, filled with their own little nuances and mannerisms that make them easily distinct from each other. This book has become my new favourite Young Adult book, and most certainly my comfort read for when I need to read something enjoyable and familiar. Whilst there are select moments with darker themes in the book, they are handled with care and do not feel overdone.

General Thoughts: I adore this book and wish I hadn't finished it so quickly as I already want to reread it.

WARNING: Possible Minor Spoilers Ahead

What I Liked:
- Dora as a protagonist. I feel quite spoilt in the last couple of books that I have read that have had interesting and compelling female leads, and Dora certainly takes up the torch. Despite her confusion with the world around her and emotions she should display, Dora is incredibly easy to understand and relate to as a character.
- Elias as the male lead/love interest. Elias might be my new favourite book man. He is the best version of the grumpy, powerful man who is actually soft under his hard shell. His interest in Dora are also incredibly believable and do not feel forced. His repour with Dora is incredibly enjoyable to read, their little jabs at each other always made me smile.
- Albert just being there. I love Albert. He is such a wonderful character and his friendship with Elias fills one of my favourite tropes, the Grumpy and Sunshine trope, but in a platonic friendship. I was a little worried at first that he was going to be a secondary love interest for Dora, however, I was pleasant surprised when it was made clear early on that he enjoys her company as a friend.
- The setting. For some reason, fiction books set in regency times have never really appealed to me, despite being a history graduate/major. However, this version of regency London was captivating and I actually found myself forgetting that this was set in England,
- The story as a whole. The storyline was superb. The premise is compelling to pull the reader in, and the story throughout kept me entranced.
- The faerie. With how much there is now regarding fae fantasy, I was pleased to see a story with wholly dark faes rather than a mix or just good faes.

What did not work for me:
- I wish it had been longer. Perhaps because I enjoyed it so much, I was so disappointed when I reached the end. I wanted there to be more, however, I understand that this was the story that Olivia Atwater wanted to tell and making it longer could have ruined the magic of this book.

I am looking forward to reading the other books in this series, despite my sadness that they won't be about Dora and Elias. Having had a digital review copy, I am now fighting with myself as to whether to go buy a physical copy or wait for my FairyLoot edition of the book to arrive in a few months!

| I will be posting this review on Goodreads two weeks before the release of Half a Soul as well as speaking about it on my TikTok and my instagram. All three platforms are under the same username @_thatbookwitch

Really, really adored this from start to finish. Like Bridgerton but with magic and faeries and more than a few shades of Howl’s moving castle.

Pacy and fun and charming. Some good clothes. Some excellent Austen-worthy satire. A real delight, I absolutely gulped it down.

4.5*

”“No one gives what they could, Albert!” Elias hissed. “Everyone gives what they please–and certainly not without plenty of self-congratulations for their miserly gestures. With one hand, they raise grain tariffs, muster soldiers and create the workhouses. With the other, they deign to save a few poor souls from the very hell they made. This country is mad. It’s rotten. It’s unthinkable, and none of you can see it.””


SUMMARY
Theodora Ettings is faerie-cursed. Noticeably so, with her mismatched eyes and dulled emotional repertoire that makes her prone to strangeness and consequently, scandal.

Finding a husband is the least of Dora’s worries but she dutifully accompanies her cousin, Vanessa, to London where the season is in full swing and Auntie Frances, Vanessa’s mother, is determined to find her sweet daughter a suitable match. But Vanessa has ulterior motives in mind, ones that concern Dora and her faerie-cursed, and she won’t be happy until the curse is broken.

OPINION
I’m actually really pleasantly surprised of just how much I loved this. It was so easy to immerse myself in the world of post-Napoleonic war England and the faerie realm that idolises British values.

Half A Soul is the kind of story that I never ever wanted to end. And Dora is the kind of heroine that teaches readers that even when we don’t feel whole, we are still worth having around.

It was so clever the way OA wrote about these values, portraying them as barbaric, in a way that makes me think ’how in the hell did people get away with that’, and describing the faeries as a monstrous and cruel sort, and yet making humans even more vicious whilst also highlighting their virtues.

I absolutely one hundred and ten percent want to read the sequels in this regency fairy tale series. I have already ordered the Fairyloot edition of Half A Soul and sincerely hope the sequels will match as a set!

RECOMMENDATION
Lovers of historical fiction that hold an element of fantasy are sure to love this.

Half a Soul

I received this book to read before it was published from NetGalley.

It is a slow burner, I do prefer my book to grab me immediately, however I persevered and the plot got better as the book progressed. Dora’s character is funny and Elias is completely lovable. I can imagine this one turning into a series.

This was a delight to read, the romance was sweet and beautiful, and the blend of Regency upper class culture and faerie story was perfectly done. I really fell in love with Dora, although it was due to her missing half a soul, her inability to react normally to people and to fit into society's rules of interaction felt incredibly relatable to someone with social anxiety, and so it was womderful to see her compassion and love grow throughout the story, despite her differences.

Some books just work. They set out to do a thing, and they accomplish the thing they set out to do so simply and completely that--even if you might find yourself inclined to pick nits in the assignment itself--you cannot find it in yourself to object to anything in the book's fulfillment of the assignment. This book was one of those things. Yes, fine, Regency romances as a class are subject to all sorts of easy criticisms: the historical accuracy is off; the dialogue is anachronistic; no one knew about germ theory so it makes no sense for your doctor character to be washing his hands so carefully; what about the problems of colonialism, empire, racism, sexism...? There are so many reasons to object to the set setting of a regency romance.

But I saw screw all that! If you accept that what you have in your hands is a Regency romance, then it's not fair to expect the author to fix all the social problems of the Regency period in one book. If we held them all to that standard, there wouldn't be space to tell any other story, let alone enjoy the pretty gowns. And then we wouldn't get books like this one.

This book is telling a wonderful other story, about a girl, Dora, who lost half her soul to a fairy bargain as a child, and as an adult is swept up by her loving cousin in a search for a cure, which happens to coincide with a love story. It's beautifully constructed. Everything is connected in one way or another, from the circumstances of the fairy bargain; to the backstory of her romantic interest, the Lord Sorcier; to our heroine's quest (well, more accurately her cousin's quest) to find a solution to her affliction; to the Lord Sorcier's quest to solve a mysterious plague; to the primary antagonist's plots and actions; to the emotional connections between the heroine, her cousin, the Lord Sorcier, the Lord Sorcier's best friend; to the social commentary (yes, there is some) that surrounds their actions. Even the last bits of tale told in the epilogue all fit in together beautifully with the main structure of the plot and themes about inequality and justice and kindness.

I also deeply enjoyed the character work. Because Dora has only half a soul, she is always slightly disconnected from the world. She doesn't experience immediate emotional reactions to things--although, as she says, her emotions have a 'long tail', so that after a while, upon reflection, she can burn with the same anger and resentment that might cause other people to explode on the spot, or feel the warmth of love and affection for her cousin that is one of the sweetest components of this book. (I do love true friendship between women, and this is a lovely one.) As the Lord Sorcier tells her at one point, she may have half a soul, but that doesn't make her half a person. And throughout the book, although we are told that her emotions and relationships and behavior are odd and bad and wrong, all of her actions and reactions show that she is, indeed, a full person, living what could be a full life if she were allowed to live it.

(There is, I think, a connection to be made to people on the autism spectrum, and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that: on the one hand, the character of Dora, her arc and decisions, are a lovely defense of her personhood; on the other hand, she is literally missing part of herself, which seems not great if you want to draw a connection to autism. But then again, as we learn more about how she feels and sees the world, her character seems to depart from what--as I understand it--the experience of many autistic people is. For example, she never feels ill at ease or awkward in the presence of other people, even her her behavior reads as wrong and bizarre. But since I am not on the spectrum myself, and have little experience or expertise in the matter, I will not comment further.)

One consequence of Dora's disconnection from the world is a dreaminess, a disregard for social convention unless she's consciously focusing on it, because she doesn't feel shame or embarrassment when she gets something wrong. Naturally, this makes her a bit of a social oddity, which comes with all the incumbent disadvantages of a Regency romance--if you can't attract a man to marry you then RUIN must follow! But it also makes for some hilarious conversations. I didn't realize until I read this book how much I like a viewpoint character who is (a) always self-possessed (because the emotional reactions never come until later) and (b) never ashamed to say what's on her mind and spill the beans about plots and ploys that she's not interested in furthering and (c) sufficiently self-aware to make use of convention to her advantage when she cares to do it. I quite enjoy the scenes where Dora lies freely and easily, because--remember--she never feels shame. (This is also another source of thematic convention to the rest of the plot architecture, because fairies cannot lie.)

Because of this disconnection, the developing romance between Dora and the Lord Sorcier is very satisfying. We get none of the shyness, fumbling, uneasiness of burgeoning love (at least, we don't get it from Dora; the Lord Sorcier presumably feels his share of things). She says what's on her mind. She talks about her feelings like a goddamn adult and she's never once afraid of it. It's great!

This book was everything I wanted it to be. It fulfilled the assignment perfectly. It was the perfect instantiation of what it set out to be.

NB: I received an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley. Inasmuch as I can be sure of such things, I believe that this has not affected the content of my review.

Thank you so much Little, Brown Book Group U.K. and NetGalley for the arc of Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater in return for my honest and unbiased review.

I can truthfully say that once I started reading this book I literally couldn’t put it down. The premise of the story is regency romance with a twist of faerie, but the plot is definitely a step above the average and it worked brilliantly with a pace and definite touch of humour and wit.

Dora, is a unique and strong character who faces each every challenge with a combination of fatalism and wit, but she never ducks a challenge, in patience Elias, who I totally adore!

This book was a joyous escape from the real world and if you’re looking for an escape into another time and world, definitely pick this one up!

Half a Soul is a mix between fantasy and historical romance, an interesting mixture that drew me into the book. The characters, especially Dora, were entertaining and endearing, although I think there was something in the writing that I didn't really connect to that didn't make me connect to the characters as well? In some areas, they felt a little inconsistent, especially with the character of Elias and the romance.

The romance felt bland, to be honest. I wasn't attached to them, although I did enjoy the banter between Elias and Dora. The pacing of this book could have been better, and the world felt a little vague and lazy.

Still, there were a lot of good aspects to this book. Dora and the missing soul were intriguing and I liked the concept behind it. I don't know if I'll be picking up other books from the author though.

I received this book as an arc through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I literally couldn’t put this down - I loved the plot from the start and it just got better as the book progressed. As much as I loved the witty banter from Dora, I totally fell in love with Elias. I hope there will be more books set with these characters as I can see further story lines in both the past and future.

If you love the faerie/magical/historical/romance settings in your reads this is a definite must for you.

I loved the concept of a debt taken through the soul, however the dialogue was a bit clunky at the start.
I'm glad to report that the rest of the book did have witty banter and a few moments that made me crack up out loud so it's a good thing that the book finds its standing a bit further on. I also really enjoyed the character development through the book- it's rare that you get an excellent fantasy plot with excellent characters and this book managed both.
4 stars.

I received a copy of this book for a free and unbiased opinion.

I enjoyed this romantic fantasy- Half a Soul by Olvia Atwater was a lovely and entertaining read.
The book is told from the point of view of Theodora or Dora who has been cursed by the faeries as a child and now has half a soul. Dora no longer feels the same way or reacts the same way as other people which is not a good thing in Regency England. So, when the Lord Magician Elias offers to help her she accepts despite him being incredibly rude but she doesn’t expect to fall in love with him.
The book has everything you expect from this genre- a feisty, brave yet flawed heroine, an attractive yet flawed love interest, strong emotions between the two and a lovely happy ending. The addition of faeries and magic add an additional layer to what could have been a simple love story. But the subplot of poverty, workhouses, and the differences between the rich and the poor makes this stand out from other romances in my opinion and the author doesn’t hold back in her descriptions of this.
The magical system isn’t particularly unique but is it well described and fits well with the story.
The book didn’t set my imagination on fire but I did love reading it and would recommend this to anyone who wants a fun and entertaining read.
Content warning
Emotional abuse to children, child neglect.
Perfect for fans of
Anyone who loves romance with a happily ever after or romances set in Regency times.

Really great read, Julia Quinn meets J K Rowling and the results are a very hard to put down book. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and will definitely be seeking out other books by this author.

I admit I have not read a book set in the regency era since Temeraire by Naomi Novik, which hardly counts since it’s centred around dragons. I think I would’ve had some trouble with certain terms if I had not watched Bridgerton. Small complication, but hardly bothersome in the large scheme.
The pacing was perfect and consistent, and though predictable, the plot was well thought-out and kept the story moving. The balance of romance, political and societal issues was nice to see, and Dora’s consequential development even more so.
Highly recommend; I personally haven’t found a historical fiction I particularly enjoy, but this is a new favourite. 300 pages too, so managed to fit it into one sitting.

I have to say, first and foremost, that i loved this book.

If I could leave the review there, I would, but alas, more is always needed. If you are a fan of a regency novel, you will enjoy this, but if you want the added appearance of magic and a woman who says exactly what most of us female readers are thinking, then this is the book you need.

I loved Dora, she is what I imagine myself being if I was in most of those situations. She is complex but not silly, and doesn't make any silly decisions to fit in with the story line.

I have to admit I would hope for more of her.

A very quick and easy to read novel, I loved the main character and the side characters were interesting. I think people who love light magic systems/fantasy will really enjoy this.

At a young age, Dora Ettering encounters a fairy in woods behind her house. Not only does this high fae know all about her, he manages to steal half her soul,. This leaves Dora unable to feel much emotion , embarrassment or feel for how to behave appropriately - a problem if you are regency England and need to avoid scandals, lest you become a ruined woman. But what if someone could put both half of your souls together again? And what if the only person capable of doing it is the rudest and most controversial man in society?

I really, really enjoyed Half A Soul from the first line to the last. It’s charming, witty and whimsical and I struggled to put it down. Dora definitely gave me Eloise Bridgerton vibes and I loved her for it. It was just the lighthearted, entertaining read I needed.

Perfect for fans of Bridgerton, historical fiction, fantasy and romance (especially those who love a grumpy vs sunshine trope). Half A Soul manages to combine all these genres in a real page turner of a read. I will definitely be back for more from this author.

Thank you to Olivia Atwater, Little, Brown Book Group and NetGalley for the opportunity to review an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

A charming, humorous and utterly delightful novel, with an enchanting (literally) take on regency society. I think Georgette Heyer herself would enjoy this one. First class.

Since her early encounter with the fae, Dora's behaviour is somewhat unpredictable. This often gets her into unwitting trouble, and her strangeness is an embarrassment to her family. However, she bumps into the Regent's sorciere, who finds there a puzzle, but which may be beyond his powers to solve.