It is inconceivable to me that anyone would read this series out of order, you’d miss the subtle build up of personalities and situations, not to mention miss the emotional connections. In fact, Heartless does rather rely on the reader having read the previous books, and only glosses over the back story; which is great for the avid fans who’ve been eagerly waiting to get into this book.

So Alexia is heavily pregnant, still scandalously appearing in public in such a condition, and of course people are trying to kill her and the infant-inconvenience. Add to this a ghost with a threat against the queen, age old conspiracies coming to light and zombie porcupines, and it’s all pretty much status quo.

I enjoy Gail Carriger’s writing style in all the Alexia Tarabotti novels, the witty conversations, the sharp one-liners and the clever steampunk contraptions, but I found Heartless to be a little more predictable, and the story meandered to the point where it could easily have been two separate novellas rather than one novel. Although, I did find it delightful the way Heartless explored a lot of the background around Alexia’s father, with the history of the pack, the hive, and the individuals in both, coming through, in most enlightening and unexpected ways.

Overall, Gail Carriger has again delivered a wonderfully diverting story, that’s light and humourous and guaranteed to brighten the dullest day, but with so much going on in the plot it’s not as tightly written as earlier novels. If it wasn’t for the fact that I’ve already seen the cover for the next book, I would swear this was the last in the series. It feels like the end of an era, with all loose ends neatly tied off. Our wonderful author has cleverly left Heartless finished, by opening a whole new door into the world of the Parasol Protectorate.