Poison or Protect

It’s good to read outside of your usual suspects, and while I don’t think I’ll be seeking out more of Carriger’s work, I appreciated this novella for what it was.

The setting is an alternate-history Victorian Era, with dirigibles and kick-ass Action Girls as well as vampires and werewolves and ghosts; to my disappointment, the Steampunk elements are little more than window dressing. Instead, I think this qualifies as a bodice-ripper.

The plot goes as follows: an English Lord will soon be voting in a way that upsets the Fenians, and so a Vampire faction and a Werewolf faction send a protector to safeguard him -- independently of each other. The Vampire’s choice is Preshea Villentea, the aforementioned kick-ass Action Girl, a show more four-time widow of a string of rich old husbands as well as a trained assassin. The Werewolves send a former army captain, the looming Scotsman Gavin Ruthven. Neither is sure whether the other is the assassin they’re supposed to be watching out for, but they are definitely making eyes at each other.

This novella is written very breezily, betting heavily on sass and intrigue-through-dialogue to carry readers along with the fluff. Past the halfway point the plot takes a back seat and romance and erotica take over the main stage. On the whole, I thought Poison or protect was a little too cutesy, but the delivery is so confident that it hardly matters. Fluff, but well-done fluff. show less

Amusing short novella, following Preshea's further adventures -- yay for enormous Scotsmen, boo for tiny, doll-like heroines, however badass she may be, especially when the Scotsman prefers larger ladies, but finds himself overcome by her tiny beauty. Yep, I'm a larger lady, and I find tiny beauties annoying to read about. However, that bias aside, I enjoyed the story, enjoyed following up on side characters' adventures, enjoyed revisiting the paranormal historical world. Very pleasing.

I liked what Carriger did with the themes of consent and power dynamics. Much of the story has her usual charm. However, I thought the quality of the overall pacing/progression seemed choppy and didn't meet Carriger's usual standards.

What delightfully wicked fun! Not sure how much I missed by not reading the Finishing School series first but being familiar with Lord Akeldama from the Parasol Protectorate series added a special poignancy to the vampire's advice on love.

Well, wasn’t this a romp! I confess I was a little disappointed in the tamer nature of Gail Carriger’s last completed series, the Finishing School books – but as they were for a YA audience I understood it and thought she handled the romance aspects of that series with aplomb. This little piece brought back all the spice and sizzle of Soulless, with an intriguing flair for readers of the Finishing School series, as we’re already acquainted with the main character! This is quite a different look at Preshea, as you might expect. Not a book for the middle-school readers, ou-la-la. You d0n’t, however, have to have read any of the prior books to enjoy this one.

Poison or Protect is a novella, so the plot, while there, isn’t show more terribly exciting, and after all it’s a romance, straight-up. In fact, this might qualify for the “bodice-ripper” category of one of my reading challenges this year…not my usual cup of tea at all, but this is Gail we’re talking about. The prose is what I’ve come to expect from her – by turns sharp, witty, heart-melting, and hysterical.

Knife-edged Preshea makes an appearance in usual form, but we get to see that flawless exterior crack (creek episodes not withstanding) here, despite her better judgment. And with a burly Scottish captain, no less. Scottish is definitely not what I would have pictured her with, but it definitely works. Works very well. I needed a glass of cold water after completing the read! The supporting cast is just as entertaining as can be and provide a wonderfully colorful background for the two main characters.

I am eagerly awaiting the next installment in this little side series, which I’m delighted will also be in a print version at some point. For what it is, it gets 4/5 stars. It doesn’t have the pretense of being anything other than a romance set in an already established world, and for that it does very, very well. show less

Loved it. The finishing school books are my favourites in Carriger's world, and this book follows one of the characters in that series a decade later. It's not the best liked character, but this book gives her a good back story. I liked her here, and I absolutely loved the interaction between her and Gavin. She is deadly and life has taught her not to expect kindness from men. He is patient and likes it when the woman takes lead in the bedroom. They are really very sweet together.

Poison or Protect by Gail Carriger
Delightfully Deadly book 1. Best read after the Finishing School series. Historical steampunk romance.

Preshea is an undercover assassin. Sure, she has buried four husbands, but society in general is not aware that those four were targeted specifically by her employer. Her current mission should be easy but meeting Gavin has her questioning her own feelings. Who knew she had feelings?
This story is ten years after the Finishing school series where Preshea wasn’t a likable character. Learning about her past and how she was forced into her situation gives her some sympathy. Gavin is a surprise and novelty to Preshea and as their relationship progresses, we cheer them both on to a hea.

Entertaining, show more engaging and precious.
I listened to an audiobook narrated by Suzanne Lavington who did a fantastic job with voice variations and emotional inflection. show less