This was different, a little strange but readable! Not what I expected either. Not sure I will pick up the next one when it come out :/

This book was such a charming and entertaining read! I'm not usually a fan of romance based books, nor contemporary or historical fiction, but by mixing in faeries and magic the author managed to snare my attention from the beginning and did not let it go. I'm excited to read more by this author!

This is being described as 'Howl's Moving Castle' meets 'Bridgerton' and once I heard that I knew I had to read it!

Half a Soul is, quintessentially, a Regency fairytale. You have all the trappings of a splendid historical romance novel - the balls, the focus on manners and marriage, only with the addition of magic, the Fae and a whole other Faerie Realm. Atwater did a good job of melding these two worlds seamlessly and I enjoyed seeing just how outraged and scandalous high society was by the mere mention of magic.

The story centres on Dora, who is Fae-Cursed, only having half a soul which makes her emotions diluted. She feels things but only vaguely. It also gives her mismatched eyes and a tendency to act 'weirdly', much to the chagrin of her Aunt who takes care of her. She is constantly put down for being different and is treated as a nuisance. You really feel for Dora right from the start, she tries so hard to act normal but is constantly criticised by everyone else.

I would have loved the relationships to be a bit more fleshed out but I did like the growing friendship between Dora and Albert, and also Albert and Elias. Elias was an intriguing love interest, one who is outwardly very short and unfriendly, but very caring once he opens up to you. I did like seeing how Dora slowly brought him out of his shell and helped to ease his suffering.

My main issue with this book is the epilogue. I won't go into detail because I don't wish to spoil anyone but it did leave me feeling a bit conflicted and almost wishing I hadn't read it.

Ignoring the epilogue though I felt this was a wonderful fantasy and a nice introduction to Regency novels. I'm definitely looking forward to the next book in the series, and hopefully we'll see more of the Faerie world in that one!

‚Theodora Eloisa Charity Ettings was a very long name for a very small girl.‘

And with this sentence starts Dora‘s whimsical journey from meeting a faerie (and having half her soul stolen from him), to searching for a husband in London (only in pretense of course, to please the hens) to finding her unexpected great love in a grumpy man (who in his defense has his heart in the right place).

Dora‘s story is a magical one and definitely one to read when you need a bit of it 🪄

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review!

Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater centres around Theodora Ettings, faerie cursed at a young age and now unable to feel strong emotions. While in London to help her cousin find a husband, Dora meets Lord Elias Wilder, magician to the Crown and not very well liked. Always up for a challenge, Elias sets himself upon fixing Dora’s curse but along the way they get caught up in a mysterious illness and the politics of the ton. The longer Dora is in London, the more she begins to realise that her faerie curse doesn’t have to stop her living the life she wants
I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for a review and I’m so glad I picked it. I had very high hopes since it was compared to Howl’s Moving Castle, one of my favourite books and movies, and it did not disappoint. The main character, Dora, is numbed since an encounter with a faerie at a young age left her with only half a soul. I was a bit worried that this would make for a rather dull protagonist, but it was the absolute opposite. Dora is so endearing, intelligent and witty. Her progression throughout the book is subtle and very well done. It’s really interesting to see things from her point of view and see how pointless a lot of our formalities truly are.
The rest of the characters were as well created as Dora. While they didn’t get as much time since they weren’t the main character, they were still really fleshed out. I really enjoyed Elias’s character and how antagonistic he was. I always have a soft spot for the gruff exterior, soft interior type. Albert was a wonderful companion, I loved watching him and Dora bond over neither of them fitting in with the ton. Even the families of the side characters were so well fleshed out. Albert’s mother was a particular favourite of mine! The ‘bad’ characters were as interesting as the good ones, but my favourite part was the understanding that most people fall somewhere in the middle. It made for such complex characters with convincing motives.
The story itself was also even more interesting than I had anticipated. I went into it expecting a romance story and got so much more. The little bit of family politics we get builds an incredibly rich world. This is also the case for the faerie lore. It’s not very detail dense, which is a pet peeve of mine in fantasy. Instead, the little tid bits we get here and there are just enough to keep the world expanding but not so much that it’s overwhelming and hard to follow. I don’t want to give too much away about the story, but it involves magic, sleeping plagues, and many Regency balls. My one complaint is I wanted more. I wished this book was much longer than it was or that there was a sequel with the same characters. I enjoyed the ending but definitely felt there could have been potential for more books with Dora in them if it had been changed slightly.

Overall, I’m so glad to have read this book, particularly for a debut novel. There was such impressive and detailed world building for such a short book. It had a really entertaining story, loveable characters and a wonderful message that we don’t need to change who we are to make the most of our lives. I’m so relieved to see there’ll be more in the same world, even if not with the same characters. I’m very grateful to have been introduced to historical romance fantasy novels, a genre I certainly will be reading much more of. Most of all, I’m so excited to see what else Olivia Atwater comes up with, because I couldn’t have been more impressed with this book.

Thank you NetGalley and the author for the digital ARC!

3.5 stars overall.

The book had a unique magic system and concept, and I had high hopes for the Regency romance setting. Mixed in with quintessentially dark Fae, I had very high hopes for the book.
I did enjoy that the book explored themes relevant to society both in the regency era, and today, but I thought the book overall had a slightly childish feel to it, and I struggled to feel invested enough in the story to finish it. The plot thinned out and felt overly simplified, and I was left struggling to engage with it. The characters also seemed to be one-dimensional and underdeveloped, with inconsistencies in the way the behaved woven in purely at the whim of the plot, which made it hard to really understand why the half-a-soul conflict mattered at all at times.

There were several inconsistencies with the editing and word choices - not bad enough for me to want to hurl my kindle across the room, but enough for me to put it down in frustration a few times. The linguistic choices were inconsistent with the country the author chose to set the book in, which took away from the reading experience.
I will say the romance was very cute, and worth rooting for, and was clean enough for YA and non-smut favouring readers.

I'd recommend this book to readers who love reading romance, but not necessarily to those who enjoy more mature books, or those with plots that will hook you in and keep you engaged from start to end.
Overall, I think I will read the next book in the series, but it may not hit the top of my TBR for a while.

When reading the blurb for this book, it sounded right up my street. I love fantastic and historical fiction and I wish that more books crossed the two genres in the way that this book did.

I've been in a bit of a reading slump and it's safe to say that this book helped me out of it! I found myself completely sucked in and I loved every second.

Atwater did a great job of making me invested in the characters. I might be a little bit in love with Elias so I'll definitely have to read more in this series!

I would definitely give this book a shot if you love magic and romance. It's such a lovely read :)

This is a fresh take on Regency romance, incorporating sorcery, elves, and two main characters directly affected by both. Dora and Elias don’t fit into the world of the ton and its social events, and their outspokenness and actions shine an uncomfortable light on the mores and shallowness of many of their contemporaries. Dora is layered, flawed and extremely interesting in the ways she tries to understand herself, and Elias is quite delightfully grumpy. The supporting cast is also well-rounded and varied, although the faerie world part felt a tiny bit flat and rushed. Solid four star read, and I’m interested in reading more from this world.

What a brilliant idea! To combine regency era with fantasy. Bridgerton vibes meets faerie magic. Perfect!

It really worked and made for one hell of an interesting story. I loved the plot and the whole premise of it, and it was so different and really enjoyable.

Dora, who takes centre stage here, was left never quite whole after an unfortunate encounter with one Lord Hallowvale when she was a child. This encounter resulted in her loosing half of her soul, and with that, her ability to feel certain emotions. This is certainly not a good occurrence when you are expected to make an impression in the fashionable societies of the time, where meeting a suitable marriage is the ultimate goal to strive for.

I found myself really loving Dora’s character, along with Elias, the dashing Lord Sorcier which made for such a fab story. Throw in a bit of magic, a mysterious sleeping sickness and the wickedness of fairies and I was hooked! I’ll certainly be reading more from this author now and I can’t wait to see what other stories follow on from this.

Orphans and embroidery scissors

This was a lovely bit of light escapism, just when I needed it.

Half a Soul is set in an alternate Regency London, where our heroine, Dora is up for her cousin Vanessa’s Season. Dora had the emotional side of her soul stolen by an elf when she was just a child, which left her to live her life with no inconvenient emotions, but with the common-sense, literal side of her soul. Her aunt and the society ladies feel that this makes her a bit of an embarrassment.

When she encounters Lord Sorcier Elias, she finds someone else who is as out of step with the world as she is – he is brusque and rude, and has no time for the conventions and hypocrisies of polite society. She joins him in helping his friend investigate the mysterious sleeping plague that is affecting workhouse children. Can they discover what is going on before it’s too late? And what connects Dora, Elias and these children?

The embroidery scissors are, by the way, vitally important to the plot.

A bit of a cross between the darkness of the goblin market and a classic Regency romance, I thoroughly enjoyed this, and I have now bought the next two in the series. If you sign up to Olivia Atwater’s newsletter there are a couple of free novellas too. The Lord Sorcier which tells the story of how Elias gained his title, and The Latch Key, set some years later. Definitely worth downloading.

I loved this book so much! Pride and Prejudice meets Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell- doesn't sound like it would work, but it does, and spectacularly well. Dora had half her soul stolen by a Faerie Lord when she was younger, and struggles to feel any emotions. She carries upon her a pair of iron scissors for protection against any further faerie attacks and soon learns upon meeting the Kings magician, the Lord Sorcier, that she has powers of divination which other humans don't. We are whisked through a world of sparkling balls, high society and good manners but with a constant dark threat looming over Dora if she can't recapture the lost half of her soul its a race against time. A sleeping plague is also spreading through children in workhouses, who Dora and the Lord Sorcier are desperate to save. This story far exceeded my expectations and I loved every second of it and am delighted there are two more to read in the series!
I was given a copy of the book by NetGalley in exchange for this honest review.

Thank you so much for allowing me to read the E-ARC Of Half a Soul

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It's whimsical meets bridgerton.
It transports you into another land where you can forget your real life worries.
The writing style is great and it's fantastically written.
Dora is so blissfully unaware of how great she is.
I just enjoyed this story.

Bridgerton with added magic and faeries. I found this story fun, enjoyable and kept me engaged.
Were the characters real and relatable? No! But, that’s the point. This is a work of fiction, with fantasy thrown in. I wouldn’t know how to relate to someone with half a soul (although I totally related to some of her thoughts and feelings) or a faery sorcerer, or a world with magic in it. But, it was fun and I adore the world it’s set in.
The story is set in Regency England (think Bridgerton). One day Dora is out playing, wanting to cross rivers and climb trees. She meets an evil faery who claims her mother sold Dora’s soul to him. He begins to take his “payment” when Dora’s cousin Vanessa comes to the rescue. The evil Lord Hallowvale only received half his payment. That’s how Dora grows up, with half a soul.
The girls grow up and it is becoming time to get them married off. They travel to London with Dora’s aunt, Vanessa’s mother. This is when the story truly begins and we are thrown into balls and courting.
I recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy and magic. Do not go into this book expecting true to life historical moments. This is a work of fiction, enjoy the ride. Fall in love with the characters. Enjoy the telling of a fantastic fairy tale.

I loved this book. A mixture of regency romance and fantasy - what more could you want. Theodora is a feisty heroine who with half a soul does not always behave or speak in the way she is expected and Elias , the Lord Sorcier, is the perfect brooding foil for her. The book was a light read and I couldn’t put it down. The characters were engaging and the fae element not overwhelming. Go on give yourself a treat and read this book. I’m looking forward to more in this series. Thank you NetGalley, Little Brown Book UK and the author for the ARC of this novel in return for an honest review.

Olivia Atwater has made me a historical fantasy fan! This was such a clever, unputdownable book with charming (and not so charming) characters throughout. Tell me you don’t love a grouchy sorcerer becoming more sweet and playful only with the woman he falls in love with. It’s definitely my weak spot! The relationship between Dora and Elias was everything - they’re both complex characters shunned by society and dealing with their own grief but together they are fiery and warm. All social norms are thrown out the window with these two, with midnight scrying rendezvous in their nightclothes and all sorts. Whenever I put the book down (out of necessity, I assure you) I couldn’t stop thinking about it, itching to pick it back up and read more.

The fae wasn’t a large element of the book, despite Dora’s missing soul being a result of the unfortunate encounter with a fae lord, but there was plenty of other mystery and magic. This book threw together romance, fantasy, mystery and historical fiction all in one delightful bundle - a combination I definitely need more of! I’m disappointed there won’t be more Dora and Elias in the future.

HALF A SOUL is the first book in the Regency Faerie Tales and I honestly can't wait to read more. This was a gentle story with some harsh life lessons for our main character when she learns what war and workhouses are really like in a world where magic exists.

She -- Dora -- sees life through a slightly skewed lens as it is, being as a Faerie Lord stole half her soul when she was only a child. Since then, she struggles to feel emotions, apart from "long-tailed ones". Her cousin, Vanessa, is the only warmth in her life and she will do all she can to please her. This includes going to London, although Dora isn't sure if she is going to help Vanessa's chances of finding a husband, or if she is going because of Vanessa's scheme to cure Dora. Either way, they end up in London, with the ton, and Dora has her own adventures whilst Vanessa is at the mercy of the matchmaking mothers.

I found Dora to be a heart-warming character who is aware of her own 'strangeness' but tries her best to fit in to please her cousin. I loved how she was truthful and direct, in a time when it was not fashionable to be so. Elias was the perfect foil for her. She didn't accept his rudeness or be put off by his temper, simply because she wasn't affected by it. Albert, and his mother, Lady Caraway, were jewels in this book and I loved every scene they were in. I was so happy for him!

Rightly or wrongly, I enjoy historical fiction as it is written. I have no idea if the dip of the neckline or the length of the hem is one hundred per cent accurate, and I don't really care. And if it is historically incorrect, so what? So long as the story fits together, and the inconsistencies remain the same throughout (now there's an oxymoron for you), that's all that concerns me.

I loved this story as it guided me along, all coming together nicely at the end. The epilogue was perfect. I sincerely hope to see more of this couple in future books. A fantastic start to a new series by a new-to-me author and absolutely recommended!

** same worded review will appear elsewhere **

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!

This book was described as Bridgerton meets Howl’s Moving Castle and it did not disappoint. This is exactly what I needed to get my much need fill of Regency romance but with a fun fantasy twist.

The story follows Dora as she navigates Regency England’s marriage market, all whilst trying to restore the half of her soul that a Fae Lord stole and assist the Lord Sorcier with curing a magical plague.

Overall, this book was fun and whimsical! I greatly enjoyed the plot, although the romance plot was a little predictable.
I hadn’t previously read anything from Olivia Atwater, but having finished this book I’m really looking forward to reading the rest of the series! If you’re a fan of historical fiction, fantasy and romance then this is the book for you.

I received this ebook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What I was looking for: This book has popped up on my social media continuously over the last few years, so I wanted to see what it was about.

Conclusion: Half A Soul is a well-written, engaging Regency fantasy romance. I found myself drawn into the story, not least by Olivia Atwater’s good writing style. I expected a light, quick read and that is what I got. Despite Dora being restrained in expressing her feelings, I did feel for and with her and I was rooting for her to finding her place (and love, obviously). The male love interested was another brooding, outwardly unfriendly but actually deeply caring, war-scared man. It has been done and unfortunately, most of the characters weren’t well fleshed-out (and the main antagonist was rather comically exaggerated). The fairy elements were well done and I liked this twist. And I enjoyed the banter between Dora and Elias.
My favourite part of the story was definitely the relationship between Albert and Elias, followed by Miss Jennings and her story.
Unfortunately, for me there were some shortcomings.

*SPOILER AHEAD*

In the earlier part of the story, I was quite confused by the episode of her washing her dress in a (nearly) public fountain. I get that she is socially awkward and “does not know how to behave” but I cannot understand how even she would think it a good idea to undress in the garden of a party to wash her stained dress. Apart from the social and societal impropriety, it is strictly unpractical. How would she be able to put a soaking wet dress back on? How did she think to walk around soaking wet? Also, how did she think that would remove the stain if washing it in the bathroom hadn’t helped? This episode puzzled me that much, it made me lose my grip on the story.
The second episode that made me feel uncomfortable was the arrogant way Dora thinks about Vanessa after having visited the workhouse. After all, she herself never ever thought about people in the workhouses until she had been to one but now she looks down upon her cousin for caring more for her than for strangers she has never met. The way she talks and thinks about her cousin is very unfriendly and I did not care for it at all. On the whole, the story very heavy handedly wants to teach about compassion. A good cause, but it could had been done much more subtle.

*SPOILER FOR THE ENDING*
Lastly, my biggest issue with this book is in the ending, especially the last few sentences of the epilogue. I cannot understand why they would decide to leave England and live in Faery at all but the implying that Dora gets “healed” – after Elias so convincingly said that he loves her the way she is, with only half a soul, i.e. her difficulty in expressing her feeling and picking up on social cues (which can easily be read as being neurodivergent), after she herself decided against having a “whole” soul but remaining the way she was most of her life. I do not understand why this had to happen at all. And on top of that, it does negate so many of the good things and implies once again, that one needs to be “cured”.

*SPOILER END*

I realise it does sound like I did not enjoy myself while reading the book which is not the case. It ust wasn’t as great as I had hoped after the first few pages. Apparently, this is pitched as Pride & Prejudice meets Howl’s Moving Castle – I say apparently because to me, this did not give of any of those vibes. At all. I think it is a bit of a stretch comparing the storylines or characters of either of these books to Half A Soul except in very broad strokes.

Thank you to Little, Brown Book Group UK & NetGalley for the gifted copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Fantasy & Historical Romance are two of my favourite genres, so when I read this book’s synopsis, I knew I had to read it!

The main character, Dora, is quirky & likeable. She has been fairy-touched as a child, losing half her soul to the fairy marquis her mother made a bargain with before her birth. Elias, the Lord Sorcier & male lead, is charmingly grumpy & speaks his mind, much to the dismay of the ton at large.

I really enjoyed the story, especially the last few chapters! Who doesn’t love a happy ending? I especially loved the epilogue as I’m fond of clear endings leaving no uncertainty about our characters’ fate.

Also, be sure to read the author’s afterword. For anyone who tries to help right a tiny bit of the wrongs in the world, this will surely touch your heart.

I’m looking forward to reading the other books by Olivia Atwater!

I had no idea I needed this book until I read it. A regency book full of glamour and balls with faeries?!
This book is very fast paced but so much fun to read.
I loved following Dora and her lack of visual emotions due to half a soul, I felt oddly connected to her due to this.

If you want a fun book then definitely pick this up.

Thank you NetGalley for this e-arc